Research Scientist Machine Learning at Graphika

Company Overview
Graphika’s mission is to map the world’s social media networks, so that online spaces can thrive authentically. We create large-scale, in-depth maps of social media landscapes and conversations to help businesses discover how communities form online and how influence and information flows within large scale networks. Founded on the pioneering work of social and network science scholars, Graphika uses deep learning to identify the people, connections, messages, and conversations online that matter for customers from Facebook and Twitter, to T-Systems and ABinBev. Our interdisciplinary team uses our unique, patented set of technologies and tools to create and apply new, rigorous analytical methods that enable customers to engage in online communities meaningfully to grasp opportunities or mitigate risk online. Our work has informed the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on election interference.
About The Role
Graphika seeks a research scientist with experience in machine learning to join our applied science team. We work at the cutting edge of computational social science to develop new methods for network and narrative analysis, integrate those methods into our product, and share our results with the wider scientific community. As a research scientist, you will construct machine learning models to answer challenging social science questions on top of large social media datasets. You will work closely with our analyst team to develop models that support their discovery of insights and narratives (including disinformation narratives) in social systems. You will also work closely with our data systems team to construct pipelines for scaling and productizing these models. This is a part-time contractor or part-time or full-time employee role.
Areas of Responsibility

develop machine learning models for applications such automated cluster labeling, narrative extraction, and stance detection
implement machine learning models in robust, scalable code for further pipelining and productization
contribute to patent applications based on your work (you will be listed as a co-inventor on the resulting patents)
contribute to novel grant proposals in computational social science
collaborate with external researchers in the field on via funded grants and publications

Ideal Candidate Profile
You have experience developing machine learning models for social science applications, including but not limited to: social network analysis, natural language analysis, statistical or agent-based models of social systems. You have experience implementing these models in code in a collaborative environment, working with a team to optimize your code and adhere to best practices. You are comfortable applying your technical expertise to new domains. You love to take on complex problems, and can work independently. You have a working knowledge of computer science fundamentals like algorithms, data structures, and time complexity.
You think beyond the task at hand and try to understand the 'why' behind what you are doing. You can maintain a focus on the applied outcomes of your research,  understanding that done is often preferable to perfect.
You are an enthusiastic teammate, who engages in collaboration and proactive discussion. You are an effective communicator who can clearly describe technical concepts for different audiences -- for example, you can explain the significance of your work both to a fellow researcher and to a product specialist. You work with confidence and without ego. You have deep knowledge and exercise a high degree of ownership in your daily work. You have loosely-held, defensible ideas, and advocate for what you believe is right. You can surface your unarticulated assumptions. You are also adept at identifying and evaluating trade-offs, willing to be proven wrong, and quick to support your fellow teammates.
Qualifications
Required:

Experience in developing machine learning models in an applied, collaborative environment with actionable outputs
Experience writing robust scalable code in Python that is understandable, testable, and has an eye towards maintainability
Experience collaborating with a multidisciplinary team and juggling multiple research priorities
Experience generating research outputs (reports, scientific papers) from technical work
Ability to work legally in the US without visa sponsorship

Nice to have:

Experience with social science applications of machine learning models
Experience developing production engineering code in an industry environment
Experience with deep learning models
Experience with social network analysis
Experience contributing to scientific grant proposals
Experience working on patent applications
Ph.D. in a social science or computer science field

All Graphika Tech Team Members...

Understand and appreciate good software engineering practices, including version control, code reviews, testing, and refactoring
Are comfortable debugging and optimizing code
Write tests to make sure code is reliable
Help shape technical decisions within the team
Collaborate within and across departments to ensure successful product creation
Have the ability to pick up new tools and technologies as needed

Education Requirements:

Master's degree or equivalent work experience
Salary commensurate with experience

Benefits

Unlimited Paid Time Off (PTO), with a company-mandated minimum of 10 days of vacation time taken per year; There are also a minimum of 12 Graphika holidays
100% healthcare (health, vision, dental) premium coverage for employees; 50% premium coverage for families
401(k)
Access to Samata Health Therapy Platform, with six free sessions for all Graphikans
Remote personal office setup stipend + 20% of home internet costs covered

Location
Prior to COVID-19, Graphika's technology team was mostly co-located in our NYC office but continues to be fully-distributed today. As a result, we are happy to consider applicants who are located in the continental US, with the caveat that the technology team works on Eastern time and begins their day at around 10 AM. Daily Standup is at 10:30 AM EST.
Graphika is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.