Research Scientist (Temporary), Integrated Analytics

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) is an independent research organization at the University of Washington (UW). Its mission is to deliver to the world timely, relevant, and scientifically valid evidence to improve health policy and practice. IHME carries out its mission through a range of projects within different research areas including the Global Burden of Diseases (GBD), Injuries, and Risk Factors; Future Health Scenarios; Cost Effectiveness and Efficiency; Resource Tracking; and Impact Evaluations.

IHME has an excellent opportunity for a Research Scientist on the Integrated Analytics 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.

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.

Responsibilities:

• Exhibit command of the GBD and forecasting research areas, 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. Write, test, and maintain code in Python, R, SQL, or equivalent, with a willingness to learn and adapt to additional programming languages as needed. Maintain, modify, and execute analytic machinery that generates results.
• Assist in drafting presentations and manuscripts, and contribute to the preparation of funding proposals.
• Lead and co-author scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals.
• Maintain scientific awareness and intellectual agility with data, methods, and analytic techniques.
• May lead and/or mentor junior staff.
• Contribute ideas and content for internal and external training materials to enhance understanding and effective use of IHME tools and data. May participate in teaching established trainings.
• Contribute to research design.
• Other duties as assigned that fall within reasonable scope of research team.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in public health, epidemiology, statistics, biostatistics, math, economics, quantitative social sciences, or related discipline plus four years' related experience.
• Equivalent education and/or experience may substitute for minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license, certification, and/or registration.

Additional Qualifications:

• 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 R or Python.
• 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.

Desired Qualifications:

• MD or PhD in public health, epidemiology, statistics, biostatistics, math, economics, or quantitative social sciences plus two years’ experience preferred.
• 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 100% 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 through the end of December.

Please see a benefits summary here: https://hr.uw.edu/benefits/orientation/summaries/academic-professional-staff-contract-covered-exempt-librarians/.