Research Scientist

Special Information

• NAU is currently engaged in transitioning to a new employment category called University Staff, which aligns the current Classified Staff, Service Professional, and Administrator classifications into a single, unified employment group. As a result, while this position is currently classified as Service Professional, effective July 1, 2026, this position will be automatically transitioned to the University Staff category.
• This position is a hybrid position which allows the incumbent to complete their work at both an NAU site, campus, or facility and at a non-centralized site with or without accommodation.
• This position is subject to the availability of funding. The incumbent is not eligible for Service Professional non-renewal notice, or Classified Staff layoff or recall status.
• Due to a university-wide staff classification transition, the expected start date for this position is on or after July 6, 2026.

About the Department/College

The Center for Community Health and Engaged Research (CHER) is a vibrant research center focused on public health issues impacting local, regional, and national populations. Our core faculty have a variety of research foci and manage collaborative, interdisciplinary grants and foundation projects.
About the Position

We are seeking a highly motivated, independent Research Scientist to join our transdisciplinary team using data-driven approaches to advancing evidence on child autism services, disparities, and outcomes in the United States. This position offers the unique opportunity to collaboratively work at the intersection of public health, social science, and computational science and make a meaningful difference in the lives of autistic individuals.
Responsibilities Include

50% - Independent Research

• Leads the harmonization and management of and curates large, complex datasets from public sources (Medicaid claims data, National Survey of Children's Health, and state Early Intervention programs).
• Develops and implements machine learning models to identify patterns, predict outcomes, and generate insights into pediatric autism services.
• Collaborates with health, social, and data scientists to design robust analytical pipelines.
• Applies an analytical approach to the solution of a wide variety of problems and applies specialized techniques in selecting and evaluating approaches to unforeseen or novel problems.
• Designs, performs, and/or oversees experiments and data collection to ensure data integrity, quality control, and protocol compliance.
• Maintains currency of knowledge with respect to relevant state-of-the-art practices, protocols, technology, equipment, and/or systems.

20% - Dissemination

• Writes manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals.
• Writes abstracts for conference presentation consideration.
• Presents methods and results informally at project team meetings and at conferences.

15% - Mentorship

• Mentor students who are working on the project by providing guidance on research methods, teaching new skills, and supporting them throughout their engagement with the project.

10% - Research Administration

• Lead grant writing activities.
• Lead and coordinate project reporting requirements.

5% - Other

• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• PhD in computer science, statistics, data science, biostatistics, computational social science, or a related field.
• 6 years experience in a research or academic role.

* A combination of related education, experience, and training may be used as an equivalent to the above

Minimum Qualifications .
Preferred Qualifications

• 10 years experience in applied data analytics.
• Experience with cloud computing or high-performance computing.
• Background in public health, developmental disorders, or autism research.
• Background in demographic, epidemiologic, or spatial research.
• Project management and reporting experience.
• Peer-reviewed publications as lead or co-author.

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

Knowledge

• Advanced knowledge of relevant research discipline.
• Expert knowledge of research methods, protocols, data collection, and analysis.
• Knowledge of proper safety and compliance practices related to the conduct of research.
• Interest in understanding autism disparities for children, youth, and families.

Skills

• May have distinguishing or unique skills related to particular field of research.
• Developing and executing innovative data collection and analysis practices.
• Preparing materials for research proposals, presentations and/or publications.
• Expert programming skills in Python and/or R.
• Expert communication skills.
• Proficiency in data wrangling and cleaning, as well as the integration of heterogeneous datasets.
• Proficiency in machine learning frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, mlr3) and statistical modeling.
• Working knowledge of applying advanced algorithms with high-dimensional data.

Abilities

• Analyzes and synthesizes complex data and information to derive conclusions.
• Identifies and organizes research priorities and anticipates needs.
• Identifies appropriate qualitative and…