Data Scientist III – OHS TTA Hub

Description

Location: Remote
Schedule: Full-Time; must be available during core hours of 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. Eastern
Citizenship: U.S. citizenship required
Clearance: Must be able to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance and obtain a PIV card
Travel: Occasional travel may be required
Position Status: Contingent upon contract award

Missing Link Security is seeking an experienced Data Scientist III to support the Office of Head Start (OHS) Training and Technical Assistance Data Platform, known as the TTA Hub, in support of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF).

The Data Scientist III will develop and validate advanced analytics and, when prioritized, artificial intelligence capabilities that help OHS better understand training and technical assistance needs and outcomes. This role will apply rigorous statistical and data science methods while ensuring that models and analytical approaches are explainable, validated, reproducible, and appropriately monitored.

This is a Key Personnel position and will be named in our proposal.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of statistical, machine learning, and, when prioritized, AI models supporting TTA reporting, trend analysis, and actionable insights.
• Ensure each AI use case is appropriately documented and explainable.
• Define expected outcomes, baselines, experimental designs, and validation approaches before deployment.
• Establish methods for evaluating uncertainty and monitoring model performance.
• Develop and maintain appropriate model documentation.
• Partner with the Senior Data Analyst on data definitions, data quality, and responsible interpretation of analytical results.
• Communicate analytical findings and their implications clearly to program leaders.
• Prototype and productionize approved analytical and modeling approaches in collaboration with engineering and security team members.
• Develop and apply tests addressing data leakage, bias, privacy, and performance.
• Promote reproducibility and appropriate validation throughout the analytics and modeling lifecycle.

Requirements

• Seven (7) or more years of experience in applied statistics or data science, including experience with production machine learning or advanced analytics and model validation.
• Bachelor's degree in statistics, data science, computer science, or a related quantitative field, or equivalent demonstrated experience.
• Strong experience with statistical modeling and regression.
• Experience designing and evaluating experiments.
• Experience with optimization methods.
• Proficiency with Python or R.
• Experience working with cloud data warehouses.
• Experience working with distributed data.
• Demonstrated experience with analytical and model validation.
• Experience developing reproducible analytical processes.
• U.S. citizenship required.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a Public Trust clearance and obtain a Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree in statistics, data science, computer science, or another related quantitative field.
• Experience evaluating human-services programs.
• Experience with responsible AI governance.
• Experience applying Natural Language Processing (NLP) to narrative reports.
• Experience with operational machine learning monitoring.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate combines strong statistical and data science expertise with a disciplined approach to validation, interpretation, and responsible use of advanced analytics. This individual understands that a successful model must not only perform well but also be explainable, reproducible, appropriately monitored, and suitable for the context in which it will be used.

We are looking for someone who can move comfortably between research, analysis, experimentation, and production implementation while collaborating effectively with data, engineering, security, and program stakeholders. The successful candidate will be analytical, thoughtful, curious, and able to communicate sophisticated findings clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Missing Link Security is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.