Job Description

Senior Research Technician

Laboratory of Valentina Parma

MONELL CHEMICAL SENSES CENTER

The Monell Chemical Senses Center, founded in 1968, is the world’s first nonprofit scientific institute devoted exclusively to basic research on the chemical senses: taste, smell, and chemosensory irritation. Research at Monell contributes to a wide range of scientific and practical knowledge, including taste and smell loss with COVID-19. With more than fifty Ph.D.-level scientists, the Center is making major progress toward understanding how the chemical senses function and their importance in everyday life. The Center is located in the University City area of Philadelphia. For more information on Monell, please visit our website at www.monell.org.

Smell and taste are among the most overlooked signals of health. Our lab works to change that by building the tests, clinical trials, and data infrastructure that make chemosensory measurement part of routine care. Our portfolio spans NIH-funded clinical trials, digital smell-data platforms, and industry-partnered sensory studies.

We are looking for a Senior Research Technician with strong experience conducting research with human participants. Your primary responsibility will be recruiting, scheduling, and testing participants across concurrent studies, with careful attention to participant experience, protocol fidelity, and data quality. You will work independently within established protocols and help coordinate routine lab activities, working closely with the PI and other team members. This is a primarily hands-on, participant-facing research position, with additional responsibility for routine study coordination.

Qualifications

Qualifications

Candidates should be proficient in or willing to learn the following:

• Lead recruitment, screening, scheduling, informed consent, and in-person and remote testing across multiple concurrent protocols, meeting enrollment targets and timelines.
• Administer validated smell and taste assessments and psychophysical procedures with rigor and consistency, and ensure fidelity across testers.
• Assist with IRB submissions, amendments, and study records; keep documentation current and promptly flag protocol deviations or other concerns to the PI.
• Maintain REDCap study records, perform routine data-quality checks, and help prepare datasets for analysis.
• Maintain testing calendars, prepare study materials, monitor supplies, and keep testing spaces organized and ready for participant visits.
• Help onboard students and newly appointed team members to established testing procedures, document competency, and model good participant care and research practices.
• Support analyses, figures, manuscripts, and conference presentations, with opportunities for co-authorship.

Required

• B.A. or B.S. in Psychology, Neuroscience, Biology, Public Health, or a related field.
• At least 3 years of hands-on research experience with human participants, including recruitment, consent, and data collection.
• Working knowledge of IRB processes and human-subjects protections (current CITI or GCP training).
• Exceptional organization and attention to detail, reflected in meticulous records, version control, and reliable tracking systems.
• Clear, warm, and professional communication with participants, from multiple backgrounds, including vulnerable populations.

Preferred

• Experience with sensory, psychophysical, or olfactory and gustatory testing.
• Clinical research coordination experience, including clinical trials or multi-site studies.
• Data analysis skills in R (or Python).
• Experience supervising or training junior staff or students.

Application Instructions

Please apply through our Career Center by following the link below.

Career Center | Recruitment

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Monell Chemical Senses Center provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.