Research Scientist (Temporary), MAVEN

As a UW employee, you have a unique opportunity to change lives on our campuses, in our state and around the world. UW employees offer their boundless energy, creative problem-solving skills and dedication to build stronger minds and a healthier world.

UW faculty and staff also enjoy outstanding benefits, professional growth opportunities and unique resources in an environment noted for diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits and natural beauty.

IHME has an excellent opportunity for a Temporary Research Scientist on the on the Malaria, Anemia, Vaccines, Hemoglobin, and Neglected Tropical Diseases Team. We are looking for someone ready to advance in their career in global health research. As a Research Scientist, you will be contributing to research design and training, leading, and/or mentoring junior staff. IHME researchers analyze and produce key estimates for their assigned research team and will assess all available relevant quantitative data – including those on causes of death, epidemiology, and a range of determinants such as education and income – from surveys, vital registration, censuses, literature, registries, and administrative records.

The Research Scientist will manage a complex spatial measles modeling framework that integrates subnational measles vaccination coverage and burden estimation to support measles policy decisions. The person in this position will be responsible for executing, updating, and improving existing models; critically appraising and overseeing the incorporation of new data sources; and producing measles estimates and projections of incidence, susceptibility, and mortality, with a focus on India, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, and Nigeria.

You will be integrally involved in producing, critiquing, improving, and disseminating results. You are someone who is capable of keeping your team on track to meet deadlines and research objectives. You already have a publication record, and at IHME, you will build out your portfolio with several peer-reviewed papers. You thrive in a collaborative work environment and are capable of working on multiple projects concurrently while meeting deadlines. You keep current of recent scientific, engineering, and technical advances and are able to translate these into your research.

This position is contingent on project funding.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Exhibit command of one or more of the research areas at IHME – preferably vaccine-preventable diseases, and specifically measles – including the methodology and its components.
• Independently carry out quantitative analyses and participate in reciprocal research projects. Interpret and vet results from junior staff, formulate conclusions, and inform team leaders.
• Develop, quality check, and distribute complex datasets to be used in epidemiological and statistical analyses.
• Develop and implement new computational and statistical methods. Create, test, and use relevant computer code (e.g., R (required)and C++ (preferred)). Maintain, modify, and execute analytic machinery that generates results.
• Draft presentations and manuscripts and contribute to funding proposals.
• Lead and co-author scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals.
• Maintain scientific awareness and intellectual agility with data, methods, and analytic techniques.
• May lead and/or mentor junior staff.
• Provide ideas and content for the development of internal trainings. Teach established trainings.
• Contribute to research design.
• Other duties as assigned that fall within reasonable scope of research team.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

• Master’s degree in public health, epidemiology, statistics, biostatistics, math, economics, quantitative social sciences, or related discipline plus four years' related experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• Growing peer network where sought out as having solid command of engineering/technical areas, a given disease, risk, key indicator, relevant methodological area, and the related data sources and scientific underpinnings.
• Excellent analytic, critical thinking, and quantitative skills.
• Results- and detail-oriented individual who can initiate and complete tasks under tight deadlines and changing priorities both independently and in a team environment. Flexibility with hours and workload is key.
• Experience devising and executing statistical modeling techniques.
• Demonstrated ability to quickly recognize problems in results and identify root causes in data, methods, and code.
• Ease in designing, executing, and troubleshooting code in one or more languages. (R (required) and C++ (preferred)).
• Excellent written and oral communication skills required, including track record of success in co-authorship on multiple scientific papers, presenting results, and representing research at meetings.
• Demonstrated ability to contribute to and sustain collaborations with external research teams.
• Experience in working with large data sets, including devising strategies for reliable data management for large data sets, computationally efficient modeling techniques to use such data sets, and critical evaluation of highly multidimensional model outputs that result from such work.
• Ability to work both independently and in collaboration with a team.
• A long-term interest in a research scientist position contributing to the overall mission of our research.
• A commitment to working alongside others at IHME to illuminate the health impacts of systemic racism and to work within IHME to make our organization more diverse and inclusive. See IHME’s DEI statement here: https://www.healthdata.org/about/dei.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• MD or PhD in public health, epidemiology, statistics, biostatistics, math, economics, or quantitative social sciences plus two years’ experience preferred.
• Specific subject matter expertise in vaccines and/or measles; technical experience in spatial modeling and dynamic infectious disease modeling, particularly of measles epidemiology; and experience in the estimation of disease burden.
• Experience with machine learning, data mining, and analytic techniques.
• Experience mentoring and developing junior employees on soft and technical skills.
• Experience with project management methods.
• Peer-reviewed publication record.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

• Weekend and evening work sometimes required.
• This position is open to anyone authorized to work in the US.
• Working internationally is only allowed for IHME sponsored work that requires in -country participation.
• Office is located in Seattle, Washington. This position is eligible to work fully remote in the US; work schedule required to overlap 50% of IHME office hours, between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Pacific Time as agreed upon between employee and supervisor.
• This position currently has funding until December 31, 2025, with a possibility of being extended.