Data Science Associate

Job Description

Company Overview:Established in 1805, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (the NYC Health Department) is the oldest and largest health department in the country. Our mission is to protect and improve the health of all New Yorkers, in service of a vision of a city in which all New Yorkers can realize their full health potential, regardless of who they are, how old they are, where they are from, or where they live. As a world-renowned public health agency with a history of building transformative public health programming and infrastructure, innovating in science and scholarship to advance public health knowledge, and responding to urgent public health crises — from New York City’s yellow fever outbreak in 1822, to the COVID-19 pandemic — we are a hub for public health innovation, expertise, and programs, and services. We serve as the population health strategist, and policy, and planning authority for the City of New York, while also having a vast impact on national and international public policy, including programs and services focused on food and nutrition, anti-tobacco support, chronic disease prevention, HIV/AIDS treatment, family and child health, environmental health, mental health, and racial and social justice work, among others.

Job Summary:The Bureau of Data Technology and Strategy seeks a Data Science Associate to provide technical support for the application of data science to study public health outcomes and solutions. The Data Science Associate will engage in the implementation of AI/ML research tools, bringing in-house solutions to scale, and adapting developed technologies to new use cases. Problem-solving and stakeholder engagement skills will be applied in the public health setting to facilitate research, advanced analytics, and operations.

The Data Science Associate will regularly interface with data engineers, data product developers, and data governance staff to integrate and maintain novel solutions into an enterprise data platform. The Data Science Associate will provide technical assistance to Agency users to promote and maintain the use of AI/ML technology solutions.

The Data Science Associate will also provide support to the Senior Research Data Scientist for proposal development including technical advisement on analytic approaches and methods, technology resource requirements, timelines, and intended outputs.

The successful candidate will be situated within a values-driven and highly collaborative work unit with strong technical and professional mentorship; professional development opportunities will be continuously available.

This position will be within the Health Department’s innovative Center for Population Health Data Science (CPHDS). The CPHDS is working to strengthen citywide population health surveillance by better linking public health, healthcare, and social service data to fully characterize and improve the health of New Yorkers. Our vision is for these data tobe accessible, timely, equitable, meaningfully usable, and protected – and being actively to protect and promote health and wellbeing of New Yorkers. The selected candidate will be an employee of Public Health Solutions, a nonprofit organization which is the fiscal and administrative manager of the grant, but the work be supervised by DOHMH. This position will be based at the Health Department’s office in Long Island City, NY, with the possibility of hybrid work.

Responsibilities:

Support research that strengthens public health insights and actions through the use of data scientific methods, especially reusable, scalable AI/ML methods

Identify and/or assist development of AI/ML methods and/or practices; promote them to agency’s data analysts, data engineers, data scientists, and researchers through trainings and/or reports

Contribute to development of health equity-focused data products

Collaborate with CPHDS data engineers, product developers, product managers, and researchers to develop and launch public health analytic solutions for the Agency and the public health community at-large

Collaborate with internal and external researchers and analysts for various research projects

Author reports, presentations, and scientific papers based on analyses Qualifications:

A minimum of 2 years of work experience in statistical learning development, with some work experience in the development of deep learning algorithms

High fluency in the Python programming language is required, with proficiency in one of the deep-learning frameworks PyTorch or Tensorflow

Experience in virtualization technology, particularly with working experience in cloud environments (e.g., Azure, GCP, AWS, Databricks)

Experience in the development and deployment of foundation models

Advanced knowledge and experience in data wrangling, analysis, and visualization

Knowledge of public health research and operations, including health equity

Experience developing user interfaces and dashboards, working with geospatial data a plus

Ability to work with staff at all levels and to communicate complex technical knowledge in language that is understood at every level

MS in quantitative field preferred

Benefits:

Hybrid Work Schedule.

Generous Paid Time Off and Holidays.

An attractive and comprehensive benefits package including Medical, Dental and Vision.

Flexible Spending Accounts and Commuter Benefits.

Company Paid Life Insurance and Disability Coverage.

403 (b) + employer matching and discretionary company contributions.

College Savings Plan.

Ongoing training and continuous opportunities for professional growth and development.

Additional Information:

This individual must reside in the tri-state area (NY, NJ, CT) by their confirmed start date.

Preference may be given to individuals residing in New York City (5 boroughs) or surrounding New York State counties.

This individual will be expected to work non-business hours during emergencies.

This is a temporary grant-funded position ending in November 2027

At PHS, we place immense value on diversity within our teams, understanding that varied backgrounds and experiences significantly enhance our community and propel us toward our goals. If you find you don’t have experience in all the areas listed above, we still encourage you to apply and share your background and experiences in your application. We are eager to discover how your unique perspective can bring positive transformations to our team and help advance our mission of creating healthier, more equitable communities.

We look forward to learning more about you!

PHS is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from women, people of color, persons with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and veterans.

Monday-Friday

Hybrid

35 Hours Per Week

Hybrid remote