Data Scientist - Computational Research & ML

Salary: $90,000 - 100,000 per year Requirements:

• Bachelors degree in computational social science, data science, statistics, computer science, or a related quantitative field.
• Four years of relevant experience, including graduate research, internships, or applied professional work.
• Demonstrated proficiency writing production-quality Python code.
• Strong experience with SQL and relational databases.
• Experience developing software, data pipelines, or analytical applications.
• Experience conducting statistical analysis and machine learning with real-world datasets.
• Knowledge of supervised and unsupervised machine learning methods.
• Experience using Git and collaborative development practices.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Excellent communication and technical writing skills, including the ability to explain technical concepts to diverse audiences.
• Preferred: Experience with large-scale data platforms such as Databricks, Spark, Hadoop, or Hive.
• Preferred: Experience developing, evaluating, or deploying machine learning and AI solutions, including large language models, and working in cloud environments such as AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• Preferred: Experience applying statistical disclosure limitation and data privacy methods, including risk assessment and mitigation for public data releases.
• Preferred: Experience with R or SAS.
• Preferred: Experience analyzing healthcare, survey, administrative, or other large-scale observational data, particularly healthcare claims.
• Preferred: Experience with record linkage.
• Applicants must be eligible to work in the U.S.; visa sponsorship is not available.
• Applicants should submit a resume and cover letter and be prepared to provide professional references upon request.

• Apply statistical, computational, and machine learning methods to survey research, evaluation studies, and other social science projects.
• Build reproducible, quality-assured analytical workflows using version control, managed environments, peer code review, automated testing, and validation checks.
• Develop data pipelines to integrate, transform, and analyze structured and unstructured data from multiple sources.
• Create data products, dashboards, applications, and automated tools that support data-informed decisions.
• Apply machine learning, artificial intelligence, and natural language processing methods, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to design, evaluate, and deploy AI-enabled analytical applications.
• Write and implement Python and R programs to extract and manipulate data, link complex datasets, and conduct statistical and machine learning analyses.
• Use relational databases, cloud platforms, and large-scale computing environments to manage and analyze complex datasets.
• Protect data privacy and apply disclosure limitation practices, including statistical disclosure limitation for public releases and restricted-use data.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

• AI
• AWS
• Azure
• Cloud
• Databricks
• GCP
• Git
• Hadoop
• Hive
• Support
• Machine Learning
• Python
• SAS
• SQL
• Spark

More:

We are seeking a Data Scientist I for NORC at the University of Chicagos Statistics and Data Science department, supporting research projects through statistical, computational, and data science solutions. The role works closely with statisticians, researchers, methodologists, software developers, and subject matter experts, and may involve structured and unstructured data, survey data, administrative records, commercial data, text, and emerging technologies such as generative AI and large language models. Our department develops statistical methods and rigorous analysis across the research lifecycle, from study design and data collection to analysis and reporting, and collaborates across NORC. This is a hybrid position based in our Chicago Loop or downtown Washington, DC office, with at least six office days each month. The hiring range is $90,000–$100,000. Regular employees are eligible for comprehensive benefits, including subsidized health insurance, dental and vision coverage, retirement programs, life and disability insurance, paid time off, holidays, parental and bereavement leave, tuition assistance, and an Employee Assistance Program. We are an objective, nonpartisan research institution founded in 1941, committed to scientific integrity, collaboration, equity, innovation, and collegiality. We offer a business-casual environment and emphasize continuous learning. We are an equal opportunity employer.

last updated 40 week of 2026