Position Description
Mathematica applies expertise at the intersection of data, methods, policy, and practice to improve well-being around the world. We collaborate closely with public- and private-sector partners to translate big questions into deep insights that improve programs, refine strategies, and enhance understanding. Our work yields actionable information to guide decisions in wide-ranging policy areas, from health, education, early childhood, and family support to nutrition, employment, disability, and international development. Mathematica offers our employees competitive salaries, and a comprehensive benefits package, as well as the advantages of being 100 percent employee owned. As an employee stock owner, you will experience financial benefits of ESOP holdings that have increased in tandem with the company’s growth and financial strength. You will also be part of an independent, employee-owned firm that is able to define and further our mission, enhance our quality and accountability, and steadily grow our financial strength. Learn more about our benefits here.
At Mathematica, we take pride in our commitment to diversity. Building an inclusive culture that draws on the individual strengths of employees from different ethnic backgrounds, cultures, lifestyles, abilities, and experience is key to our success.
We are looking for a
Data Scientist to lead and support data processing and analysis tasks, such as building data pipelines, monitoring data quality, developing documentation, applying statistical and data science methods, and creating data visualizations. Our junior data scientists underpin our company's core offerings in program improvement and data science, which yield crucial evidence and information for policy and decision makers. This position will either work remotely or flexibly in one of our office locations.
This position focuses on health policy, which includes projects such as:
- Enhancing knowledge management and library curation across all VRDC projects by developing Python scripts that leverage large language models for automated document classification.
- Monitoring the impacts of an alternative payment model for primary care in terms of care quality, cost, and health outcomes for diverse beneficiaries, using claims from thousands of primary care practices across the country and predicting future hospital costs and behavior.
- Developing and testing how claims and survey data from federal and state-level programs could be used to measure patients’ experience of care, quality of life, care coordination, and long-term outcomes for beneficiaries enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid.
- Creating an interactive data visualization tool to help local policy and decision makers understand how social determinants of health are related to health outcomes in their county, using open-source data from public agencies and non-profits.
Specifically, This Data Scientist Contributes To Team-based Projects By
- Co-developing analysis plans with a senior data scientist or researcher
- Writing and maintaining programming systems in languages such as Python and R to obtain, combine, and transform datasets on cloud, internal, and client servers
- Developing and maintaining documentation
- Implementing quality assurance practices, such as version control and testing
- Conducting analysis and communicating results, both to clients and internal teams, such as descriptive statistics, data visualizations, and model diagnostics
- Leading and managing small teams and tasks with oversight from a senior staff member
Requirements
Position Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree, with an academic record including courses in subjects such as statistics, data science, data analytics, mathematics, operations research, computer science, and/or social science; equivalent years of experience can be substituted
- Demonstrated interest and/or experience using programming and data science and/or statistics to contribute to projects with a policy/social impact in academic and/or professional settings
- At least three years of experience performing data cleaning and analysis using programming languages such as R, Python, or Julia in the academic, extra-curricular, or professional environment
- Experience executing data science and statistics techniques including regression modeling, machine learning algorithms, network analysis, or natural language processing
- Ability and desire to work independently as part of an interdisciplinary team that may be geographically dispersed. This includes being able to learn from and apply resources such as self-guided tutorials, package documentation, and academic articles and willingness to constantly learn and contribute to knowledge sharing with team members.
- Experience with reproducible research principles, version control, interactive visualizations, and common packages/libraries for supporting data science work in R, Python, and/or Julia (e.g., tidyverse, R Shiny, R Markdown, pandas, NumPy, scikit-learn, MLJ.jl, DataFrames.jl, and/or Makie.jl).
- Desired but not required: experience with healthcare datasets (for example, Medicare or Medicaid claims and enrollment data), production-quality machine learning applications, cloud computing environments, and algorithmic fairness and ethics
This position offers an anticipated annual base salary range of $75,000- $100,000. This position is eligible for a discretionary bonus based on company and individual performance. To apply, please submit a cover letter (optional), resume, code samples, and salary expectations.
Staff in our Health or Human Services units will eventually work with some of our largest clients, including the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS) and other agencies. Most staff working on these contracts will be required to complete a successful background investigation including the Questionnaire for Public Trust Position SF-85 (https://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/sf85p.pdf). Staff that are unable to successfully undergo the background investigation will need to be able to obtain work outside these contracts. Staff will work with their supervisor to get re-staffed, however if they are unable to do so it may result in employment termination due to lack of work.
STAFFING AGENCIES AND THIRD-PARTY RECRUITERS: Mathematica is not accepting candidates for this role or any technical role from staffing agencies or third-party recruiters. Please do not contact technical or senior staff at Mathematica or share unsolicited resumes. All agency inquiries go through the talent acquisition team and will be routed accordingly.
Available Locations: Washington, DC; Princeton, NJ; Remote
We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.
At Mathematica, we understand the importance of building relationships with colleagues. If you’re not located near one of our offices but would like opportunities to meet up with co-workers, we offer coworking spaces where available. Ask your Talent Acquisition partner for more information about this opportunity and whether it’s an option in your area.
Any offer of employment will be contingent upon passing a background check. Various federal agencies with whom we contract require that staff successfully undergo security clearance as a condition of working on the project. If you are assigned to such a project, you will be required to obtain the requisite security clearance. Additionally, if you participate in/complete the application process and are denied, Mathematica may choose to terminate your employment.
Although Mathematica does not require vaccination from COVID-19 as a condition of employment, various projects or agencies may require documentation of vaccination (or an approved exception/accommodation).
We take pride in our employees and in their commitment to excellence. We encourage staff to collaborate in developing creative solutions to difficult problems and to share the responsibility and enjoyment of carrying out complex projects. This collegial spirit has helped us earn our reputation for innovative and high quality work.
One of Mathematica’s core values is a deep commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our work is more robust because it is informed by a variety of diverse perspectives, and our mission to improve societal well-being is strengthened by a greater understanding of issues and challenges facing the populations we serve. Mathematica’s ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion is woven into our everyday actions, policies, and practices—including decisions regarding recruitment, training, compensation, and promotion. We are dedicated to maintaining a work environment in which everyone is treated with respect and dignity.
