Research Data Engineer

About the role

The University of Southern California (USC) Information Technology Services is seeking a Research Data Engineer to support the secure computing environment that enables cutting-edge research across the university.

Responsibilities

• Design and manage secure data pipelines for ingestion, transformation, de-identification, and export of sensitive research datasets within approved computing enclaves.

• Develop, implement, and maintain data management plan and data usage agreements that satisfy federal sponsor requirements (NSF, NIH, DoD, DoE, etc.).

• Coordinate with Cybersecurity Office for incident management.

• Design and implement data architecture solutions that translate business and research requirements into conceptual, logical, and physical data models, prototypes, testing approaches, and sustainable processes.

• Support faculty, principal investigators, researchers, and students with research data management and advanced computing workflows, including projects involving sensitive or regulated data.

• Create and automate data-processing and research workflows that reduce manual effort and support efficient use of USC's secure computing environment.

• Develop and deliver onboarding, training, and guidance to help researchers appropriately manage sensitive data and navigate secure research computing processes.

• Partner with technical teams and stakeholders to define workflows for the secure computing user portal, including processes associated with research project setup and data-use requirements.

• Research and recommend data tools, services, API integration approaches, and process improvements that advance USC's enterprise data and analytics capabilities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree.

• Combined experience/education as substitute for minimum education.

• 2 years' work experience.

• Demonstrated working knowledge of federal compliance regulations including FERPA, FISMA, NIST 800-171, NIST 800-53, DFARS/CMMC, etc.

• 2+ years of experience in research data management, data governance, IT compliances, or information security.

• Experience with Linux system, scripting (pythoin, bash), databases (SQL, PostgresSQL, etc.).

• Firm understanding of data modeling, master data management, enterprise data warehousing, ETL, reporting, querying, requirements analysis, and data integration techniques.

• Understanding of database server architecture, administration, and security.

• Ability to understand and work with large, complex IT systems.

• Experience contributing to and managing development policies, from planning through execution.

• Perseverance, drive and keen attention to detail.

• Knowledge of network architecture.

• Excellent written and oral communication skills, presenting technical topics in a technically-oriented detailed fashion to technical audiences.

• Ability to develop positive working relationships and strong rapport with team members and stakeholders.