Senior Computational Research Consultant

Department: Kellogg Ctr for Sci & Innov

Salary/Grade: ITS/80

The Center for Science of Science and Innovation (CSSI), based at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, is a leading interdisciplinary research hub that explores the science of science, innovation, computational social science, and network science. CSSI brings together world‑class faculty, postdocs, PhD students, and staff in a fast‑paced, high‑impact environment, and its work regularly appears in top‑tier journals such as Nature, Science, and PNAS.

You will be part of a dynamic, goal‑driven team—a collaborative culture that values intellectual curiosity, technical rigor, and real‑world relevance.

As a Senior Computational Research (SCRC), you will draw on a broad set of technological, creative, and problem‑solving skills in order to accelerate and facilitate ambitious academic research at the center. In this role, you will work closely with researchers, understand their research challenges, and then design and implement creative solutions that help them move beyond major obstacles in their research work.

You will recommend techniques for the efficient processing and analysis of large‑scale research datasets. You will organize data collection and curation efforts and create documentation needed to publish this data according to FAIR principles. You will ensure data storage and handling processes comply with relevant data management plans and federal security protocols, and you will play an important role educating the team on best practices for data security and responsible data stewardship.

Expect to work with bright minds on challenging problems, continually evaluate emerging technologies, and apply new techniques to solve research problems. As these technologies and research questions evolve, so will your role.

• Listen critically and effectively in order to understand our faculty's research needs.
• Conceive, design, prototype, and implement innovative solutions around the collection, transformation, analysis, and visualization of social science research data.
• Draft data management plans that adhere to university and federal data governance policies, and create data handling procedures for the team that comply with these plans.

• Encourage our researchers to adopt innovative new technological tools and methods by developing training materials, guides, and other resources.
• Provide training and consulting for conducting statistical analyses using standard software and tools. Create and update documentation on resources, tools and data management practices.
• May lead training sessions on topics that promote responsible data stewardship.
• May mentor and coach junior colleagues and Research Fellows, as needed.

• Performs other duties as assigned.

• Advanced degree (M.A. or M.S. minimum, Ph.D. preferred) with a research component in any quantitative field.
• At least 4 years experience in roles that require working with data, performing academic research, and/or writing code.
• 3‑5 years experience using at least two of these standard statistical software packages:
  Python, R, C/C++, Julia.
• 1‑2 years experience with Unix/Linux, including scripting.
• Strong understanding of applied statistics methods, particularly as they apply to computational social sciences, especially machine learning and deep learning techniques.
• Ability to organize and document datasets intelligently, and to examine data critically for potential errors or inconsistencies.
• Ability to work independently and manage time effectively in an environment with unpredictable work‑flows.
• Outstanding communication skills with both technical and non‑technical clients.
• Commitment to continual learning and development.

• Working familiarity with commonly used machine learning and deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch, Tensor Flow, or Keras.
• Experience using natural language processing (NLP) algorithms to extract information from poorly structured data sources.
• Working familiarity with version control tools such as git and…