Quantitative Consulting Center Statistician/Data Scientist

Basic Function and Responsibility: Biola University seeks a Statistical / Data Science Consultant to support the University’s statistical consulting activities. This position combines hands-on statistical and data-science consulting with client development and project coordination in an educational setting. Approximately half of the position will involve direct work on consulting projects, including statistical analysis, data management, interpretation, and communication of results. The remaining portion will involve developing consulting opportunities, communicating with prospective and current clients, coordinating multiple projects, and maintaining efficient workflows from initial inquiry through project completion. The successful candidate will be a strong applied-statistics generalist who enjoys working directly with clients, can translate research and organizational questions into appropriate quantitative analyses, and is comfortable taking initiative to develop new consulting relationships. The position requires broad competence in standard graduate-level applied statistics, sound statistical judgment, and the ability to learn new methods or seek additional expertise when projects require unusually specialized techniques. This is primarily an individual-contributor position and does not include regular staff-management responsibilities, although the position may provide technical direction to student research assistants. Essential Duties: Statistical and Data Science Consulting Consult with clients to clarify research questions, understand study designs and data structures, and develop appropriate analysis plans. Conduct statistical analyses for a variety of applied research and consulting projects. Clean, organize, merge, validate, and document quantitative datasets. Apply a broad range of standard graduate-level statistical methods appropriate to applied research, including regression, analysis of variance, categorical data analysis, multivariate methods, experimental and quasi-experimental design, survey analysis, power analysis, and related methods. Select statistical methods based on the research question, study design, characteristics of the data, and assumptions of the proposed analysis. Recognize when a project requires methodological expertise beyond the position’s current experience and appropriately learn, consult, or escalate specialized statistical issues as needed. Evaluate model assumptions, data quality, uncertainty, and limitations of statistical conclusions. Produce clear tables, visualizations, technical summaries, and reports. Explain statistical methods and results accurately to clients with differing levels of quantitative expertise. Assist clients in translating statistical findings into appropriate conclusions for research reports, presentations, publications, and organizational decision-making. Develop reproducible and well-documented analytical workflows. Learn unfamiliar statistical techniques and substantive research areas as needed to address new consulting problems. Client Development and Project Coordination Identify potential consulting clients and opportunities consistent with the University’s educational mission. Initiate contact with prospective clients through telephone, email, professional networks, referrals, and other appropriate outreach. Meet with prospective clients to understand their needs and determine whether and how the consulting program can assist them. Develop project scopes, anticipated deliverables, timelines, and estimates of the resources required for proposed projects. Maintain relationships with current and previous clients and identify opportunities for additional appropriate consulting work. Coordinate multiple concurrent consulting projects and maintain accurate records of project status, deadlines, deliverables, client communications, and follow-up needs. Monitor projects from initial inquiry through completion and help ensure that commitments to clients are met. Coordinate scheduling and communication among clients, consultants, and student research assistants as appropriate. Assist with proposal development and other activities associated with establishing new consulting engagements. Contribute to the ongoing development and effectiveness of the University’s statistical consulting activities. Student Research Assistants Provide technical direction and appropriate project assignments to student research assistants when utilized. Review student analytical work for accuracy and quality. Help students develop professional skills in applied statistical consulting and data analysis. Non-Essential Duties: Preferred Skills/Qualifications Experience providing statistical consulting or collaborative research support. Experience working directly with multiple clients, investigators, faculty members, or organizational stakeholders. Experience with predictive modeling, machine learning, or other modern data-science methods. Experience with research design, measurement, survey methodology, or program evaluation. Experience preparing analyses for peer-reviewed research, grant-funded projects, institutional research, or other professional settings. Experience developing new client relationships, consulting engagements, or externally funded analytical work. Experience supervising or mentoring student researchers or junior analysts. Familiarity with reproducible research practices, version control, or collaborative analytical workflows. Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities The successful candidate should be able to: Work collaboratively in an academic environment while functioning independently on assigned responsibilities. Serve as a statistical generalist across a wide range of applied research questions. Learn unfamiliar substantive areas sufficiently to understand a client’s research or organizational problem. Take initiative in identifying opportunities for new consulting relationships. Move comfortably between statistical principles and practical applied analysis. Recognize when a proposed analysis is inappropriate and recommend a better approach. Learn new statistical methods efficiently when a project requires techniques outside the candidate’s previous experience. Recognize when specialized methodological expertise should be sought rather than attempting to work beyond appropriate limits. Balance statistical rigor with the practical constraints of consulting projects. Work effectively on several projects at different stages of development. Communicate professionally and confidently with prospective and current clients. Supervision Received: Director, Quantitative Consulting Center Qualifications Strong organizational skills and demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects, deadlines, and client relationships simultaneously. Ability and willingness to initiate contact with prospective clients and participate actively in developing new consulting opportunities. Ability to work independently, exercise professional judgment, and take responsibility for projects from initial consultation through final delivery. Strong written and verbal communication skills. Demonstrated ability to independently conduct statistical analyses using real-world data. Ability to interpret statistical results accurately and communicate their practical meaning to non-specialists. Ability to recognize when specialized expertise is required and to learn new methods or seek additional consultation as appropriate. Experience preparing, cleaning, restructuring, and integrating datasets for analysis. Ability to determine appropriate statistical methods rather than simply implement analyses specified by others. Ability to evaluate statistical assumptions, identify potential methodological problems, and recommend appropriate alternatives. Educational Requirements Master’s degree in statistics, biostatistics, data science, applied mathematics, quantitative social science, or a closely related field. Strong Proficiency in Python or R for statistical analysis, data management, and visualization