Shepherd Center

User Experience Researcher

MCAR Full time

About Shepherd Center 

With five decades of experience, Shepherd Center provides world-class clinical care, research, and family support for people experiencing the most complex conditions, including spinal cord and brain injuries, multi-trauma, traumatic amputations, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and pain. An elite center ranked by U.S. News as one of the nation’s top hospitals for rehabilitation, Shepherd Center is also recognized as both Spinal Cord Injury and Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems. Shepherd is the only rehabilitation facility in the nation with an intensive care unit on-site, allowing us to care for the most complex patients and begin the rehabilitation process sooner. Shepherd Center treats thousands of patients annually with unmatched expertise and unwavering compassion to help them begin again.

Shepherd Center's culture is one of hope, humor, and hard work. You will enjoy career growth, strong relationships with co-workers, strong support from leadership, and fun activities that have kept over 12% of staff members working at Shepherd for more than 20 years.  

The User Experience Researcher participates in collecting, entering, processing, and analyzing data obtained through user-centered research projects on established and emerging technology solutions and concepts for people with disabilities. This role also assists in designing research projects, recruiting participants, collecting data, ensuring data integrity and security, writing user-needs/user-experience research reports, manuscripts for publication and grant proposals.

Accountabilities:

  • Help design research studies on assistive technology, usability, and disability.
  • Participate in study planning.
  • Interact with research participants.
  • Collect research data
  • Organize and maintain research participant records
  • Provide support for research team
  • Coordinate data collection
  • Maintain detailed study records
  • Assist with production of tables and graphics
  • Assist with writing research reports, papers, articles, presentations
  • Assist team efforts as needed
  • Conduct literature searches for research manuscripts, identifying articles relevant to a selected topic
  • Communicate project progress informally and in regular team meetings
  • Prepare administrative reports as required.
  • Maintain and update files related to data collection activities, presentations, publications, or other dissemination activities as needed.
  • Maintains knowledge of current and emerging assistive and consumer technologies for people with disabilities

Qualifications:

  • Bachelor's degree required, preferably in psychology, public-health, engineering, social sciences or related fields.
  • Two years research, engineering, or clinical experience in industry, educational, or health care setting, preferred.
  • Preference for knowledge, skills, and/or experience in research methods, data analysis, and writing/communication, including evaluating consumer information and communication technologies (ICT), and user-experience/user testing research.
  • Skilled in use of productivity software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access) required; knowledge of SPSS preferred.
  • Strong analytical, writing, and organizational skills.
  • Excellent communication skills.
  • Ability to solve problems, coordinate communications among research and clinical staff on site and at partner institutions, and manage administrative functions and records.
  • High level of attention to detail and ability to multi-task.
  • Ability to communicate with external stakeholders and engage/recruit people with disabilities.
  • Ability to engage/communicate independently with external stakeholders, including project owners on the client side and research participants.
  • Must possess or obtain CITI program certification in human research subjects protection.