Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Machine Learning and Computational Statistics

Location: Fully remote

Office Location: McMaster University (Hamilton, Canada)

Supervisors: Dr. Clifton van der Linden, Dr. Alexander Shestopaloff

Term: 3 years (pending approval from Mitacs)

Salary: $60,000 CAD per annum with benefits

Apply by: October 1, 2021

Applications are invited for a three-year Mitacs Industrial Postdoctoral Fellowship with the Digital Society Lab at McMaster University and industry partner Vox Pop Labs, a social enterprise that builds digital products such as Vote Compass with a view to improving democratic participation and political representation.

This application will be jointly supervised by Dr. Clifton van der Linden, Assistant Professor of Political Science and Director of the Digital Society Lab at McMaster University as well as CEO of Vox Pop Labs, and Dr. Alexander Shestopaloff, Lecturer in Statistics at Queen Mary University of London.

This fellowship provides an opportunity to engage in research related to the ongoing development of multiple digital products, including a decision recommendation system for post-secondary education institutions and programs in Canada. The successful candidate will have an opportunity to work on developing novel methodologies for the analysis of complex survey and related data.

This research project will involve access to unique datasets from and close collaboration with the Vox Pop Labs research and product teams. It is expected that the candidate would have a PhD in Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, Engineering, or a related field. The candidate should have at least 3 years of coding experience in Python, including delivering production-ready code. They should also have experience building models, ideally involving applications in the social sciences or translating a product specification into a mathematical model. A successful candidate will be able to demonstrate the following:

•  Analytical knowledge of data
• Advanced programming skills (Python, R, SQL) with experience in production environments • Expertise with machine learning methods (unsupervised and supervised approaches, clustering, SVMs, etc.)
•  Strong statistical skills (hypothesis testing, inferences, etc.)
•  Familiarity with an agile environment

The fellowship is open to candidates of any nationality and selection will be based on the candidate’s research potential and fit with the project. The fellowship starts on October 4, 2021 at the earliest and provides an annual salary of $60,000 CAD inclusive of benefits. Candidates are required to apply for this fellowship by e-mailing their cover letter and curriculum vitae to careers@voxpoplabs.com with the e-mail subject: “Mitacs Industrial Postdoc”.

We will begin reviewing applications on October 1, 2021. Applications received after this date will be accepted until the position is filled, but to ensure full consideration applicants are advised to submit all supporting materials by the above deadline. We appreciate all replies to this advertisement, but only applicants under consideration will be contacted. McMaster University is strongly committed to employment equity within its community and to recruiting a diverse faculty and staff.

The University encourages applications from all qualified candidates including women, persons with disabilities, First Nations, Métis and Inuit persons, members of racialized communities and LGBTQ-identified persons. If you require any form of accommodation throughout the recruitment and selection procedure, please contact the Human Resources Service Centre at 905-525-9140 ext. 222-HR (22247). Offer is subject to final approval from Mitacs