OpenDP Research Scientist - Military veterans preferred

Harvard University


Title: OpenDP Research Scientist

School: Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Department_Area: OpenDP

Position Description: The OpenDP project at Harvard University seeks to hire a Research Scientist to work with faculty directors Gary King and Salil Vadhan and the OpenDP Community to formulate and advance the scientific goals of OpenDP and solve research problems that are needed for its success. A community effort to build trustworthy, open-source software tools for statistical analysis of sensitive private data, OpenDP will offer the rigorous protections of differential privacy for individuals who may be represented in confidential data and statistically valid methods of analysis for researchers who study the data.

Key responsibilities will include advising the OpenDP team, our collaborators and community members on applying differential privacy in building software tools for data science problems, writing grant applications for fundraising and outreach, and serving as the scientific point of contact and fulcrum with use case partners and DP subject matter experts.

The successful candidate will be free to spend up to 50% of their time on their own independent research projects in related domains, perhaps in collaboration with other members of the team. Initial salary will be provided with the offer, with the expectation that the candidate will work with the OpenDP team to raise funding for future support.

Basic Qualifications: Candidates are required to have a PhD and at least five years of postdoctoral experience. We strongly encourage applications from historically underrepresented groups.

Additional Qualifications: Candidates should have familiarity with differential privacy and one or both of the following:

• Experience with implementing software for data science, privacy, and/or security, and an interest in working with software engineers to develop the OpenDP codebase.
• Experience with applied statistics, and an interest in working with domain scientists to apply OpenDP software to data-sharing problems in their field.

Special Instructions: Required application materials include a cover letter; an updated curriculum vitae; a two-to-four page research statement discussing both past accomplishments and current and future areas of interest; links to at most three research papers or software products. Please submit the names and contact information for three references.

Contact Information: OpenDP

Contact Email: opendp@g.harvard.edu

Equal Opportunity Employer: Harvard is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, age, protected veteran status, disability, genetic information, military service, pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions, or other protected status.

Minimum Number of References Required: 3

Maximum Number of References Allowed: 3


Supplemental Questions: Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).



Equal employment opportunity, including veterans and individuals with disabilities.

PI268103909