Data Science Specialist - Tufts University

Tufts Technology Services (TTS) is a university-wide service organization committed to delivering adaptable, results driven technology solutions in support of Tufts’ mission of teaching, learning, research, innovation, and sustainability. With staff working remotely, hybrid and on campus across Tufts University, as well as a 24x7 IT Service Desk, we collaborate with schools and divisions to meet the demands of a global, mobile, and diverse community. We promote a collaborative, forward-thinking, flexible work environment, embrace diversity and inclusion, and encourage personal and professional development.  
 
Fostering a culture of organizational citizenship and making others successful, demonstrating integrity, ethical conduct and optimism, active contribution and continuous learning enables staff to serve the goals and values of the University and creates a fulfilling and positive work experience for all.

Reporting to the Manager of Data Science Services, the Data Science Specialist will work closely with members of TTS Research Technology to provide support for and to advance data science scholarship across the university. Support for data science scholarship includes cutting-edge methods and tools for data engineering, data analysis, and data visualization. The Data Science Specialist will serve as a lead statistical consultant, assist Research Technology’s coordination of teaching and research support for a wide variety of academic departments and programs. Support for data science includes introductory to intermediate consultations and instruction to faculty, students, and staff from a wide variety of disciplines. Support also includes working closely with the Senior Data Science Specialist to support advanced consultations and longer-term enterprise, faculty research projects.  The Data Science Specialist also works closely with the Data Lab Manager and the Senior Data Science Specialist to assist with the day-to-day operations of the Tufts Data Labs, which includes providing guidance and instruction to Data Lab student assistants and providing assistance with the development and maintenance of hardware, software, and systems infrastructure for data analysis and visualization. 

This position has a work designation of hybrid.  The ideal candidate may have a flexible work schedule and must be within commuting distance to provide and maintain high-level technical support to Tufts research faculty and research groups.

Data Science Consultations:

• Work with the Data Science Services team to provide beginning to intermediate data analysis consulting services for faculty, students, and staff from a wide range of disciplines across the university in the following areas:
  • Data Engineering
    • Extract, scrape, process and engineer data using a variety of tools such as Python, R, Stata, NVivo, etc. o Data Engineering
  • Data Analysis
    • Statistical methods and modeling.
      •  Computational methods
      •  Data analysis software such as Stata, R, SPSS, SAS, etc.  
      • Python programming environment and applications in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML).
  • Data Visualization
    
    • Principles of data visualization.
    • Create and support data visualizations using Tableau, PowerBI, R Shiny, D3, etc.
• Education and Outreach
  
  • Work closely with faculty to develop course instructional materials and lesson plans.
  • Work closely with the Data Lab team to develop and deploy web-based instructional materials.
  • Design, develop and teach in-class sessions on data analysis methods using Python, R, Stata, and other related tools.
  • Design, develop and teach workshops on data analysis methods using Python, R, Stata, and other related tools.
  • Design, develop and teach workshops on data visualization using Tableau, Python, R, and other related tools.
• Hardware and Systems Technology Support
  • Work with TTS Client Support Services and Data Lab staff to coordinate, support, and trouble shoot the Data Lab computing environments.
• Research, maintain, and support a variety of visualization technology such virtual reality environments.

Basic Requirements:

• Skills and knowledge typically acquired through a Bachelor’s Degree in data science, computer science, statistics, engineering, economics or related field and 2+ years’ experience.
• Very Strong background in statistical methods and software environments.
• Experience delivering data science instruction and training.
• Strong background in data analysis methods and tools.
• Strong background in data visualization principles and tools.
• Demonstrated ability to build and engage an active intellectual community, including working collaboratively and building partnerships across disciplines.
• Demonstrated analytical and innovative problem solving skills. Strong written and oral communication skills. Strong presentation skills.
• Strong track-record of exemplifying customer service excellence and accountability.
• Proficiency in Python for data analysis.
• Proficiency with visualization software and tools such as Tableau, GGplot, D3, Shiny, etc.
• Understanding of data analysis software from both the command line and graphical user interface, including open source statistics packages such as R and commercial packages such as SAS, STATA, SPSS.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree in data analytics, data science, computer science, statistics, engineering, economics or related field.
• 3+ years’ experience
• Two years’ experience delivering data science instruction and training in higher education.
• Background in Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
• Experience with enterprise server infrastructure including VM farms.
• Experience with High Performance Compute (HPC) environments.