Computational & Data Science Research Spec. 4 (6028U) Job #27188 - BIDS University Of California
Berkeley, CA

Job Description

The University of California, Berkeley, is one of the world's most iconic teaching and research institutions. Since 1868, Berkeley has fueled a perpetual renaissance, generating unparalleled intellectual, economic and social value in California, the United States and the world. Berkeley's culture of openness, freedom and acceptance-academic and artistic, political and cultural-make it a very special place for students, faculty and staff.

Berkeley is committed to hiring and developing staff who want to work in a high performing culture that supports the outstanding work of our faculty and students. In deciding whether to apply for a staff position at Berkeley, candidates are strongly encouraged to consider the alignment of the Berkeley Workplace Culture with their potential for success at http://jobs.berkeley.edu/why-berkeley.html.

Application Review Date

The First Review Date for this job is: Immediate Review

Departmental Overview

In 2019, UC Berkeley, UCSF, Johnson & Johnson Innovation and Janssen Research & Development came together to establish the Data Science Health Innovation Fellowship Program, to bring together experienced data scientists with academic and industry researchers, to facilitate collaboration among scientists, engineers, clinicians, and entrepreneurs, to tackle complex problems in health and patient care and to accelerate innovation in healthcare through data-driven approaches.

This fellowship program offers a two-year research and entrepreneurial opportunity for seasoned data science professionals to apply computer science, data science, data engineering, and computational statistics research and development principles, along with relevant domain science knowledge, to complex problems and datasets, to advance understanding of health and improve patient care by providing meaningful clinical insights. The fellowship program will recruit serial cohorts of up to five outstanding data scientists per year from industry and academia. We are seeking applications from a wide range of backgrounds and with specializations across the burgeoning field of data science, such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, developing and optimizing methodologies, software, and tools while working with various large datasets. The datasets Fellows have worked with may be healthcare related, such as electronic medical records, clinical notes, medical images, high-content microscopy and 'omics, or should have comparable levels of scale and complexity. Fellows will receive training, support, and guidance from domain science and medical experts, including a mentor from each of the three collaborating organizations. The primary responsibility of the Fellows is to successfully identify and conduct interdisciplinary data-intensive research related to healthcare and use computational and data science technology as a tool to accomplish the aims of the research.

To be considered for the Program, all applicants must submit an application through UC Berkeley Jobs Website. All applicants are strongly encouraged to visit the fellowship program website [https://innovateforhealth.berkeley.edu/] for detailed description of the fellowship program and a list of requested supplemental application materials. All selected Fellows will be hired as a full-time (100%) employee of the University of California for 2 years, with a starting salary dependent on qualifications and comparable to industry standards nationwide. Fellows will be based both at the Berkeley Institute for Data Science (BIDS) at UC Berkeley and the Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute (BCHSI) at UCSF. Fellows will travel to Johnson & Johnson sites as needed to further scientific collaboration, and will have limited support for conference travel. The program does not provide assistance with relocation, housing, or transportation.

Responsibilities

50% Specifies, develops, implements and executes highly complex software development and research plans over an 18-month period. Performs or directs highly complex computational and data modeling, performance and integration testing. Works with research communities to develop, implement, and optimize computational and data analysis / analytics software / tools / algorithms / research codes with broad applicability. Conducts in-depth benchmarking, profiling, and analysis of scientific codes, or data science / analytics / algorithms or tests, optimizes and develops complex software and workflows to enhance performance and capabilities. Conducts in-depth evaluation of usage modes, capabilities, characteristics, and performance of multiple highly complex data science in health software and tools, and makes expert usage recommendations based on analyses.

20% Works closely with faculty at UC Berkeley and UCSF and scientists from Janssen Pharmaceuticals to identify complex problems in healthcare that have the potential for radical advancement of knowledge or understanding, or development and evaluation for new approaches, through the application of data-driven approaches. Identifies and works with faculty mentors to scope and define a specific data-driven project aimed at significantly improving health and patient care, and pitches project proposals to management team.

20% Initiates large and complex research projects with multi-institutional scope which will involve collaboration with domain scientists and medical experts. Contributes to other research projects in collaboration with other researchers and PIs. Manages disclosures related to conflict of interest and data privacy and security issues.

10% Publishes and presents, based on research and development work, results about HPC systems, data science techniques and tools, performance and algorithm enhancement in research venues to attract usage from domain science and medical communities, or to promote latest technologies within the community. May represent the organization as part of a team at national and international meetings, conferences and committees.

Required Qualifications

This is a two-year (full-time) contract

* Demonstrated ability to propose, initiate, and carry out ambitious data-intensive research projects.
* Entrepreneurial abilities: demonstrated skills in finding unmet needs, translating those into tractable solutions that can be implemented, and working with few specifically assigned resources.
* Self-motivated and works well both independently and as part of a team.
* Strong collaboration skills with highly technical researchers and ability to engage across a variety of methodological fields (e.g., computer science, mathematics, and statistics), computational platforms, and ideally, research domains (e.g., health sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and medicine).
* Excellent and demonstrated ability to regularly, effectively communicate with management teams.
* Ability to communicate data insights that translate into significant impact in a clear and effective manner to technical and non-technical personnel at various levels in the organization and to external research and education audiences.
* In depth skills and experience with independently resolving complex computing / data / CI problems using introductory and / or intermediate principles.
* Ability to curate/clean/organize large and messy datasets; to write code to query and transform both unstructured and structured data.
* Strong programming skills in scripting languages such as Python, Java/Scala, and SQL and comfort with advanced analytics tools such as R, Spark, and/or Tableau, in addition to in programming languages (e.g. C/C++). Strong working knowledge of Hadoop, extraction/transformation/loading (ETL). Record of prototyping, developing and scaling software.
* Fluent in using scientific computing environments, e.g. HPC cluster (CPUs and GPUs) or cloud (AWS, Azure, Google, Salesforce, IBM, or VMWare).
* Highly advanced skills, and extensive experience associated multiple of the following: data modeling; data mining; mathematical modeling; artificial intelligence; machine learning; deep learning models (e.g., 2/3d CNN, LSTM/GRU), architecture (e.g., Resnet, U-net), and frameworks (e.g.,Tensorflow, pytorch, keras); natural language processing; knowledge graphs; reinforcement learning; data representation, and optimization.
* BS with 7+ years or MS with 6+ years or PhD with 3+ years of applicable experience is expected. Degree(s) should be in a technical discipline such as Computer Science, Engineering, Statistics, Physic, Math or other related fields.

Preferred Qualifications

* Experience working in health and biomedical sectors preferred, but not required.

Salary & Benefits

For information on the comprehensive benefits package offered by the University visit:

http://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/compensation-and-benefits/index.html

* This is a two-year contract position. Contract positions may be extended based on operational demand. Contract positions are eligible to participate in the health and welfare programs offered by UC Berkeley.
* The salary range designated for this position: $117,800 - $130,00; however, starting salary will be commensurate with experience.

How to Apply

Please submit your cover letter and resume as a single attachment when applying.

Conviction History Background

This is a designated position requiring fingerprinting and a background check due to the nature of the job responsibilities. Berkeley does hire people with conviction histories and reviews information received in the context of the job responsibilities. The University reserves the right to make employment contingent upon successful completion of the background check.

Equal Employment Opportunity

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status. For more information about your rights as an applicant see: http://www.eeoc.gov/employers/upload/poster_screen_reader_optimized.pdf

For the complete University of California nondiscrimination and affirmative action policy see:

http://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4000376/NondiscrimAffirmAct