Senior Research Scientist - Risk

Neara • New York, NY

11d • $180,000 - $220,000

About The Position

Neara is seeking an experienced research scientist to contribute to its internal research group in system resilience, reliability, and policy. The role will define a research agenda, develop rigorous statistical and decision models, and translate findings into tools and recommendations for utilities managing large capital expenditures. Using network-scale structural, loading, and contextual data across overhead electrical systems, the scientist will build generalizable asset-failure models and determine the value of additional data, inspections, and interventions.

Requirements

• PhD in statistics, applied mathematics, physics, computer science, operations research, engineering, or a comparable record of original research and applied technical work.
• Track record of independently defining, driving, and executing a substantial research agenda as a senior individual contributor or industry principal, demonstrated through influential publications, patents, or production systems.
• Recognized subject matter expertise, deep technical authority, and a history of setting research direction without direct management oversight.
• Extensive experience in probabilistic modeling, uncertainty quantification, model validation, scientific computing, and decision-making under incomplete information.
• Substantial experience modeling operational systems.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in insurance or catastrophe modeling, weather prediction and climate hazard, power-system outages, or reliability engineering.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to Neara’s applied research function for infrastructure risk and resilience.
• Establish rigorous standards for risk modeling, uncertainty quantification, and decision-making.
• Develop predictive models for equipment damage, vegetation failure, outage likelihood and duration, and wildfire-related risk.
• Design decision models that quantify operational and economic consequences of resilience and reliability investments, including asset replacement, vegetation management, and network redesign.
• Quantify the value of data such as pole loading analysis, visual inspections, and installation of new devices and remote sensing capabilities, using empirical and analytical methods.

Benefits

• Highly competitive compensation package including an equity component.
• Opportunity to work on a cutting-edge, 3D physics-enabled platform and access unique network-scale utility data.
• Opportunity to help develop and build Neara’s research modeling function, establish its agenda, identify preferred methods, and work on novel, under-specified problems.
• Central role in shaping Neara’s long-term product roadmap, analytical standards, and customer advisory services.
• Flexible hours and working arrangements.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree