Career Center

The Department of Sociology at Princeton University is seeking a full-time senior research specialist under the supervision of faculty members in the sociology department (Brandon Stewart), Politics (Jonathan Mummolo), and Computer Science (Olga Russakovsky) in collaboration with a faculty member at UPenn, Wharton (Dean Knox). The successful candidate will take a leadership role in a multi-year project developing tools for analyzing video content generated by police body-worn cameras (BWC) using cutting edge artificial intelligence. The research specialist will help shape the overall development of the project, work closely the PIs and graduate students to formulate and implement manual annotation of BWC footage, help write grants to secure additional funding, and develop the necessary infrastructure for the project. The specialist will take the lead on recruiting and supervising teams of hourly student or temporary workers to perform annotation of the videos and related tasks. There is a possibility of co-authorship on published scholarly work with the PIs.

Outstanding performance in this role will lead to opportunities to coauthor scholarly publications.

This is a one year term position, with the possibility of a six-month extension. Salary is competitive and position is benefits-eligible. It is expected that work will be done at Princeton University, while following university COVID protocols for in-person work and learning.

Applicants should have a background in quantitative social science, statistics, data science, economics and/or computer science, along with teaching and/or management experience.

Applicants should submit a dossier in the Other Documents field, including:
1. a cover letter of interest,
2. a complete vita,
3. names and contact information of up to three persons who can serve as references,
4. optionally, a writing sample, code sample, or other relevant work product of interest.

All materials should be submitted as one continuous PDF. Materials submitted by regular mail or email will not be accepted.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Lead the annotation portion of the project. This includes the develop of the annotation scheme and coding practices with a particular focus on safe coding protocols, supervision of student/temporary workers, and coordinating with data partners and stakeholders to ensure that annotations contain all relevant material.
• Evaluate accuracy of the annotation and coordinate with team in computer science to implement improvements as necessary.
• Assist in writing grants to secure additional funding and contribute to academic and public-facing work using the data and systems. This includes supporting reporting on grants received and already obtained.

Essential qualifications:

• A Master's degree or higher
• Excellent leadership and managerial skills
• Interest in and commitment to supporting the evidence-based research on policing reform and accountability
• Strong ability to work both independently and as part of a team
• Strong oral and written communication skills
• Strong ability to learn new skills in the process of research
• Detail-oriented and able to consistently meet or beat deadlines
• Graduate degree in social sciences (eg. economics, political science, sociology) and/or related technical field (eg. statistics, computer science)

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience managing interdisciplinary teams
• Experience with research on policing
• Experience with computer programming (Python, Javascript, R)
• Experience with audio/visual editing programs
• PhD in a relevant area (social sciences, statistics or computer science)

Princeton University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. EEO IS THE LAW

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