Coforma is looking for a Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML) focused Data Scientist to join our growing, distributed team. 

The Data Scientist enjoys tackling complex problems while working with other members of our cross-disciplinary teams to deliver elegant solutions across a full, modern technology stack. If this is you, then you must be comfortable with evaluating and developing ML models, and explaining the impact and value of these models to non-expert stakeholders. 

At Coforma, our technology teams are composed of engineers, designers, and product managers, and often participate in research activities to reduce friction and increase understanding and empathy. As such, your passion for articulating how to execute in the pursuit of doing what’s right is a feature, not a bug.

This role is specialized in developing, assessing, and iterating on natural language processing and machine learning models, in particular models for multi-label classification of free-form text. A successful candidate will be comfortable assessing existing trained ML classifiers for fitness and accuracy, and then either iterating on these models or developing replacement models better fit for critical people-facing processes. Your expert knowledge of NLP and ML classification systems will be applied to training the system on existing labeled samples, and validating model accuracy both before and after deployment. The system you help design, build, and train will operate at scale in real time.

Machine Learning based on natural language has many hazards including implicit bias and unintended discrimination. At Coforma, ethical use of AI is an important factor in our work. We value diversity, inclusivity, equality, and accessibility. The systems you design and build will consider and safeguard those values. A successful candidate will be able to discuss potential sources of discrimination in NLP and techniques to account for them.

Let’s build software that makes an impact, and let’s ensure the delivery of code that we can be proud to say we worked on together.

What you’ll do

• Collaborate with the product team, government/client stakeholders, and other contractors to build new systems and make improvements to existing systems
• Design and spec out major functionality
• Participate in planning, including breaking down requirements into tasks
• Create AI/ML solutions supporting real-time inference and/or classification of critical free-form text
• Work alongside AI/ML engineers in training, testing, and validating AI/ML solutions, establishing clear metrics to assess ongoing model accuracy
• Safeguard against implicit bias and discrimination in your AI/ML designs

What you know

• How to communicate complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences
• Natural Language Processing techniques and tools
• Writing clean, well-documented code for training and evaluating ML models
• Designing and developing ML models for multi-label classification of natural language
• Strong research and problem solving skills
• Evaluating candidate approaches to analysis and extraction of free-form text

What you’ve done

• 4+ years experience developing and training NLP/ML models using common languages like Python and ML tools like TensorFlow or PyTorch
• 4+ years experience performing data analysis using tools like pandas, NumPy, Julia, or R
• 4+ years experience working with cross-functional teams to bring models into reality

Team & General Qualifications

• Analytical – analytical skills and an ability to create systems
• Planner – will anticipate what could go wrong when planning and coordinating, thoughtfully mitigating risks 
• Organized – will prioritize projects, complete tasks on time, and both document and share processes with others as needed
• Cooperative – will work collaboratively with peers, top executives, and high-level contacts; cooperate with staff across different teams, departments, and expertise
• Communicative – will communicate ideas and create personal relationships through writing and in-person exchange, customizing the delivery to the audience
• Travel flexibility – will attend in-person meetings, workshops, trainings, and more on request and with advance notice as assigned to projects that require it (no more than 5-10%, with health and safety precautions being paramount)
• Calm and nimble – will navigate a fast-paced environment and ambiguity, changing priorities, and unexpected project challenges
• Autonomy – will to get work done fairly self-directed, requiring minimal supervision or direction from others
• Continual learner – is committed to ongoing learning and knowledge sharing
• Brand representative – will represent Coforma professionally and sincerely, modeling the company values to be and help others be collaborative, accessible, empowered, informed, ethical and responsible, values-driven, and transparent for the sake of accountability and community

Other

• Internet – will prioritize and maintain access to strong, reliable internet for the remote nature of our work (except when on vacation/holiday)
• Security – will keep the highest security practices to ensure privacy and security of Coforma and client information given the nature of our work (even when on vacation)
• Must be legally authorized to work in the US now and in the future without sponsorship

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior professional services, government, or federal consulting experience
• Experience working on a remote team or remote freelancing
• The ideal applicant will be comfortable in a fast-paced environment, flexible, innovative, and attentive to detail
• Operational knowledge of the software development lifecycle
• Experience in MLOps and deploying real-time models to critical production environments
• Hands-on experience with AWS and/or Azure a plus
• Passion for ethical use of AI
• Experience with healthcare industry and terminology

We Don’t Care About

• Whether or not you have a degree of any kind
• Whether your educational major, if you had one, is related to this role
• Whether or not you have GitHub contributions
• Whether or not you have worked at a well-recognized company

We Do Care About

• Your passions — professional or otherwise
• Your well-informed opinions about technology, teams, and process
• You

We participate in E-Verify. Upon hire, we will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S.

This role is required to work from the contiguous United States.

The stress of job searching can make you wonder if you’re enough. Studies have even shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs when they don’t meet every qualification. We believe that you ARE enough–and that it’s okay not to meet every requirement. We’re building a culture that’s authentic, inclusive, and diverse. If you’re excited to work with us but not sure you check every box, apply anyway! You may be just right for this or another role.

We use creativity to get results for clients and the communities they serve.

We’ve honed a modern, agile, user-centered approach that elevates human needs through thoughtfully-designed systems and products.

From connecting families in crisis at the US border to improving the way governments consume COVID-19 mobility data through a more accessible and user-friendly tool, we’re dedicated to improving people’s lives through thoughtful technology products and services. Together. Our cross-functional team works closely with each other and with our government, nonprofit, and commercial partners to research, design, and build better products and services.

Coforma employs over 90 talented creators. Our leadership has decades of experience in improving government digital services from a civic service mindset, and a strong record of developing innovative technology solutions for government, enterprise, and nonprofits.

We thoughtfully integrate design into product development. We are experts in leading the design and development of products to meet business goals, build alignment, and deliver value through technically feasible and iterative design activities.

Business objectives and human beings are at the center of our work. We work very closely and collaboratively with our partners, from solicitation through to delivery, to ensure that the solution provides a high level of value to the business. Accessibility is never overlooked in our work, and our iterative approach validates the utility and delight of the final product.

Coforma is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, age, pregnancy, disability, work-related injury, covered veteran status, political ideology, marital status, or any other factor that the law protects from employment discrimination. As a federal government contractor, all employees of Coforma are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by January 4, 2022. Background checks and other security clearances may be required for some roles as it relates to the nature of our client work.

Our team and our office aims to be an accessible and hospitable place to work. We welcome applicants, contractors, and employees who are committed to improving our culture and practices.