Department: WCAS Molecular Biosciences
Salary/Grade: EXS/8     

The Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences is reimagining traditional arts and sciences education in ways that prepare our students for success in an ever-changing, complex world. The College is the most comprehensive of Northwestern’s 12 schools, offering 47 majors to approximately 4,300 undergraduate students. Our goal is to develop in students a Northwestern Mindset – a flexible, adaptable view of the world that seeks to understand the pressing issues of today and transform them into the promising new opportunities of tomorrow.  Staff who work in the College think creatively, work collaboratively, and are dedicated to building a strong community. 

The hallmark of our distinctive educational model is diversity in all of its manifestations. We are committed to maintaining and enhancing the breadth and depth of our course offerings and to ensuring the intellectual and experiential diversity of our faculty and students. In short, we believe that diversity is an essential value that lies at the heart of our community and one that needs to be actively encouraged and pursued. 

Job Summary:

A statistical analyst with strong R development is sought to contribute to multiple computational biology / data science projects in the Braun Research Group at Northwestern University.

The incumbent will be responsible for developing computational pipelines to analyze large and complex datasets, including high-throughput omics data and timeseries data from wearable devices. They will develop, extend, deploy, and apply R packages extract and query the data, ensuring data integrity, quality, and timeliness of results.  They will work with the scientific personnel in the Braun lab to implement machine-learning models to generate predictive inferences from these data.  They will also prepare documentation for data management and data analyses; write reports for presentation and publication; and present results at internal/external meetings.

The qualified candidate must have data science and R development expertise. Experience with RNA-Seq data is strongly preferred.  Experience with timeseries data, particularly actigraphy data, is a plus. In addition to strong analytical skills, the candidate must also have strong verbal and written communication skills, and be comfortable communicating with people from a variety of backgrounds, including internal and external co-investigators, research staff, and students. We are looking for a team player who is willing to take initiative and assume a variety of responsibilities. Ability to provide and receive constructive feedback are essential. Strong time management skills and interest in working on a variety of projects is essential.

Specific Responsibilities:

Strategic Planning:

• Manages and plans for data/analysis requests and projects.
• Provides consultation to customers on appropriate data management, methodological issues and statistical analyses.
• Collaborates with technical staff explaining needs of functional users. Serve on committees related to data structure and governance.                                                                         

Administration:

• Presents results at internal/external meetings. 
• Performs appropriate statistical analysis in consultation with senior personnel.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Development:

• Develops queries and quality metrics.
• Interprets results using a variety of techniques, ranging from simple data aggregation via statistical analysis to complex statistical analysis.
• Determines data structure for local datasets.
• Consults with end-users to address feature requirements for analysis software products.

Performance:

• Develops and documents standards for data quality and regulatory compliance pertaining to reporting.
• Ensures quality and compliance by reviewing reports

Supervises:

• Manages projects ensuring timelines and deliverables are met and meet expectations.

Miscellaneous:

• Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree; OR appropriate combination of education and experience.  
• 4 years data analysis/report writing or similar experience required.
• Please see information highlighted in tables below.
  • Experience with the R programming language.
  • Ability to work in a team environment.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills.
  • Ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously.
• Infrastructure (extends across applications):
  • Linux Operating System
  • Mac OS X Operating System
  • Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, Outlook)
• Programming Languages and Frameworks:
  • Shell Scripting
  • R
  • Markdown or Latex
• Analytical
  • Critical thinking
  • Data mining
  • Data modeling
  • Debugging
  • Troubleshooting
  • Experience in omic data analysis
  • Decision making
  • Judgment
  • Problem solving
  • Troubleshooting
• Project:
  • Budgeting
  • Code documentation
  • Collaboration and teamwork
  • Facilitate collaboration
  • Functional documentation
  • Iterative & incremental development
  • Organizational skills
  • Planning
  • Workflow development & documentation

Preferred Qualifications:

• Successful completion of a full course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a master's degree in statistics, biostatistics, computer science or a related field; or the equivalent combination and experience in statistics, data science, and statistical data processing from which comparable knowledge and abilities can be acquired.
• Experience in research-related programming, data management and statistical data processing.
• Experience with HPC cluster environments
• Experience with git version control system
• Experience contributing to scientific manuscripts and grant proposals
• Fluent in R, unix shell-scripting, Python, and MatLab

Preferred Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities)

Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities (in addition to minimums above):

• Programming Languages and Frameworks:
  • git
  • Python
  • MatLab
  • Unix shell scripting
  • Experience with HPC cluster environments
• Analytical
  • Advanced statistical analysis techniques (i.e., multi-level regression, mixed models, timeseries analysis, etc.)
• Project
  • Agile environment                    

Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer of all protected classes, including veterans and individuals wit