Data Analysts

MIT Lincoln Laboratory•Lexington, MA

2d•$92,000 - $128,000

About The Position

MIT Lincoln Laboratory’s Homeland Decision Support Systems Group develops end-to-end system architectures, decision support, and advanced analytics to enhance homeland protection and U.S. interests overseas. Working with industry, academia, and multidisciplinary teams, the group develops and integrates advanced decision-support prototypes for national security needs across land, sea, air, and space domains. Its expertise includes deep learning, computer vision, natural language processing, graph theory, big data architectures, operations research, and system autonomy. The Assistant Staff role supports innovative research aligned with the Laboratory’s national security mission. The successful candidate will contribute to technical research and technology development, supporting solutions to complex and moderately complex problems through defined assignments. Work may include hardware and software development, systems analysis, data analysis, component fabrication, system integration, testing, and documentation. The role offers opportunities to develop expertise in a primary technical domain and broaden awareness of adjacent areas, with the level of guidance and ownership depending on the candidate’s level. The group seeks entry-level scientists, data analysts, and engineers interested in challenging technical problems with real-world impact. Typical analyst activities include data analysis, modeling, and algorithm development as part of an interdisciplinary team. The candidate will help develop and implement methods for analyzing varied datasets, implement advanced data-processing techniques and algorithms, and develop concepts addressing national security challenges. The candidate will work with an experienced team to learn about the homeland-protection mission and develop a career path aligned with their technical interests. Candidates are considered at Assistant Staff Level 1 or Level 2 based on their education, experience, technical capabilities, and prior work. Level 1 typically requires no technical or relevant research experience; Level 2 typically requires at least one year of relevant research, engineering, or other technical experience, although a master’s degree may be considered in place of that experience. A bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline or another relevant technical field, or equivalent relevant experience, is specified for both levels. The position requires U.S. citizenship. The selected candidate will undergo a pre-employment background investigation and must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret-level DoD security clearance.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline or other relevant technical field, or equivalent relevant experience.
Level 1 typically requires no technical or relevant research experience; Level 2 typically requires 1 or more years of relevant research, engineering, or other technical experience. A master’s degree may be considered for Level 2.
Foundational understanding of research principles, analytical methods, and structured problem solving.
Data analysis skills, including exploratory analysis; cleaning, organizing, and analyzing data; extracting information; finding trends or anomalies; and synthesizing or visualizing results.
Basic statistical and mathematical data-manipulation knowledge.
Proficiency with MATLAB, Python, or a similar programming language.
Ability to develop, implement, test, and evaluate novel algorithms and concepts.
Ability to learn and apply technical tools, systems, standards, and procedures within a team environment.
Effective written and verbal communication skills, including documenting work clearly, asking clarifying questions, and interacting respectfully with colleagues, sponsors, and stakeholders.
Collaboration, curiosity, attention to detail, willingness to receive and apply feedback, and ability to manage priorities.
Level 2 candidates should be able to apply technical concepts and methods to routine problems, use relevant project tools and documentation practices, complete assigned tasks accurately, manage time effectively, and communicate progress and risks.
U.S. citizenship.
Must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret-level DoD security clearance and pass a pre-employment background investigation.

Nice To Haves

Strong presentation skills.
Ability to work well in a multidisciplinary team environment.
Experience handling large, complex, multidimensional datasets.
Experience with software development and source-control management tools such as GitHub.
Experience with Windows, Linux, or Unix operating systems.
For Level 2, a master’s degree may be considered in lieu of typical relevant technical experience.

Responsibilities

Support the design, development, data analysis, programming, testing, troubleshooting, modeling, simulation, and documentation of systems or prototypes.
Develop and implement techniques for analyzing varied datasets, including collecting, cleaning, organizing, analyzing, and visualizing data to extract information and identify trends or anomalies.
Implement advanced data-processing techniques and algorithms, including approaches from academia.
Contribute to modeling and algorithm development and help develop concepts addressing national security challenges.
Apply basic or established technical practices, tools, and procedures to complete defined tasks and solve routine technical problems.
Contribute to data collection, documentation, and component- or subsystem-level deliverables supporting broader research and mission-focused efforts.
Learn and apply relevant mission context, technical standards, systems, platforms, and project processes.
Communicate progress, technical results, assumptions, risks, and questions clearly, and incorporate feedback into technical work products.
Depending on level, identify small process improvements and assist new hires, interns, or less experienced staff.