Senior Structures Data Scientist

State of Utah • Salt Lake City, UT

9d • Onsite

About The Position

The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) is seeking a forward-thinking, highly motivated professional with exceptional communication skills and deep technical expertise to serve as our Senior Structures Data Scientist. In this role, you will act as the primary data steward for the Structures Division, spearheading data analytics, data modeling, and data management to optimize workflows, drive automation, and inform critical decisions.

Requirements

• A Bachelor’s degree (or higher) from an accredited institution in Data Management, Business Administration, Math, Information Science, or another related field AND at least six (6) years of professional relevant experience in data analytics or other related field.
• Professional, hands-on experience programming in Python or R, alongside strong proficiency in writing complex SQL queries for relational databases.
• Familiarity with Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) in Excel to create, maintain, and optimize macros.

Nice To Haves

• Structural Engineering/Bridge Related Experience: Background in bridge design, in-service inspection, load ratings, construction, and/or the long-term monitoring of concrete, steel or other materials used in bridge construction
• Data Visualization Tools: Experience using Microsoft Power BI, Looker Data Studio, or ArcGIS Online.
• AI and Machine Learning: Experience applying artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) techniques to data management challenges.
• Google Suite of Tools: Advanced experience utilizing Google Workspace, including, but not limited to, AppSheets, Google Drive, or other related data capture and storage tools
• UDOT: Prior experience navigating and leveraging existing UDOT data sets.

Responsibilities

• Build interpretable, "white-box" predictive models to identify structural deterioration patterns.
• Use rigorous statistical methods to establish and validate causal relationships.
• Integrate deterioration models with Lifecycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) to determine optimal intervention windows, maximizing ROI and infrastructure lifespan.
• Assess how environmental, structural, and operational stresses impact degradation over time.
• Align model outputs with FHWA NBI metrics and UDOT’s TAMP standards to justify asset management budgets and federal funding requests.
• Translate complex findings, statistical anomalies, and technical limitations into clear, actionable business cases for various stakeholders.
• Oversee and report on data quality.
• Champion improvement to data quality, consistency, and accuracy.
• Architect and maintain automated ETL/ELT pipelines to ingest, clean, standardize and validate datasets from diverse sources.
• Develop automated data quality and validation frameworks to detect anomalies in real-time, ensuring infrastructure datasets are reliable and compliant before entering production.
• Establish standardized documentation framework to eliminate technical silos and preserve institutional continuity.
• Collaborate with cross-functional software and cloud engineering teams to automate the deployment, real-time monitoring, and scaling of models in production.
• Act as the primary technical liaison, driving collaboration between the Structures Division, Division of Technology Services (DTS), cloud engineering, and external partners.
• Translate validated algorithms into interactive dashboards, real-time APIs, and fully automated asset-scoring engines to deliver actionable, real-time insights for the division.
• Research, investigate, and recommend technologies including web, mobile and other new or emerging technologies.
• Meet with vendors on new and existing products, evaluate usefulness and cost of products and make recommendations.

Benefits

• Exceptional Health Coverage: We offer some of the most competitive medical premiums in the industry, including comprehensive family plans with very low out-of-pocket costs and HSA options.
• Retirement Choice: Flexibility between a 10% employer-paid 401(k) (no match required) or a Pension/401(k) Hybrid plan.
• Generous Paid Time Off: 12 paid holidays per year plus 8 hours of combined leave (4 annual and 4 sick) accrued each pay period.
• Dental & Vision: Multiple high-quality plan options to fit your needs.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior