Research Data Scientist

University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill; Elkins Hills (NC); Hybrid; USD 95,000 - 125,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits package

Professional training opportunities

Exclusive discounts

Job summary

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is seeking a Research Data Scientist to support the TraCS Data Science Lab. You will collaborate with program leadership to advance clinical data science across UNC, designing data resources and novel methods, and developing educational curricula for trainees and researchers.

The role offers flexibility to pursue extramural funding aligned with TraCS priorities and UNC's mission in health data science.

Qualifications

• Requires a Masters or PhD in an applicable field; terminal degree may be preferred.
• 2+ years of relevant work experience plus strong written/oral communication.
• Experience with large language models, NLP, and data science pipelines.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate on translational research using real world data.
• Design and build data resources and statistical methods for clinical data science.
• Create curricula and training resources for a clinical data science program at UNC.

Skills

LLM deployment

NLP for research

Python

R

SQL

Data engineering

Cross-functional leadership

Scientific communication

Visualization

Academic research

Education

Masters or PhD in relevant field

Bachelor's with 3+ years experience

Tools

Python

R

SQL databases

Spark NLP

Job description

Posting Information

• Department: TraCS Institute-429801
• Career Area: Research Professionals
• Posting Open Date: 09/16/2026
• Application Deadline: 09/30/2026
• Open Until Filled: No
• Position Type: Permanent Staff (EHRA NF)
• Working Title: Research Data Scientist
• Appointment Type: EHRA Non-Faculty
• Position Number: 20078545
• Vacancy ID: NF0010036
• Full Time/Part Time: Full-Time Permanent
• FTE: 1
• Hours per week: 40
• Position Location: North Carolina, US
• Hiring Range: $95,000 - $125,000
• Proposed Start Date: 11/02/2026

Position Information

Be a Tar Heel!

A global higher education leader in innovative teaching, research and public service, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill consistently ranks as one of the nation's top public universities. Known for its beautiful campus, world-class medical care, commitment to the arts and top athletic programs, Carolina is an ideal place to teach, work and learn.

One of the best college towns and best places to live in the United States, Chapel Hill has diverse social, cultural, recreation and professional opportunities that span the campus and community.

University employees can choose from a wide range of professional training opportunities for career growth, skill development and lifelong learning and enjoy exclusive perks for numerous retail, restaurant and performing arts discounts, savings on local child care centers and special rates on select campus events. UNC-Chapel Hill offers full-time employees a comprehensive benefits package, paid leave, and a variety of health, life and retirement plans and additional programs that support a healthy work/life balance.

Primary Purpose of Organizational Unit

Our mission is to improve the health and well‑being of North Carolinians and others whom we serve. We accomplish this by providing leadership and excellence in the interrelated areas of patient care, education and research.

Patient care: We promote health and provide superb clinical care while maintaining our strong tradition of reaching underserved populations and reducing health disparities across North Carolina and beyond.

Education: We prepare tomorrow's healthcare professionals and biomedical researchers from all backgrounds by facilitating learning within innovative and integrated curricula and team‑oriented interprofessional education to ensure a highly skilled workforce.

Research: We develop and support a rich array of outstanding health sciences research programs, centers and resources. We provide infrastructure and opportunities for collaboration among disciplines throughout and beyond our university to support outstanding research. We foster programs in the areas of basic, translational, mechanistic and population research.

Position Summary

The Research Data Scientist position will work closely with the Program Director of the TraCS Data Science Lab (TDSL) and TraCS leaders and team members to support clinical data science across UNC. The Research Data Scientist will: (1) collaborate on translational research using real world data, (2) design and build novel data resources and statistical methods to enhance and improve clinical data science, and (3) create curricula and training resources for a clinical data science education program at UNC. Depending on Program priorities and personal interests, there is flexibility in the research data scientist role to develop their own extramural funding for research priorities in-line with the overarching mission of the TDSL Program at UNC.

Minimum Education and Experience Requirements

Relevant post-Baccalaureate degree required (or foreign degree equivalent); for candidates demonstrating comparable independent research productivity, will accept a relevant Bachelor's degree (or foreign degree equivalent) and 3 or more years of relevant experience in substitution. May require terminal degree and licensure.

Required Qualifications, Competencies, and Experience

This position requires a Masters or PhD in applicable field and at least 2 years of relevant work experience. Excellent written and oral scientific communication skills as well as the ability to independently manage multiple projects also required.

Preferred Qualifications, Competencies, and Experience

• Professional and/or formal educational experience utilizing large language models for research, including deploying, tuning, and optimizing open- and closed-source models in local and cloud environments, including high-security or air-gapped environments for sensitive data
• Experience applying LLMs to structured information extraction from unstructured text (e.g., named entity recognition, relation extraction, schema-constrained or function-calling-based structured output generation)
• Experience with natural language processing utilizing traditional data science approaches (word2Vec, NLTK, Spark NLP, etc.) and/or NLP utilizing large language models
• High level of proficiency in either R or Python in the areas of machine learning, deep learning, statistical analysis, computer vision, and/or graph analysis
• Experience with data engineering to create data science pipelines, deploy and scale models, and maintain and thoroughly document code and models, including designing evaluation frameworks for model/pipeline accuracy (e.g., precision/recall/F1 against gold-standard human annotation)
• Knowledge of SQL programming, data modeling, and relational database systems such as Oracle, MS-SQL, MySQL, etc.
• Highly capable of working in a cross-functional team and functioning as lead scientist on research and development efforts - ability to manage multiple projects at once while delivering high-quality work on time
• Strong interest in clinical data and desire to develop deep expertise in EHR and claims data; interest in developing deep expertise in cancer registry data standards and abstraction workflows (e.g., NAACCR data items, ICD-O-3 histology/topography coding, AJCC staging) is a plus; prior registry experience is not required
• Strong commitment to teaching and disseminating work through writing and speaking engagements, as creating and giving seminars & presentations and authoring manuscripts is an expectation for this position.
• Fluency visualizing data for scientific purposes (e.g., creating figures for manuscripts and presentations)
• Experience and interest in academic research (working with faculty, disseminating work through manuscripts & open-source software, and grant writing)

Special Physical/Mental Requirements

Not Applicable.

Campus Security Authority Responsibilities

Not Applicable.

Special Instructions

This position is open to in-person, remote, and hybrid candidates.

This position is ideal for those with formal experience and/or education in statistical or applied math.

Quick Link

https://unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/325116

Posting Contact Information

Department Contact Name and Title: Stephanie Fleming, HR Consultant

Department Contact Telephone or Email: [e-mail]

Office of Human Resources Contact Information: If you experience any problems accessing the system or have questions about the application process, please contact the Office of Human Resources at [phone] or send an email to [e-mail] Please note: The Office of Human Resources will not be able to provide specific updates regarding position or application status.

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement: The University is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes all to apply without regard to age, color, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation. We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.