About the Role
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.
POSITION PURPOSE
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) is an independent research center at the University of Washington. 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, Injuries, and Risk Factors; Future Health Scenarios; Cost Effectiveness and Efficiency; Resource Tracking; and Impact Evaluations. Our vision is to provide policymakers, donors, and researchers with the highest-quality quantitative evidence base so all people live long lives in full health.
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.
IHME has an excellent opportunity for a Managing Research Scientist to join the Gender Equality Metrics (GEM) team. We are looking for someone ready to advance in their career in global health research. As a Managing Research Scientist, you will be a supervisor on the research team by contributing to research design and training and mentoring junior staff. The GEM team has the unique position to both strengthen and leverage the Global Burden of Diseases (GBD) as a comprehensive tool to evaluate standardized metrics of conditions that disproportionately affect women and girls, as well as improve the measurement and evidence-base of GBV and associated health burden and long-term implications for women’s health and wellbeing. We are focused on improving the evidence base on how to reduce the most significant gender gaps in health to spur progress. IHME researchers analyze and produce key estimates and assess all available relevant quantitative data – including those on causes of death, epidemiology, and a range of determinants such as education and income – from surveys, vital registration, censuses, literature, registries, and administrative records. Managing Research Scientists play a critical role in supervising and managing research team staff.
You will be integrally involved in producing, critiquing, improving, and disseminating results related to gender analyses at IHME. You are someone who is capable of keeping your team on track to meet deadlines and research objectives. You have experience with the publication process, and at IHME, you will build out your portfolio with several peer-reviewed papers. You thrive in a collaborative work environment and are capable of working on multiple projects concurrently while meeting deadlines. You keep current of recent scientific, engineering, and technical advances and are able to translate these into your research. This position is contingent on project funding availability.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Supervision and Management
• Manage staff, 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.
• ·Train team members, providing guidance, coaching and support, and course-correcting guidance when necessary.
• ·Ensure the team delivers to the highest standards of the organization.
• ·Identify and foster opportunities to advance individuals’ knowledge and abilities.
• ·Ensure the team works effectively with other groups at IHME; promote cross-organization teamwork.
• ·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.
Research Production and Dissemination
• Exhibit command of team research area, including the methodology, components, and how it intersects and intertwines with the larger Global Burden of Disease enterprise in order to effectively manage the work, engage partners in the research process, as well as lead trainings, give presentations, and conduct seminars on substantive research topics to internal and external partners.
• Independently carry out quantitative analyses and participate in reciprocal research projects. Interpret and vet results from staff, formulate conclusions, and inform team leaders.
• Develop and implement new computational and statistical methods. Create, test, and use relevant computer code (R preferred).
• Contribute to research design.
• Draft presentations and manuscripts, and contribute to funding proposals. Lead and co-author scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals.
• Maintain scientific awareness and intellectual agility with data, methods, and analytic techniques.
• Other duties as assigned that fall within reasonable scope of research team. Growing peer network where sought out as having solid command with engineering/technical areas, a given disease, risk, key indicator, relevant methodological area, and the related data sources and scientific underpinnings.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
• Master’s degree in epidemiology, statistics, biostatistics, math, economics, quantitative social sciences, or related discipline plus four 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.
• Results- and detail-oriented individual who can initiate and complete tasks under tight deadlines and changing priorities both independently and in a team environment. Flexibility with hours and workload is key.
• Experience devising and executing statistical modeling techniques.
• Demonstrated ability to quickly recognize problems in results and identify root causes in data, methods, and code.
• Ease in designing, executing, and troubleshooting code in one or more languages (R preferred).
• Excellent written and oral communication skills required, including track record of success in co-authorship on multiple scientific papers, presenting results, and representing research at meetings.
• Ability to work both independently and in collaboration with a team.
• A long-term interest in contributing to the overall mission of our research.
• 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/mission-vision/DEI.
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS
• PhD in public health, epidemiology, statistics, biostatistics, math, economics, or quantitative social sciences plus two years’ experience preferred.
• Experience supervising employees.
• Experience mentoring and developing junior employees on soft and technical skills.
• Experience with project management methods.
• Peer-reviewed publication record.
• Experience working with large multinational survey programs (e.g. DHS, MICS, and other data sources).
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT
• Appointment to this position is contingent upon obtaining satisfactory results from a criminal background check.
• Weekend and evening work sometimes required.
Further Information: See IHME’s website: www.healthdata.org
University of Washington is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.
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 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.
Applicants considered for this position will be required to disclose if they are the subject of any substantiated findings or current investigations related to sexual misconduct at their current employment and past employment. Disclosure is required under Washington state law.
Committed to attracting and retaining a diverse staff, the University of Washington will honor your experiences, perspectives and unique identity. Together, our community strives to create and maintain working and learning environments that are inclusive, equitable and welcoming.
The University of Washington is a leader in environmental stewardship & sustainability, and committed to becoming climate neutral. The University of Washington is a leader in environmental stewardship & sustainability, and committed to becoming climate neutral.
The University of Washington is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.
To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 or dso@uw.edu.
COVID-19 VACCINATION REQUIREMENT
Employees of the University of Washington are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 unless a medical or religious exemption is approved. Being fully vaccinated means that an individual is at least two weeks past their final dose of an authorized COVID-19 vaccine regimen. As a condition of employment, newly hired employees will be required to provide proof of their COVID-19 vaccination. View the Final candidate guide to COVID-19 vaccination requirement webpage for information about the medical or religious exemption process for final candidates.