Postdoctoral Scholar and Project Manager

This position has an initial appointment of 8 months.

Location - This role is hybrid with a mix of remote and in-person work at North Campus Edmonton.

The AIDAN Lab invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow to serve as Project Manager for Phase 1 of the Autistic Research on Writing Network (ARWN). Working under the supervision of Dr. Heather Brown, the successful candidate will provide scientific, operational, and team leadership for a large, interdisciplinary, multisite study of Autistic adolescents’ writing.

ARWN Phase 1 is the first large-scale mixed-methods study designed to comprehensively examine written language development among Autistic youth aged 14 to 17. Writing is central to school participation, communication, self-expression, and identity development. However, research on Autistic writing has often relied on narrow, deficit-based comparisons that do not capture the complexity of Autistic adolescents’ writing abilities, experiences, and identities.ARWN addresses this gap by examining:

• What Autistic adolescents produce in writing and how they write;
• How they understand themselves and their experiences as writers;
• How writing relates to language, reading, executive functioning, motivation, self-concept, sensory experiences, Autistic traits, and contextual factors; and
• How Autistic writing can be understood in more accurate, holistic, and neurodiversity-affirming ways.
   

The project will recruit 150 Autistic adolescents from across Canada and the United States. Across five online sessions, participants will complete a protocol involving standardized assessments, questionnaires, and interviews (including discussion about their own authentic writing samples). The dataset integrates psychoeducational assessments, parent- and self-report measures, typed and handwritten writing activities, and first-hand accounts of participants’ writing identities, strategies, communities, experiences, and definitions of good writing.

ARWN is also a participatory and capacity-building initiative. Autistic community partners contribute as co-researchers, Autistic perspectives inform study materials and procedures, and the project provides meaningful training opportunities for junior researchers, including Autistic and otherwise neurodivergent team members.

About the AIDAN Lab and ARWN

The AIDAN Lab cultivates a diverse, safe, accessible, and welcoming research environment. The successful candidate will join an interdisciplinary team of faculty members, students, research staff, and community partners committed to amplifying the perspectives of multiply marginalized Autistic people and translating research into meaningful educational and systems change.

The Postdoctoral Fellow will work with a high degree of independence while receiving mentorship from the ARWN Phase 1 research team, which brings together complementary expertise in autism, writing and literacy development, communication, assessment, mental health, and neurodiversity-affirming education.

Dr. Heather Brown (University of Alberta, Faculty of Education) serves as Principal Investigator, providing overall project leadership, coordinating the multidisciplinary team, mentoring trainees, and ensuring that the research is grounded in Autistic lived experience and participatory, inclusive practices.

Dr. Matthew Zajic (Teachers College, Columbia University) serves as Co-Principal Investigator and contributes expertise in writing development, literacy, psychoeducational assessment, quantitative and longitudinal methods, and writing instruction for Autistic students and students with learning and developmental disabilities.

Dr. Kristie Asaro-Saddler (University at Albany) serves as a Co-Investigator and brings expertise in evidence-based writing instruction, self-regulation, special education, and the experiences of Autistic students, families, and educators. She supports interpreting students’ writing experiences and translating findings into practical educational resources.

Dr. Pamela Filiatrault-Veilleux (University of Alberta, Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine) serves as a Co-Investigator and contributes expertise in speech-language pathology, language comprehension, personal narratives, multilingualism, and responsive assessment. She also strengthens the team’s capacity to include Francophone and multilingual Autistic adolescents.

Dr. Vivian Lee (Carleton University) serves as a Co-Investigator and contributes expertise in emotional development, mental health, family well-being, psychosocial interventions, implementation science, and program evaluation.

