Freight Network Analyst Fellow

About the role

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) is a key federal agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation, focusing on data analytics, survey design, and data-driven research. OSEA, part of BTS, develops various transportation data products, including the Freight Analysis Framework (FAF), which is used globally to understand transportation trends and inform policy decisions.

Responsibilities

• Join a team of data scientists, engineers, and research fellows to develop and apply network analysis techniques to evaluate freight flows across multimodal systems.
• Research and analyze primary and auxiliary source data using high-powered, cloud-based frameworks.
• Develop and apply analytical tools that inform policy decisions.
• Collaborate with internal and external partners to explore innovative methods of data collection, analysis, and visualization.
• Contribute to improving existing data development programs and initiating new ones.
• Participate in projects focused on new ways to apply network flow algorithms at a large scale to simulate nationwide U.S. freight flows.

Requirements

• Demonstrated experience in network assignment methods and network flow simulation as they relate to transportation.
• Background in quantitative fields such as transportation engineering, network science, machine learning, statistical modeling, optimization, or data science.
• Experience with R or Python, and some experience with other languages like C or C++.
• Strong experience linking and comparing various datasets.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and adapt to changing goals.
• Experience presenting results clearly and effectively.
• Some experience with data visualization.
• Experience or interest in applying modeling and simulation methods to applications involving multimodal freight, shipping, and logistics.
• Ability to liaise with others to obtain information, collaborate on data-related research projects, and validate findings and conclusions.

Qualifications

• At least 18 years of age or older.
• A U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.
• A bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree in a relevant field, conferred within 60 months of the appointment start date.