Data Scientist opening at DAPPER Stats
DAPPER Stats is hiring! We are seeking a motivated data scientist to join our team and help expand our company by assisting with ongoing projects focused on Pacific coast fisheries, avian impacts of renewable power facilities, and wetland mitigation designs, as well as by leading new projects aligned with their interests.
Posted: 2019-10-04
Review of Stage 1 Submissions Begins: 2019-10-19
Open Until Filled
DAPPER Stats develops cutting-edge computational and statistical tools that address pressing practical problems while promoting science literacy and professional development in underserved communities.
DAPPER Stats is dedicated to challenging and dismantling barriers of systematic oppression and gatekeeping. We seek to specifically leverage employment and training opportunities in this fight. As such, we especially encourage individuals with diverse backgrounds and members of traditionally underserved and underrepresented communities to apply.
The position is provisionally titled "Data Scientist", but we recognize that different career paths recognize particular titles and are amenable to renaming the position as needed.
In many ways, this position is akin to an academic post-doc, but with the opportunity to develop and expand the role to suit the employee's desires and DAPPER's needs.
The ideal candidate is presently:
- interested in applied computational, statistical, and/or theoretical ecology (or related fields)
- looking for science careers outside of academia
- happy to take on existing projects that have defined scopes
As a Data Scientist, you will able to:
- collaborate directly with clients to identify anlytical needs and methods
- develop or extend existing mathematical models for ecological data
- write code to prepare, manipulate, analyze, and visualize data
- support data-driven decision making in conservation management
- communicate findings clearly to a variety of stakeholders (scientists, managers, lawyers, lay public, etc.) to educate and inform them
Over the term of the position, through training and support from DAPPER Stats, the Data Scientist would be able to (if desired):
- develop and foster their own collaborations and client relationships
- take a leadership role in DAPPER and help guide the company's development
- oversee administrative tasks on projects
The specifics of the position, including which projects the Data Scientist will be involved with, are open to discussion with the candidate. We recognize that no one individual will possess all possible traits or interests, please consider these lists as covering possibilities, rather than defining necessities.
We are looking for employees with the following range of skills and trainings:
- scientific process: able to oversee a scientific project from conception to publication
- coding: proficiency with the software and languages of their choice (DAPPER is language agnostic)
- analyses: capability to analyze complex data sets (non-normal, 0-heavy, missing data, autocorrelation, etc.) as part of a research project
- writing: able to write scientific documents for a variety of audiences (technical reports, manuscripts, etc.)
The ideal candidate will be well-versed scientifically, with experience on multiple research projects. This likely means that they will have a Ph.D. or comparable degree, but that is not a strict requirement. A master's degree with significant experience is sufficient.
The ideal start date is January 2020, but work is available now so the start date can be earlier, or the start can be pushed back if needed.
Salary: $60,000 / year
Medical: health care and dental via the Oregon Health Insurance Marketplace
Additional Benefits: standard federally required benefits (COBRA, Disability, FMLA, Unemployment, Worker's Comp), flexible schedule and location, business and professional development training
This position will ideally be for 2 years, with the possibility of developing into a longer-term role. We are a startup company and unfortunately cannot guarantee funding that far in advance. What we can guarantee, however, is a fully-funded (with benefits) position for 6 months, access to projects to lead that could generate additional support, a high likelihood for funding beyond 6 months. Recognizing the stress and uncertainty of working for a startup, DAPPER will prioritize your compensation.
DAPPER is presently located in Portland, Oregon, USA. Given the nature of our work, telecommuting or working remotely are suitable for this position. If you are not in Portland and are interested in relocating, we can help cover moving costs.
No travel is required for this position.
The evaluation process will occur in three stages:
Candidates should submit the following to express their interest in the position:
- A letter of interest (maximum 1 page)
- Tell us a bit about yourself!
- Some possible things to cover: What are you looking for in a job? What are your career aspirations and how does this position align with them? What do you value in a workplace environment?
- Your CV
- Can be any length or format
- A single exemplar of your work
- Provide one product that captures the breadth and/or depth of your work on a project.
- Examples include link to a software application, a manuscript, or slides of a talk.
- If necessary, provide an accompanying paragraph of text explaining the product's context.
Review of materials will begin October 19 2019, but the position will stay open until filled.
From the letters, CVs, and examples, a set of candidates will be selected to submit a more detailed application including a portfolio of work products and three (3) letters of reference.
From the portfolios and references, a final set of candidates will be selected for in-person or video interviews. This stage will involve candidates presenting some of their research, answering questions regarding technical aspects of their work, and discussing their potential fit in the organization.
Please send all documentation to [email protected]
A little about the company:
DAPPER LLC (aka DAPPER Stats) is a small company based in Portland, OR that provides on-point quantitative scientific support services with a current focus on wildlife conservation. Dr. Juniper Simonis (they/them pronouns; Google Scholar, ORCID) started DAPPER in May 2015 and to date has been its sole employee. Building upon existing scientific collaborations and expanding into new areas, DAPPER has garnered work through governmental (tribal, state, federal), academic, non-profit, and consulting collaborations to become a sustainable and growing company. Over the past four and a half years, DAPPER’s client base has steadily grown and now we have enough projects to support an additional staff member. The goal is to make DAPPER into a non-academic research laboratory with multiple staff members across a range of experiences engaged in a variety of projects, and this position is the first step towards that. Hence the job posting you are reading!
You can find our Mission and Vision on our organization's GitHub page
The work we presently do spans a variety of organisms and ecosystems, with a particular focus on estimating small populations from incomplete samples. Recently, this has involved work on endangered fishes in the California Delta, birds and bats at renewable power facilities, and cooperatively managed wolf reintroductions. In addition to producing academic and technical literature, we build tools that help front-end users (e.g., wildlife managers, plant operators) understand core concepts and leverage contemporary statistical tools with push-button ease.
Examples of some recent projects:
- GenEst estimator of fatalities: software package, web app, technical documents
- Delta smelt population distribution model: manuscript
- Automated population forecasting: manuscript, website, software package
For more information, please contact [email protected]