Research Support Specialist

The Family Study Center at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus is seeking a proactive, highly organized Research Support Specialist to serve as a Research Study Coordinator. This position manages daily data operations, cross-site compliance, and intervention fidelity for a newly funded National Institutes of Health (NIH) Stage III Clinical Trial and Implementation Science Grant. The project evaluates Figuring It Out for the Child (FIOC), a Focused Coparenting Consultation model, enrolling a target population from prenatal stages up to 30 months old.

Operating half-time (0.50 FTE), this role serves as the central administrative, data integrity, and protocol fidelity link liaising between USF investigators and two distinct community agencies delivering field services across Hillsborough and Sarasota counties. While field monitoring is primarily conducted virtually via Microsoft Teams, the position requires a precise balance of advanced technical data stewardship (REDCap, ClinicalTrials.gov) and regular collaborative site support connecting weekly with each partner site and project investigator(s).

Special Information for Applicants

This position is a time-limited appointment funded by a research grant sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). While the overall project scope spans a 5-year trajectory, individual employment contract renewals occur annually and are subject to satisfactory performance reviews and the formal release of sponsor funds by the granting agency each fiscal annum.

• Cross-Site Trial Monitoring (35%): Conduct regular weekly management, communication, and support of site family coordinators across Hillsborough and Sarasota county community sites. Monitor site compliance with USF institutional randomized trial consenting protocols, family data collection procedures, and data integrity standards primarily through virtual meeting platforms (travel is minimal).
• Intervention Fidelity & Adherence Oversight (25%): Manage and execute tracking efforts to assure protocol fidelity adherence by field interventionists delivering the FIOC model. Conduct regular systematic reviews of session transcripts produced via Microsoft Teams during in-home coparenting intervention sessions. Code sessions specifically for adherence to predetermined session deliverables and document rated measures of clinician delivery competence.
• Database & Data Standards Management (20%): Manage, configuration-test, and triage project REDCap databases. Review multi-site data entry, identify anomalies, and structure project datasets to comply with specific technical reporting data standards required for ClinicalTrials.gov uploads.
• IRB Regulatory Compliance (10%): Coordinate Institutional Review Board (IRB) tasks, ensuring all human subject research documentation meets federal, state, and university regulations. Execute and track standard Serious Adverse Event (SAE) reporting processes mandated for clinical trials.
• Project Infrastructure & Shared Systems (10%): Maintain, update, and organize the collaborative research environment using Microsoft SharePoint, BOX file systems, and university IT portals. Proactively identify, diagnose, and resolve weekly trial implementation and data-tracking challenges.

Minimum Qualifications:  This position requires a high school diploma or equivalent and four years of experience in office or administrative support or in research support. College education may be substituted for the required experience on a year for year basis.

Degree Equivalency Clause: Four years of direct experience for a bachelor’s degree.
• Senate Bill 1310- The Florida Senate (https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/1310) is conditional upon meeting all employment eligibility requirements in the U.S.
• SB 1310: Substitution of Work Experience for Postsecondary Education Requirements
• A public employer may include a postsecondary degree as a baseline requirement only as an alternative to the number of years of direct experience required, not to exceed:
• (a) Two years of direct experience for an associate degree;
• (b) Four years of direct experience for a bachelor’s degree;
• (c) Six years of direct experience for a master’s degree;
• (d) Seven years of direct experience for a professional degree; or
• (e) Nine years of direct experience for a doctoral degree
• Related work experience may not substitute for any required licensure, certification, or registration required for the position of employment as established by the public employer and indicated in the advertised description of the position of employment.
• Minimum Qualifications that require a high school diploma are exempt from SB 1310.

Preferred Qualifications:  This position prefers a Bachelor's degree in a social science, health science, human services, or business-related field, with at least two years of professional research support or data coordination experience; or a Master's degree in a relevant area of specialization.

• Regulatory Requirement: Position requires successful completion of a mandatory Level 2 Department of Children and Families (DCF) background check and associated fingerprinting clearance prior to the official start date. 
• Advanced REDCap Management: Direct professional experience independently structuring, managing, and triaging multi-user REDCap databases within an academic or clinical trial environment.
• Fidelity & Deliverable Coding: Prior experience establishing or executing protocol fidelity workflows, specifically including the structured evaluation of session transcripts or recordings to verify deliverable completion and interventionist delivery competence.
• Multi-Site Clinical Trial Coordination: Proven history of coordinating field research, clinical trials, or family data collections across separate geographic locations or distinct community partner agencies.
• Clinical Trial Registry Protocols: Prior hands-on experience setting up, checking, or maintaining randomized trial datasets according to the formatting and reporting criteria mandated by ClinicalTrials.gov.
• Active IRB Oversight: Direct experience serving as a primary study coordinator with accountability for processing and tracking regulatory Serious Adverse Events (SAEs).
• Technical Interface Proficiency: High comfort level utilizing Microsoft Teams transcription software, SharePoint data management, and secure BOX cloud storage systems.