Senior Research Scientist (PREP0004133)

Johns Hopkins University; Baltimore (MD); On-site; USD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Total rewards package for health, life, and career

Career development opportunities

Job summary

Johns Hopkins University is looking for a PREP Research Associate in Baltimore to support the NIST in developing a new nonstructural component fragility database. The role requires a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with extensive experience in software development and probabilistic risk assessment.

The candidate will work on a database aimed at performance-based assessments, contribute to technical reports, and collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams. Strong communication and software skills are essential.

Qualifications

• U.S. citizenship is preferred.
• More than 7 years of experience in software development.
• Experience in FEMA P-58 performance-based assessments.
• Experience designing and managing code quality assurance tests.

Responsibilities

• Review the current NED database architecture and schema.
• Conceptualize a scalable consequence model data schema.
• Work with external collaborators to improve the database design.
• Direct development of database management software.
• Contribute to NIST report publication.

Skills

Strong communication skills

Software development

SQL database development

Python tools and libraries

Probabilistic risk assessment

Git repository management

Education

Ph.D. in Civil Engineering or related field

Tools

Django Python package

Web-based platforms

Job description

PREP Research Associate

This position is part of the National Institute of Standards (NIST) Professional Research Experience (PREP) program. NIST recognizes that its research staff may wish to collaborate with researchers at academic institutions on specific projects of mutual interest, thus requires that such institutions must be the recipient of a PREP award. The PREP program requires staff from a wide range of backgrounds to work on scientific research in many areas. Employees in this position will perform technical work that underpins the scientific research of the collaboration.

A senior researcher or a faculty member is sought for a position in Structural Engineering to support the development and implementation of a new nonstructural component fragility and consequence database for performance‑based hazard assessments of buildings. NIST has recently developed a relational database focusing on nonstructural elements in buildings, NED (Nonstructural Element Database), which collects information from experimental, analytical, and historic performance observations into seismic fragilities and consequence models to support building‑specific seismic performance research and assessments, refactoring and expanding upon the FEMA P‑58 database as the standard of practice for seismic risk assessment. Currently, the project is still in its active development and does not yet have consequence models or data from historical events, but it has collected over 2,500 experimental data points and compiled a fragility data set that includes and expands upon the full FEMA P‑58 nonstructural database. NIST will supplement its capacities with input from PREP Fellow experts in the areas of component damage consequence modeling and database schema design. The PREP Fellow will work with NIST researchers to develop and implement a new consequence model data schema and consequence estimation procedures within the NED database. The work, to be completed in collaboration with NIST researchers and other external contractors, will be comprised of the following five major tasks:

(1) review, refactoring and forward developing of the current database architecture and data schema, (2) development of a general consequence model database architecture and schema, (3) implementation of new consequence models into the database, (4) back‑end and front‑end software development, and (5) documentation of developments and tools and dissemination in technical reports and professional conferences.

Key Responsibilities

• Review the current design and data schema of the NED database, paying specific attention to missing data representations, duplicity in data design, points of unclarity, and capability to scale with new data and meet future use cases.
• Conceptualize and design a robust and scalable data schema to integrate consequence models into the NED architecture.
• Work closely with NIST researchers and external collaborators to iterate and improve upon the database design as well as support the implementation of the database.
• Direct development of the database tool and supporting database management software.
• Direct development and deployment of web‑based front‑end software tools to support direct user interaction with the database.
• Contribute to the publication of a NIST report and data repository documenting the database.

Qualifications

• U.S. citizenship is preferred.
• A Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with a focus on Structural Engineering or a related field.
• An excellent record of research, publications, and strong communication skills.
• A strong background in engineering, natural hazards, and probabilistic risk assessment including uncertainty quantification.
• More than 7 years of experience in software development.
• Experience in the development, application, and implementation of the FEMA P‑58 performance‑based assessment framework and associated fragility database.
• Experience in developing and deploying Python tools and libraries.
• Experience in SQL database development and the Django Python package.
• Experience developing and managing git repositories and deploying software to web‑based platforms.
• Experience in designing, implementing and managing code quality assurance plans and test suites, including unit tests, continuous integration tests, linting and style conformance checks, and benchmarking tests.
• The ability to work both independently and as part of a larger, multi‑disciplinary team to achieve project objectives and meet project deadlines and reporting requirements.

Salary Range

The referenced salary range represents the minimum and maximum salaries for this position and is based on Johns Hopkins University's good faith belief at the time of posting. Not all candidates will be eligible for the upper end of the salary range. The actual compensation offered to the selected candidate may vary and will ultimately depend on multiple factors, which may include the successful candidate's geographic location, skills, work experience, internal equity, market conditions, education/training and other factors, as reasonably determined by the University.

Benefits

Johns Hopkins offers a total rewards package that supports our employees' health, life, career and retirement. More information can be found here: https://hr.jhu.edu/benefits-worklife/.

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Johns Hopkins University is committed to equal opportunity for its faculty, staff, and students. To that end, the university does not discriminate on the basis of sex, gender, marital status, pregnancy, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status or other legally protected characteristics. The university is committed to providing qualified individuals access to all academic and employment programs, benefits and activities on the basis of demonstrated ability, performance and merit without regard to personal factors or demographic characteristics that are irrelevant to the program involved.

EEO is the Law

https://www.eeoc.gov/employees-job-applicants