site stats

RRI - CREST Senior Research Assistant II

$72,636 yearly

Job Description


Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled


Portland State University


Position Details
Position Details

Proposed Start Date11/16/2026
RankK2 - Senior Research Asst II
Working TitleRRI - CREST Senior Research Assistant II
Position NumberD91958
RepresentationAU - AAUP
Faculty TypeFixed Term Research/Grant
Fixed Term End Date:09/30/2028
Position FTEVariable 0.5 - 1.0 FTE, initially 1.0 FTE
Term of Service12 month


Position Summary

Brief Description of PSU/School/Dept
Portland State University is Oregon’s most affordable public research university, located in the heart of one of America’s most dynamic cities. Our mission to “let knowledge serve the city” reflects our dedication to turning ideas into action — in Portland and around the world. The city is our campus, giving students unmatched access to career connections, a vibrant cultural scene and hands-on learning experiences with hundreds of community partners.

More than 20,000 students from all backgrounds bring diverse perspectives to our classrooms and campus life, from the tree-lined Park Blocks to the bustling Urban Plaza and state-of-the-art science labs. We are proud of our world-class faculty, groundbreaking research and international reputation for excellence in sustainability, community engagement and innovation.

The the Regional Research Institute (RRI) in the School of Social Work conducts innovative research and program evaluation that addresses critical community issues. We work at the intersection of research, practice, training, and policy with local, state, regional, national, and international agencies and partners. The quality of our community-based participatory action work has gained us a national reputation.
Position Summary
This position supports RRI projects that are funded through federal grants, state agencies, city governments, and community partners. This position is within the Regional Research Institute for Human Services in the School of Social Work, and is supervised by the Principal Investigator on those grants and contracts.

The Senior Research Assistant 2 will work on various research and evaluation projects that change over time, primarily focused on conducting small to large scale surveys, evaluating community-based behavioral healthcare, developing measurement tools, and developing relationships with community partners. This is a grants and contracts funded position and will include working both on teams, with other researchers and independently.

We are recruiting to fill two open positions.

Primary ActivityR - Research
Minimum Qualifications
  • Master’s Degree in social work, psychology, sociology, or related human services field
  • Expertise with MS Word, Excel, and Access; SPSS; Atlas.ti; Qualtrics
  • Knowledge and experience with the social service system, particularly substance abuse and mental health treatment
  • Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively on a team and with diverse, culturally-specific community agencies and partners
  • Experience implementing community-based, research and evaluation projects
  • Demonstrated expertise with survey research methodology and implementation
Preferred Qualifications
  • Two years post-MSW in order to provide field placement supervision to social work students
  • Familiarity with southwestern Oregon behavioral health services
  • Familiarity with City of Portland government and experience working with the service areas and individual bureaus/offices
  • Experience working on research and evaluation projects through SAMHSA federal grants, Oregon Health Authority contracts, and City of Portland contracts
  • Expertise with door-to-door data collection in small, rural Oregon communities
  • Knowledge of arts education across the six Portland school districts
  • Experience writing federal grant proposals
  • Experience managing participant incentives
  • Ability to balance tasks across multiple projects at once
Key Cultural Competencies
  • Create an environment that acknowledges, encourages, and celebrates differences.
  • Function and communicate effectively and respectfully within the context of varying beliefs, behaviors, orientations, identities, and cultural backgrounds.
  • Seek opportunities to gain experience working and collaborating in diverse, multicultural, and inclusive settings with a willingness to change for continual improvement.
  • Adhere to all of PSU’s policies including the policies on Prohibited Discrimination & Harassment and the Professional Standards of Conduct.
Environmental Stewardship
Contributes to a culture of environmental stewardship, practices resource conservation, and actively works toward achieving long-term sustainability goals.
Professional Standards of Conduct
At Portland State University, all employees are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner which maintains a safe, respectful, and productive environment for faculty, students, administrators, and staff. It is the responsibility of every member of the Portland State University community to conduct themselves in accordance with our PSU Professional Standards of Conduct which are available at https://www.pdx.edu/human-resources/professional-standards-conduct-policy.
Total Compensation Range & Benefits Statement
Salary is dependent on several factors, and new employees will typically start around the Q1 level to allow for later growth within the salary band. PSU has a structured process for determining starting compensation, taking into account years of related experience, applicable skills, knowledge and abilities, market parity, and internal equity.

The starting annual salary for this position will be $72,636 (at 1.0 FTE), but may be negotiated above this rate dependent upon the factors above, the budget of the hiring department, and approval from HR.

An excellent benefits package includes 95% premium paid healthcare; a generous retirement and vacation package; and reduced tuition rates for employee, spouse or dependent at any of the Oregon University System schools.

Please visit our total compensation calculator to see the full value of our benefits package.



Supplemental Questions

Reference Requests

Reference Requests

Accept ReferencesYes
Minimum Number of References3
Maximum Number of References
Cutoff Date
Special Instruction for Reference Provider


Applicant Documents

Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).

  1. * Please state the field in which you received your Master's degree.

    (Open Ended Question)

  2. * How did you first find out about this position?
    • PSU website
    • Indeed
    • Chronicle of Higher Education
    • Higher Ed Jobs
    • HERCJobs
    • Referral
    • Professional Listserv- please specify in comment box in the next question
    • Professional Journal- please specify in comment box in the next question
    • Other- please specify in comment box in the next question
  3. If you selected Other, please describe.

    (Open Ended Question)



zVBb5mcdJOGY2fndetbr2d

Equal employment opportunity, including veterans and individuals with disabilities.

PI287549783