Surgo Ventures - Data Scientist

Data Scientist, India

Surgo Ventures is obsessed with solving big health problems with precision. Our services and products enable clients in the public and private sectors to deliver personalized health solutions designed to meet people's unique needs. Our scientists and health experts use behavioral science, data science, and artificial intelligence to unlock innovative scalable solutions that improve and save lives. Our work spans the globe, from projects in India, the United States, the United Kingdom and other low- and middle-income countries.

Our India team is growing fast and works on the most complex global health challenges - from infectious diseases to sexual and reproductive health. We have ambitious plans and are in search of top-class talent who want to roll up their sleeves and come work in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment to help solve big problems. We love our work and we think you will too.

Role Description:

We are looking for an exceptional, creative, and highly motivated Data Scientist with extensive applied experience in the analysis of large-scale data sets using statistics and machine learning methods, and a passion for solving some of the world's most difficult problems.

As Data Scientist, you will:

1. Apply, adapt, and/or integrate innovative and best-practice data science methodologies to support our clients and develop our products

2. Own the technical delivery of projects, from proposal to planning to analytics and reporting, working closely with leadership, managers, and other scientists

3. Visualize and communicate results for easy interpretation and application of insights, using graphics and layman's language to communicate them.

4. Be a source of novel ideas by keeping up to date with your domain area and exploring adaptation of new methodologies, technologies, and data sources

5.Contribute to the expertise and knowledge at Surgo by sharing tools, knowledge, and processes with colleagues

Prepare and support scientific communication to both academic and media outlets

6.Identify and contribute to funding opportunities through proposals and client conversations

7. Engage in constructive communication with our clients to enhance the quality of our work and satisfy project demands

8. Mentor junior staff as an ardent supporter of their professional development

Requirements:

Each of our data scientists brings in their own area(s) of expertise (e.g. causal inference, statistics, NLP, geospatial, big data) so you are not expected to be an expert in every facet of data science. However, we do expect you to be able to speak confidently across statistical and machine learning techniques so you can identify which approach is appropriate to a novel problem and lead one or more analytical projects. With this in mind, a well-qualified candidate would have:

1. B Tech/MS with 5-7 years of applied research experience or PhD with 2+ years of applied research experience using quantitative methods

2. Exceptional proficiency in building robust analytical pipelines in R or Python, with an eye for reliable and reproducible analyses (version control, code organization, QC/QA, collaborating with others on code base).

3. Exceptional proficiency in applying and interpreting statistical methods, at minimum including regression (linear, logistical, multilevel), decision trees, cluster analysis, dimensionality reduction, and imputation.

4. Proven record of delivering professional services and client success in commercial, industrial, consulting, public or private sector settings

5. Comfortable working in a fast-paced startup environment amidst uncertainty and rapid turnaround

6. Excellent communication (written, verbal and visual presentation) skills

Desirable:

- Previous experience working in public health, healthcare, or global development

- Familiarity with SAAS products: coding for production environments, deploying both local and cloud, and/or analyzing event data

- Expertise with advanced machine learning / statistical methods (e.g., causal discovery and causal inference)

- Excellent ability to digest and evaluate evidence from interdisciplinary literature

- Business development and/or project management experience

Location: Delhi NCR, India. We will consider remote applicants

Compensation: Competitive with leading Indian private sector firms

Travel: Domestic travel and 1 annual trip to the US

Our Hiring Philosophy:

We hire for passion and core competencies.

We look for problem solvers and lateral thinkers.

We love it if you have done different things with your time.

Equal Opportunity and Diversity Policy:

Surgo believes a diverse, inclusive staff makes us a stronger team and more impactful organization. We're committed to a diverse team, and qualified people of all races, ethnicities, cultures, ages, sex, genders, sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, languages, social class, marital status, religions, veterans status, and disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.