Req #: 238490

Department: INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH METRICS AND EVALUATION

Appointing Department Web Address: https://www.healthdata.org/about

Job Location Detail: Office is located in Seattle, Washington. This position is eligible to work fully remote in the US; work schedule required to adhere to IHME office hours, between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Pacific Time as agreed upon between employee and supervisor.

Posting Date: 09/13/2024

Closing Info: Open Until Filled

Salary: $10,236 - $11,618 per month

Shift: First Shift

Notes: As a UW employee, you will enjoy generous benefits and work/life programs. For a complete description of our benefits for this position, please visit our website, click here. (https://hr.uw.edu/benefits/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/02/benefits-professional-staff-librarians-academic-staff-20230701_a11y.pdf )

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.

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 is committed to providing the evidence base necessary to help solve the world’s most important health problems. This requires creativity and innovation, which are cultivated by an inclusive, diverse, and equitable environment that respects and appreciates differences, embraces collaboration, and invites the voices of all IHME team members.

The FHS team is growing and is eagerly seeking both academic and staff candidates for several positions. We warmly invite you to review this position as well as our other position for a Managing Research Scientist (req 238920). If you find roles that align with your qualifications and spark your interest, we strongly encourage you to apply. You can view more positions for the Future Health Scenarios team on our website found here: https://www.healthdata.org/about/careers . This is a wonderful opportunity to join our dynamic team and contribute to our growth. We look forward to reviewing your application(s).

IHME has an excellent opportunity for a Lead Research Scientist on the Future Health Scenarios (forecasting) team.

The Future Health Scenarios (FHS) team at IHME produces forecasts and alternative health scenarios for more than 300 causes of disease and disability, over 70 risk factors contributing to health loss, and many other determinants of health, such as fertility, education, and vaccine coverage. The FHS platform produces probabilistic forecasts and alternative scenarios that quantify the lives saved resulting from effective policies that reduce risk exposure or scale up new or existing interventions. Results from the FHS team are used by stakeholders around the world to chart the course for improving health outcomes in their communities.

We are looking for someone ready to advance in their career in research. As a Lead Research Scientist, you will drive forward analytic innovation to improve upon existing methods or develop new methods, as well as supervise, train, and mentor junior staff, and participate in leadership responsibilities for the FHS team. IHME researchers analyze and produce key estimates for their assigned research team, and on the future health scenarios team they also develop custom scenarios that mimic what the future may look like if different risk factors or interventions scale up or down over time. The Lead Research Scientist plays a critical role in managing research team staff, charting the course for methodologic innovation, and presenting our work to internal and external audiences.

You will be integrally involved in improving, critiquing, and disseminating results. You are someone who is capable of keeping your team on track to meet deadlines and research objectives. You thrive in a collaborative, multi-disciplinary work environment and can work on multiple projects concurrently while meeting deadlines. You have experience with the publication process, and at IHME, you will build out your portfolio with several peer-reviewed papers. You are a strong communicator who can translate complex modeling approaches across a variety of audiences. You keep current of recent scientific, analytic, engineering, and technical advances and can translate these into your research. This position is contingent on project funding availability.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead a research team in defining, executing, and managing analytic plans; developing execution of research strategy; establishing deadlines, deliverables, and resources; and providing methodological advice, interpretation, statistical analysis, and visualization of research area to meet IHME’s objectives.

• Lead external collaboration efforts, innovative technological advances, and/or oversee areas of the research for a defined research area.

• Exhibit an advanced command of one or more of the forecasting models at IHME, including the methodology and its components.

• Carry out quantitative analyses and participate in reciprocal research projects. Interpret and vet results from junior staff and formulate conclusions.

• Drive new methods to analyze large datasets; introduce novel diagnostics and presentation paradigms to communicate results.

• Critique results. Understand groundbreaking techniques and creatively apply them in experimental ways to explore efficiencies and potential improvements to results.

• Develop, test, and refine new statistical methods and build tools so that others can apply them. Uses a variety of coding languages to do so (e.g., Python).

• Supervise employees, to include hiring and training, assigning work hours, managing workflow, priority setting, contributing to professional growth and performance assessment, resolving complaints, and initiating disciplinary action for supervisees.

• Publish peer-reviewed manuscripts and publications as first author and present results to scientific, policy, and donor audiences.

• Write and publish peer-reviewed publications of forecast results and new methods.

• Participate in team leadership discussions to set priorities and develop scopes of work.

• Assess and map project deliverables to resource needs and allocate resources accordingly; advise PI on short- and long-term team structure. Provide ideas and content and support for the development of internal trainings, for your team, IHME, and external audiences. Teach established trainings.

• Contribute to writing grant applications.

• Communicate methods and results to different audiences, helping them to learn and apply new skills.

• Assess skill gaps and identify training needs for team. Develop and deliver internal trainings to support professional development and succession planning for junior staff.Other duties as assigned. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

• MD or PhD in statistics, applied mathematics, biostatistics, economics, epidemiology, public health, quantitative social sciences, or related field plus six years' related experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience. Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• Excellent analytic, critical thinking, and quantitative skills with demonstrated experience applying mathematical or statistical models to real-world data.

• Ease in designing, executing, and troubleshooting code in one or more languages (e.g., Python, SQL).

• Growing external peer network where sought out as a resource for having strong command with a given disease, risk, key indicator, relevant methodological area, and the related data sources and scientific underpinnings.

• Experience supervising individuals on scientific research processes, analysis, and professional development.

• Demonstrated management experience, including demonstrated ability to think independently, be flexible, and juggle multiple priorities required.

• Demonstrated ability to quickly recognize problems in results and identify root causes in data, methods, and code.

• Excellent written and oral communication skills required, including track record publishing peer-reviewed publications as first author and co-author. Intermediate level of quality, quantity, and degree of innovation of scholarly publications in multiple peer-reviewed journals.

• Ability to thrive and guide others in a dynamic, team-oriented research environment with a focus on producing innovative, policy-relevant results.

• 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

• Experience with Bayesian statistical modeling, machine learning, and time series analytic techniques.

• Advanced experience developing code in Python and familiarity modeling with multi-dimensional arrays. CONDITITONS OF EMPLOYMENT

• Weekend and evening work sometimes required.

• This position is open to anyone authorized to work in the U.S.

• Office is located in Seattle, Washington. This position is eligible to work fully remote in the US; work schedule required to adhere to IHME office hours, between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Pacific Time as agreed upon between employee and supervisor.

• Working internationally is only allowed for IHME sponsored research projects that require in-country participation. Application Process: The application process may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process. These assessments may include Work Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others. Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select “Apply to this position”. Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment, you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your “My Jobs” page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your "My Jobs" page to take when you are access ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.

University of Washington is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, among other things, race, religion, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.