Post-Doctoral Fellow (SRI) - The Family Navigation Project (FNP) - Temporary Full-time 2024-9422

Start Date:         August 2024

Location:             365 Bloor Street East, Toronto

Family Navigation Project

The Family Navigation Project (FNP) at Sunnybrook is a non-profit program designed to provide expert navigation of the mental health and addictions service system for youth and their families residing in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). FNP is a free service offered through phone and email that uses a combination of clinical and lived experience to support youth and families on their care pathway.

ROLE SUMMARY:

FNP, through the Sunnybrook Research Institute, is seeking an enthusiastic and experienced individual to conduct a research project focusing on navigation for youth with mental health and/or addictions concerns and their families. The successful candidate will work directly with the Principal Investigator(s) and Family Navigation Project management team to assist in research study operations. The post-doctoral fellow will be an integral part of the research project focusing on the implementation of a new community-based service navigation program in Northern Ontario, that is connected to, and based on, the FNP model that operates in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). This new navigation program will partner with local providers in the Sudbury-Manitoulin area, including Compass, Noojmowin Teg and Health Sciences North, as well as local youth and family advocacy organizations, to enhance access to and transition through the mental health and addictions service system for youth and their family in the region. The research project will occur across multiple phases, based on a community-based participatory research approach and implementation science approach. Individual phases involve literature review, evidence-based co-design sessions, environmental scanning, an adaptive pragmatic clinical trial, and knowledge translation.

POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Post-Doctoral Fellow will conduct key tasks including, but not limited to:

• Liaise with research collaborators, research team members, Research Ethics Board staff, funding agencies, contracts and finance staff, and/or regulatory bodies.
• Draft/review/complete research-related documentation, such as research ethics board submissions, consent forms, and interview instruments and other data collection tools.
• Plan and coordinate the initiation and conduct of existing research study protocol(s), and establish operating policies and procedures
• Develop and execute research project plans, ensuring timelines and deliverables are met within budget, and aligned with the operational program implementation (in collaboration with operational team)
• Develop and implement community-based workshops and events for the purposes of co-design, engagement, building trust, gaining and exchanging knowledge, and nurturing relationships.
• Co-supervise and support research coordinators and research assistants as they establish and coordinate logistical arrangements for research participants and recruitment activities
• Help create, organize, and maintain study logs and documentation
• Monitor recruitment, coordination of research participants, as appropriate to study objectives; perform or provide assistance in recruitment and collection of data as required
• Conduct qualitative and quantitative analyses and provide guidance for junior staff
• Ensure the smooth and efficient day-to-day operation of research and data collection activities; act as a point of contact for internal research staff and as a liaison for other research organizations, funding agencies, and regulating bodies
• Organize and facilitate meetings, conferences, and other events associated with research activities, as required
• Create, maintain, and implement literature search strategies for published and grey literature using various bibliographic databases and reference management software
• Coordinate, edit, and assist in drafting a variety of documents (e.g., grant applications, abstracts, manuscripts, presentations, journal articles, letters to the editor, letters of support, reports, research protocols, and knowledge mobilization products) for a variety of audiences
• Create innovative knowledge dissemination and share-back materials and tailor them to be relevant and accessible for various stakeholder groups
• Record and monitor financial transactions against established budgets
• Occasional travel may be required

QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS:

• PhD in health, rehabilitation, life science, or other relevant discipline, completed within the last 5 years
• Strong qualitative research skills (e.g., grounded theory, phenomenology, ethnography)
• Strong quantitative research skills (e.g., randomized controlled trials, experimental designs)
• Existing knowledge and experience in family and/or youth mental health/addictions health services research is an asset
• Knowledge and experience in partnering with equity-deserving communities, e.g., Black, Indigenous, and people of colour, 2SLGBTQI+, communities living in poverty, people with disabilities, etc., and those living at various intersections of these and other identities, are essential to this role.
• Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of the barriers and challenges faced by youth from remote, rural, Indigenous, and/or Francophone communities is an asset.
• Ability to work independently with a high level of initiative and self-direction, yet collaboratively with multiple stakeholders
• Cultural responsiveness and the ability to connect with diverse populations
• Strong organizational and time-management abilities
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Strong interpersonal skills
• French language skills are an asset
• Strong data management and analytical skills; competency using analytic software (experience with SPSS, R, NVivo, MAXQDA or related applications is an asset)
• MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access) proficiency
• Knowledge and experience in research involving one or more of the following is also an asset:
  • Community-based participatory approaches
  • Implementation science
  • Equity, diversity, and inclusion principles and frameworks

HOW TO APPLY:

If you are interested and qualified for this position, please email your cover letter and CV to roula.markoulakis@sunnybrook.ca. Please quote “Post-Doctoral Fellow Application – Family Navigation Project” in the subject line. Note: To be properly considered for a position, both the job title and department to which you are applying, must appear in the subject line of your email.

Your interest in this opportunity is appreciated. Only those applicants selected for an interview will be contacted. Successful candidates, as a condition of job offer, will be required to provide recent references.

In accordance with Canadian Employment and Immigration guidelines, applicants must be eligible to work in Canada. In accordance with Canadian immigration requirements, this advertisement is directed initially to Canadian citizens and permanent residences.

Sunnybrook Research Institute is committed to providing accessible employment practices that are in compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). If you require accommodation for disability during any stage of the recruitment process, please indicate this in your cover letter.

Sunnybrook Research Institute is strongly committed to inclusion and diversity within its community and welcomes all applicants including but not limited to: visible minorities, all religions and ethnicities, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ persons, and all others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas.

Please be advised that in order to be eligible for employment at Sunnybrook, all new hires must have received the full series of a COVID-19 vaccine or combination of COVID-19 vaccines approved by Health Canada (e.g., two doses of a two-dose vaccine series, or one dose of a single-dose vaccine series); AND have received the final dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days ago. Medical exemptions or any other kind of requested exemption based upon the Hospital’s obligations pursuant to the Ontario Human Rights Code will be considered on a case-by-case basis.