Senior Research Scientist

Job Posting Organization:
The Gates Foundation is the largest nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting poverty, disease, and inequity on a global scale. Founded with the mission that everyone, regardless of their identity or circumstances, should have the opportunity to lead healthy and productive lives, the Foundation emphasizes the importance of diversity among its employees to reflect the populations it serves. The organization offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, and vision coverage with no premiums, generous paid time off, paid family leave, retirement contributions, and opportunities for employees to engage in various community initiatives. The Foundation is committed to fostering a workplace environment that supports both personal and professional growth.

Job Overview:
The Senior Research Scientist (SRS) position is integral to the Institute for Disease Modeling (IDM) at the Gates Foundation, which focuses on eradicating infectious diseases through innovative computational modeling tools and quantitative decision-making. The SRS will be responsible for developing surveillance approaches and analytical pipelines tailored for humanitarian and hard-to-reach settings, specifically targeting diseases such as malaria and polio. This role involves designing strategies for effective data collection and intervention delivery in challenging environments, collaborating with researchers to enhance data sources and analyses, and integrating modeling approaches across various disease elimination teams. The SRS will also contribute to the advancement of computational tools and frameworks that can be applied to endemic country programs and regional Foundation offices, ensuring that the work aligns with the Foundation's mission to improve global health outcomes.

Duties and Responsibilities:
The Senior Research Scientist will design and lead comprehensive analytical approaches that address high-priority, hard-to-reach geographies to enhance surveillance and models guiding the elimination of malaria and polio. Responsibilities include coordinating efforts across IDM to incorporate operational realism into model frameworks, integrating novel data streams into modeling frameworks to gain insights into human mobility and service access, and leading collaborations within the IDM ecosystem and the Foundation to optimize service delivery for pathogen elimination. The SRS will engage with global health stakeholders to communicate findings and inform policy and analytical capacity requirements, ensuring that the analytical pipelines align with the needs of geographies facing operational challenges.

Required Qualifications:
Candidates must possess a PhD in epidemiology, biostatistics, computational biology, mathematical modeling, or a related field. A minimum of 10 years of experience in data handling and analytics to support operational aspects of humanitarian crisis response is required. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of building analytical pipelines with operational partners, engaging with public health practitioners, and applying AI and data science to public health challenges. Strong analytical skills, the ability to translate complex scientific results into actionable insights, and experience in collaborative projects with significant software components are essential.

Educational Background:
A doctoral degree (PhD) in a relevant field such as epidemiology, biostatistics, computational biology, or mathematical modeling is mandatory for this position. This educational background is crucial for understanding the complexities of disease modeling and the analytical approaches required for effective public health interventions.

Experience:
The position requires at least 10 years of relevant experience in handling data and analytics, particularly in the context of humanitarian crises and public health emergencies. Candidates should demonstrate a history of successful collaboration with operational partners and public health practitioners, as well as experience in managing research projects and communicating results to diverse audiences.

Languages:
While the job description does not specify mandatory languages, proficiency in English is likely essential given the global nature of the work and the need to communicate findings effectively. Additional language skills relevant to the regions of focus may be advantageous but are not explicitly required.

Additional Notes:
This is an 18-month limited-term position, and relocation assistance will be provided. The salary range for this role is between $190,100 to $294,700 USD, with specific ranges for Seattle and Washington D.C. being $209,100 to $324,100 USD. The Foundation emphasizes a balance between competitive pay and its mission, typically hiring new employees within the minimum to midpoint salary range. Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States without the need for visa sponsorship, as the Foundation does not provide immigration-related support for this role.