• Lead the day-to-day implementation of ARWN Phase 1 and ensure that project milestones, deliverables, and timelines are met.
• Coordinate participant recruitment, screening, scheduling, retention, and communication across Canada and the United States.
• Oversee the consistent delivery of the five-session study protocol, including standardized assessments, questionnaires, interviews, and writing activities.
• Develop and maintain project-management systems, protocol manuals, recruitment records, training materials, meeting documentation, and progress reports.
• Coordinate communication and workflow across investigators, partner institutions, community co-researchers, research assistants, participants, and families.
• Organize and facilitate research-team, working-group, and community-partner meetings.
• Monitor protocol fidelity, identify operational challenges, and work with the team to develop accessible, feasible solutions.
• Ensure that project activities reflect neurodiversity-affirming, participatory, and accessible research practices.
• Coordinate research ethics submissions, renewals, amendments, and reporting across participating institutions.
• Support research assistants in administering study protocols, conducting interviews, managing data, and applying neurodiversity-affirming research practices.
• Oversee consent and assent procedures, confidentiality protections, secure data management, and research documentation.
• Support existing and implement potentially new procedures for data entry, coding, cleaning, quality assurance, and analysis preparation.
• Ensure that quantitative, qualitative, interview, assessment, and writing data are accurately documented.
• Promote responsible, transparent, and community-informed approaches to data interpretation and dissemination.
• Demonstrate expertise in quantitative and/or qualitative research methods.
• Support junior researchers in the lab as they work on their research projects. 
• Collaborate with Autistic co-researchers to ensure that interpretations remain grounded in participants’ perspectives and avoid deficit-based assumptions.
• Lead or support the development of conference abstracts, presentations, and written manuscripts (the postdoc will be given opportunities to publish as first author)
• Foster a collaborative and inclusive team culture in which neurodivergent students and staff can communicate needs, contribute meaningfully, and work in ways that support their strengths.

Required Qualifications

• A PhD in Education, Psychology, Communication Sciences, or a related discipline, normally completed within the past five years. Eligibility periods may be extended to recognize career interruptions.
• Advanced expertise in qualitative and/or quantitative data analysis, such as:
  • Qualitative approaches, including reflexive thematic analysis, grounded theory, narrative analysis, or related methods; and/or
  • Quantitative approaches, including variable- and person-centred approaches that may include structural equation modelling or related methods. 
• Experience using relevant research/project management software, such as Slack, Otter.ai, Zoom, Qualtrics, Google Workspace Apps (e.g., Docs/Sheets), OneDrive and other Microsoft programs, R, Mplus, SPSS, Dedoose, NVivo, and/or equivalent platforms.
• A strong record of scholarly productivity, demonstrated through peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, reports, or other research outputs pertaining to autism.

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience managing research projects, preferably involving multiple investigators, institutions, methods, or stages of data collection.
• Experience administering, coordinating, and interpreting standardized assessments.
• Experience with participatory, community-engaged, or co-design research, including working with community members as collaborators or co-researchers.
• Experience conducting research with Autistic youth, disabled youth, or other multiply marginalized communities.
• Familiarity with writing development, literacy, psychoeducational assessment, educational psychology, or language and communication research.
• Experience supervising or mentoring undergraduate and graduate students, particularly neurodivergent students.

Job Competencies

• Excellent written, oral, organizational, and interpersonal communication skills.
• The ability to work independently, exercise sound judgment, manage competing deadlines, and lead collaboratively within a large interdisciplinary team.
• A demonstrated commitment to respectful, accessible, neurodiversity-affirming research and comfort working alongside Autistic and otherwise neurodivergent staff, students, community partners, and participants.

How to Apply  

The AIDAN Lab is committed to ensuring access, fostering community connections and increasing belonging. We value the cognitive diversity of our community, and welcome applications from all qualified candidates. Neurodivergent candidates are especially welcome to apply.   

Please submit a curriculum vitae (CV/Resume) and cover letter, and the names/contact information of three references (all references should be from prior supervisors), outlining your interest in the position and your relevant research, project-management, methodological, leadership, and scholarly experience.   

The letter may describe your alignment with ARWN’s participatory and neurodiversity-affirming approach; identify your expertise in qualitative analysis, advanced quantitative analysis, or both; and provide examples of your experience coordinating complex research, working with standardized assessments or mixed-methods protocols, mentoring research staff or students, and producing scholarly or community-facing outputs.   

Please also indicate your anticipated availability, preferred start date, current location, and ability to work from Edmonton, if applicable.   

We are committed to an accessible and inclusive recruitment process and workplace. Accommodations are available at any stage of the application and interview process and throughout employment. Applicants are invited to identify any accommodations or alternative formats that would support their full participation. Requests will be treated confidentially and will not affect consideration of an application.  Candidates must meet the required qualifications to be considered. For questions on the position, please contact aidanlab@ualberta.ca. 

This position is not eligible for benefits.

The terms and conditions of this appointment are governed by the Collective Agreement between the Board of Governors of the University of Alberta and the Postdoctoral Fellows Association of the University of Alberta.