Data Scientist and Research Manager

Department

Crown Research Henly

About the Department

As one of the first schools of social work in the United States, the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice has shaped the field for more than 100 years. As part of the University of Chicago, the Crown Family School shares the University's core values and distinctive intellectual culture. Crown Family School faculty, staff, and students focus on identifying solutions to complex social problems through research, training, and direct community engagement. Guided by an interdisciplinary tradition, Crown Family School scholars conduct innovative research to address interconnected social challenges such as educational inequality, health disparities, crime and violence, poverty, and child and family welfare—working at multiple scales, from individual to policy-level interventions. More than 10,000 Crown Family School graduates in the US and globally hold leadership positions in academia, at nonprofits, in business, and at governmental agencies The Crown Family School is the home of several academic centers. These include the Susan and Richard Kiphart Center for Global Health and Social Development, the Kersten Institute for Urban Education, the Center for Climate, Health and Society, the Smart Decarceration Project, and the Employment Instability, Family Well-being, and Social Policy Network (EINet). More information may be found at https://crownschool.uchicago.edu/.

Job Summary

The position requires a highly motivated and experienced Data Scientist and Research Manager to support grant-funded research projects within Professor Julia Henly’s Policy Levers for Equitable Employment and Child Care Research Lab. The position will require data science/analytics management expertise, research staff supervision, as well as direct research responsibilities.

Data Science/Analytics Management:
Regarding data science/analytics management, the research data scientist will be responsible for planning and implementing reproducible research workflows across multiple projects, including:
Code management using version control (Git and GitHub);
Data management, such as designing permission-controlled data storage, resources, data linkage and harmonization, and other tasks to be determined;
Creating, implementing, and managing documentation strategies such as READMEs, GitHub repos, Wikis, codebooks, and internal memos;
Designing and building research data processing pipelines, incorporating tasks such as handling of missing data, qualitative coding and text processing, quality control testing, and imputation;
Building computational tools (such as user-defined functions, data-pulling scripts, and iterative analytic scripts) that persist over time and across projects to facilitate research;
Maintain confidentiality and comply with university data security policies across all projects.
Ensure data management and workflow procedures and in compliance with different policies, procedures, directives, and mandates.
The Research Data Scientist will also be responsible for identifying opportunities for improvement in the Henly Lab's analytical workflow and, through close listening and collaboration, ensuring solutions are tailored to current and future needs.

Research Staff Supervision:
Regarding staff supervision, the research data scientist will be responsible for training, supervising, and mentoring research assistants at undergraduate, master’s, and PhD levels who are part of the Policy Levers for Equitable Employment and Child Care lab. Including:
Support of learning and skill development of research staff.
Management of data-to-day research activities carried out by research team members.
Assisting the PI in the regular review of research staff performance.
The proper training of research staff in data security and compliance, and other research-related policies, procedures, directives, and mandates.


Research:
Regarding research, the research data scientist will be responsible for the following research activities:
Work with the research team to develop survey and interview protocols and identify and prepare administrative and archival data for analysis.
Assisting in the development of analytic strategies appropriate for diverse research designs and data structures, including quasi-experimental methods for causal inference.
Conduct advanced quantitative analysis, including modeling, propensity score matching, and weighting; analyze multilevel and longitudinal data.
Provide input to qualitative research activities led by other researchers on the team.
Share research findings with PI and other research team members on a regular basis to advance research efforts, written products, and plan follow-up work.
Contribute to reports, manuscripts, and presentations to funders and partners; co-authoring academic and applied publications; and Present study results to partners and broader audiences.
Contribute to the development of new grant proposals, with particular contributions on data analytic methods and strategies.
Expand policy/social science knowledge by attending and presenting at conferences and partner meetings, contributing to research products and dissemination activities, and staying abreast of academic literature and policy landscape.

The term of the assignment is through September 29, 2026.

Responsibilities

• Plans, implements, and maintains reproducible research workflows across multiple projects.
• Leads analysis and maintains data.
• Assists with the preparation of reports, manuscripts, and other documents.
• Trains, supervises, and mentors research staff.
• Meets at least weekly with research assistants and other research staff.
• Meets regularly with project PI.
• Attends regular meetings with Steering Committees of ongoing funded projects and other PIs and Co-PIs.
• Supports grant and report writing.
• Ensures data compliance with different policies, procedures, directives, and mandates.
• Analyzes moderately complex data sets for the purpose of extracting and purposefully using applicable information.
• Provides professional support to staff or faculty members in defining the project and applying principles of data science in manipulation, statistical applications, programming, analysis, and modeling.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 2-5 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications

Education:

• Master's in data science, public policy, or other related field strongly preferred. 

Experience:

• 3+ years experience in a data analyst role with supervisory responsibilities. 
• Demonstrated experience in data management.
• Demonstrated experience working on policy-related data analysis projects.
• Demonstrated experience working on a social science research project.

Preferred Competencies

• Evidence of enthusiasm for community-research partnerships and applied policy research (must be able to work with a wide range of faculty members, policy practitioners, grants officers, students, and community stakeholders).
• Strong capacity to develop goals, operating procedures, practices, and guidelines to maintain effective workflow of research activities.
• Capacity to lead acquisition, cleaning, and harmonization of public records and survey datasets from multiple sources, including social safety net programs, licensing data from public programs, insurance data, government census data, and public use survey data such as NSECE, NLSY, and GSS.
• Strong data analysis skills, including mastery of advanced quantitative data analysis techniques.
• Strong research writing skills appropriate to support the production of research reports, white papers, and journal articles, and to support grant proposals to funding agencies.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a collaborative team and manage own time and work tasks.
• Strong problem-solving and organizational skills. Ability to manage multiple projects with competing deadlines.
• Maintain confidentiality and follow University policies regarding data security and related issues.
• Some working knowledge of policy and practice innovations related to child care and early education, with eagerness to develop further knowledge in these areas.
• Ability to follow oral and written instructions.
• Proficiency in the use of GitHub, Stata, R, and other statistical programs;  Also familiarity with Microsoft Applications, including but not limited to Outlook, Excel, and Word.

Working Conditions

• Hybrid with at least two days in office at the UChicago Hyde Park location.
• The term of the assignment is through September 29, 2026, and may be continued, dependent on future funding.

Application Documents

• Resume (required)

Job Family

Research

Role Impact

Individual Contributor

Scheduled Weekly Hours

37.5

Drug Test Required

No

Health Screen Required

No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required

No

Pay Rate Type

Salary

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FLSA Status

Exempt

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Pay Range

$80,000.00

The included pay rate or range represents the University’s good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits Eligible

Yes

The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook.

Posting Statement

The University of Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, national or ethnic origin, shared ancestry, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.

 

Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5800 or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.

 

All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history.  A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment.  Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case-by-case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position.

 

The University of Chicago's Annual Security & Fire Safety Report (Report) provides information about University offices and programs that provide safety support, crime and fire statistics, emergency response and communications plans, and other policies and information. The Report can be accessed online at: http://securityreport.uchicago.edu. Paper copies of the Report are available, upon request, from the University of Chicago Police Department, 850 E. 61st Street, Chicago, IL 60637.