Data Scientist

About the Company

QED is a tech company focused on public health and food security in Sub-Saharan Africa. We build the digital infrastructure and AI used at the intersection of aid and scientific inquiry, including in-situ nutrient analysis of crops and soils and foods, and surveillance of HIV and malaria at national-scale in multiple African countries.

Responsibilities

• Build and improve regression models for spectroscopic data (e.g., PLSR, SVR, Extra Trees)
• Plan sampling strategies and real-world experimental design with a strong statistical mindset
• Design robust training/evaluation pipelines including preprocessing, feature engineering, and hyperparameter tuning
• Apply chemometrics best practices to spectral data
• Diagnose model failures and data issues such as instrument effects and dataset shift
• Construct dashboards and reports to present and visualize data analytics
• Collaborate with engineering and product teams to package and deploy models
• Assist in communication with scientific institutes, companies, and researchers
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams in the composition of research papers and impact reports

Requirements

• Proficiency with core ideas in statistics
• Formal academic studies in statistics, data science, or software engineering
• Practical experience analyzing real-world datasets
• Ability to use computer programming to wrangle and analyze statistical data
• Proficiency with git and Python-based programming environments
• Experience with traditional statistical techniques (regression, hypothesis testing, survey design, RCTs)
• Experience with modern machine learning methods (decision trees, boosting, neural networks)
• Working proficiency (C1) in English
• Strong logical reasoning and communication skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience with spectroscopy (Vis/NIR/MIR) and chemometrics
• Understanding of spectroscopy physics
• Experience with calibration transfer or drift monitoring
• Domain familiarity in food chemistry, agriculture, or soil/plant analysis
• Interest in sustainable development goals and global public health