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 outstanding opportunity for a Research Analyst on the Rapid Response and Analytics (RRAT) team. The Research Analyst must be able to independently translate requests and research needs into actionable results by writing and implementing novel code and diagnostics. They will plan and implement analytic solutions to both emerging issues and needed improvements in our analytic and computational processes of collecting, cleaning, and analyzing data and producing results. The individual will be given assignments where a desired end result is identified but there is no preset path laid for achieving it. They must therefore carry out individual planning and problem solving to resolve computational questions and produce results.
This position will work alongside other research staff on various teams and will require knowledge and skill sharing and collective problem solving. Overall, the Research Analyst will be a key member of an agile, dynamic team providing critical support to our research. This position is contingent on project funding availability.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Research command
• Learn cutting-edge multidisciplinary quantitative methods used to generate indicators in population health metrics and evaluation.
• Develop and maintain understanding of the analytic needs and components of major cross-cutting research projects.
• Translate internal scientific materials and aims into practical objectives.
• Work with researchers and faculty to engage in methodological development and carry out quantitative analyses.
• Exhibit a command of multiple types of inputs (e.g., costs, disease prevalence, all-cause mortality) and essential methods (e.g., Gaussian process regression) to formulate analytic solutions.
• Contribute to time-sensitive deliverables such as papers, reports, presentations, databases, and data visualizations.
Analytic solutions
• Develop innovative analytic solutions in order to address emerging strategic priorities.
• Work with research teams to assess, understand, and integrate new data.
• Implement diagnostics to assess iteratively the quality of the results and to see how changes to the proposed analytic problem would reflect upon the results.
• Creatively modify and enhance existing analytic engines and tools to carry out brand new functions responsive to the analytic questions to be resolved.
• Test experimental approaches to capturing results or creating indicators that can be used to help achieve high-quality results across different estimation exercises.
Project planning
• Develop tools over time that help to address similar types of analytic questions in future, producing greater efficiency and expanding the toolkit.
• Manage work while fitting into research timelines.
• Actively participate in different research team meetings.
• Respond to emergent needs, flexibly adapting project timelines.
• Ability to work across different teams with diverse skills, knowledge, and communication styles.
Diagnostics
• Develop readily understandable diagnostics to monitor the quality and performance of complex analytic engines, databases, and results production as a resource to a variety of research teams.
• Learn about data and results verification needs.
• Identify possible areas where solutions from one project could be applied to another.
Other duties as assigned.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
• Master’s degree in public health, epidemiology, statistics, biostatistics, math, economics, quantitative social sciences, or related and one year of related work experience OR equivalent combination of education/experience.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
• Demonstrated success in implementing and developing complex analytic code in R and/or Python.
• Demonstrated facility with skillful quantitative problem-solving and interpreting complex analytic information from a range of sources.
• Willingness and ability to learn new skills and contribute to a variety of research areas, rather than focusing on a particular research area or team, working in different coding languages as needed depending on legacy code.
• Experience with epidemiology, statistics, or disease modeling.
• Experience with quantitative data from a range of disparate sources.
• Ability to participate productively in interdisciplinary research teams, working directly with team leads.
• Ability to proactively gather requirements and work independently.
• Interest in global health research.
• Strong sense of focus and attention to detail.
• Demonstrated organizational skills, self-motivation, flexibility, and the ability to work and thrive in a fast-paced, highly creative entrepreneurial environment.
• Strong communication skills necessary to discuss complex analyses with lead faculty.
• Ability to compartmentalize, illustrate, and explain how code implements analytic strategies.
• 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 at https://www.healthdata.org/about/careers/dei.
CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT
• Weekend and evening work sometimes required.
• This position is open to anyone authorized to work in the US. The UW is not able to sponsor visas for staff positions.
• The University of Washington requires students and personnel to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. To learn more about the requirements, please review the following: https://www.ehs.washington.edu/covid-19-prevention-and-response/uw-covid-19-vaccination-policy?_ga=2.31959098.540467107.1629831944-1755727657.1623616042.
• Office is located in Seattle, Washington. This position is eligible to work fully remote in the US.
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 an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 / 206-543-6452 (TTY) or dso@uw.edu.
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.