Data Analyst Associate

Department: MED-Neurology
Salary/Grade: EXS/8

Target hiring range for this position will be between $58,623-$73,278 per year. Offered salary will be determined by the applicant's education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data.

The McGraw Lab is seeking a data analyst to develop methods for analyzing data from zebrafish behavioral assays, large calcium fluorescence imaging datasets, and single-cell sequencing. The analyst will work closely with other members of the lab (research technologist, post-docs) to develop analysis pipelines, and timely return of results. The analyst will work with a high-performance computing cluster in Linux environment using Matlab (existing codebase) but is free to develop new code in Python. This position is a research position in an academic lab where the final desired products are publishable insights, not "data analytics" for a university or hospital-related business enterprise; please do not apply if your primary expertise is business-focused analytics. Lab website:

Job Summary:

Performs tasks related to the design, implementation, support/maintenance, and enhancement of NU's enterprise, vendor and in-house developed applications. Documents functional requirements, analyzes requirements in the context of software and processes, develops and executes test plans, assists with and documents business process improvement efforts, and works with production issues. Completes content, process, and procedures for technical and functional system work that is low in complexity.

Specific Responsibilities :

Strategic Planning

• Participates with senior analysts, end users and peers to ensure that user requirements are gathered, analyzed, all gaps are documented, and all deliverables completed (adhering to approved methodology and documentation standards).
• Participates with functional users and technical staff to determine best approaches, ensuring that approved solutions are implemented in a timely and correct fashion.

Administration

• Contributes to the creation of accurate documentation of process, procedure, and system/application configuration.
• Provides input into the creation and maintenance of test scripts, implementation project plans, roll out communications and training materials.
• Identifies simple use cases.

Development

• Provides input into test scripts and performs detailed testing for simple use cases to ensure that the implemented software functions correctly.
• Participates in iterative feedback processes among users, developers, and analysts to ensure software functionality aligns with requirements.

Performance

• Enters basic software configurations to meet user needs.
• Collaborates with technical, reporting and application resources to analyze and resolve basic production issues in a timely manner.

Miscellaneous

• Other duties as assigned

Minimum Qualifications: (Education, experience, and any other certifications or clearances)

• Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in a major such as Computer Science, CAAM, EE, BioME, Statistics, Math or a related technical discipline; OR appropriate combination of education and experience.
• 1+ years experience in any programming language
• A cover letter detailing your relevant experience and interest in the position is mandatory.
• Code Repositories (Git, Subversion)
• High Performance Computing (HPC)
• Linux Operating System
• Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, Outlook)
• Python
• Shell Scripting
• MATLAB
• SQL/MySQL/Postgres
• Windows Operating System
• critical thinking
• data modeling
• database design/ data structure
• debugging
• metadata creation and management
• problem solving
• troubleshooting
• Code documentation
• collaboration and teamwork
• facilitate collaboration
• organizational skills
• workflow development & documentation

Preferred Qualifications: (Education and experience)

• Masters or higher degree
• 1+ years of programming experience in Matlab or Python

Preferred Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities)

• Experience with Matlab (Python OK, but existing code is Matlab); experience with R
• Experience with methods in computer vision, calcium fluorescence, manipulating large 3D/4D datasets (HDF5, Zarr, or N5)
• Experience with genomics, transcriptomics, particularly single-cell sequencing.
• Familiarity with methods in machine learning, statistics, deep learning.
• Experience contributing to and managing software codebases (Github, or others)

Benefits:
At Northwestern, we are proud to provide meaningful, competitive, high-quality health care plans, retirement benefits, tuition discounts and more! Visit us at to learn more.

Work-Life and Wellness:
Northwestern offers comprehensive programs and services to help you and your family navigate life's challenges and opportunities, and adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles.
We support flexible work arrangements where possible and programs to help you locate and pay for quality, affordable childcare and senior/adult care. Visit us at to learn more.

Professional Growth & Development:
Northwestern supports employee career development in all circumstances whether your workspace is on campus or at home. If you're interested in developing your professional potential or continuing your formal education, we offer a variety of tools and resources. Visit us at to learn more .

Northwestern strongly recommends COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters for people who can obtain them as a critical tool for minimizing severe illness. More information can be found on the COVID-19 and Campus Updates webpage.

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Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer of all protected classes, including veterans and individuals with disabilities. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply. Click for information on EEO is the Law.

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