Data Specialist

Data Specialist 

Location: Somerville, Massachusetts

VIA is making an impact, and so can you 🫵

At VIA, our mission is to make communities cleaner, safer, and more equitable. We believe that by working across organizational boundaries, we can achieve greater collective good than we can individually. VIA overcomes digital barriers to collective action by providing the world’s most secure and simple data and identity protection solutions.

We are trusted by the U.S. Department of Defense and Fortune 100 companies around the globe to solve their toughest data and identity protection challenges. Using our Web3, quantum-resistant, passwordless technologies (19 issued patents), VIA protects data against theft, manipulation, and misuse.

As a Data Specialist at VIA, you will play a pivotal role in the growth of our solutions. Your key responsibilities will include translating customer domain knowledge into data infrastructure requirements, designing and automating data ingestion and cleaning processes, transforming raw data into insightful visualizations, and ensuring the quality of our data-driven solutions. You will manage source documents to verify the accuracy of information, ensure data quality, and manage the incorporation of data into VIA’s work streams (database, modeling, and reporting decisions, to name a few). You will work on an Agile product delivery team that may include developers, data and modeling specialists, and client delivery professionals. 

Read more about our mission, team, and values here.

In this role, you will:

• Understand existing data ingestion and cleaning processes, and take responsibility for further refinement and implementation
• Explore raw customer data to get a better understanding of the different files, columns, and characteristics (e.g., column averages, expected ranges, trends, standard deviations, etc.)
• Understand customer needs and requirements, and make suggestions based on data
• Work with VIA’s client delivery team and the customer to validate assumptions and resolve issues with the data 
• Own the ingestion of data into relational and/or non-relational databases standardized across customers, enabling data to connect to the rest of the data science pipeline
• Leverage VIA libraries to ingest raw data from customers
• Perform cleaning of raw data 
• Design end-to-end data pipelines
• Coordinate with internal stakeholders and customers when information is missing or discrepancies are found
• Perform quality control, identifying errors or discrepancies in data and data products, including automated and manual testing
• Translate customer domain knowledge to create automated analyses and insights
• Document assumptions and actions made during the data cleaning and wrangling process to provide traceability
• Utilize data visualization tools to analyze data and craft compelling visual representations
• Contribute to the continual improvement of internal tools for data cleaning and data quality assessment by identifying key data-related challenges that are ideal candidates for automation
• Contribute to the delivery of data-based products to external customers, including data visualizations, data quality reports, and statistical analysis

Requirements

What you will bring to this role: 

• 2+ years of experience in a data-driven role or equivalent in data-related research projects
• Bachelor’s or Master's degree in science, mathematics, engineering, or a data-driven field
• Competence in at least two of the following technologies:
• Database technologies (e.g., SQL, PostgreSQL)
• Python, R, or equivalent programming with data science libraries (e.g., NumPy, pandas)
• Data visualization tools (e.g.,Plotly, seaborn, ggplot) 
• Ability to break down complex problems into actionable steps 
• Passionate about data quality 
• A self-starter attitude and demonstrated ability to learn new technologies quickly
• Experience in the following is a plus:
• Data dashboarding tools (e.g., Streamlit, Tableau, Dash)
• Data pipelining (e.g., ETL workflows and tools)
  

What does it take to be a successful VIAneer? Let’s break it down, our VIAneers are:

• Self-motivated and passionate about leaving everything they touch better than how they found it
• Firm believers that people should love what they do and are eager to build a culture that enables them to do their best work
• Creative problem solvers who respectfully challenge the status quo in the pursuit of excellence
• People who lead discussions with curiosity and value diverse perspectives
• Eager to explore new ideas, understand the power of feedback, and constantly seek opportunities to grow and develop their skills
• Strong team players who thrive in collaborative environments and celebrate the success of others

Benefits

What can VIA do for you?:

VIA offers competitive rewards and benefits, flexible work options, and individualized mentoring and growth opportunities. Here are just a few of our VIAneers’ favorite perks:

• A fully funded, top-tier health benefits plan, fully covered from day one, including vision and dental coverage for your whole family
• 20 vacation days annually, Summer Fridays, and an extended holiday period in December
• Paid parental leave, supporting new parents and families
• A dedicated wellness advisor to help you navigate the programs and opportunities available at VIA
• Ability to enjoy the best of both worlds with flexibility to work from home as needed, as well as access to two well-located offices (and more to come!) designed for collaboration and stocked with everything you could need
• Opportunities to work from eligible locations for up to 2 months per year
• Individualized growth opportunities, including internal and external mentorship panels, custom goals and feedback sessions, and/or access to learning and development programs
• Transit benefits to support commuting costs
• In-person events to foster team bonding and collaboration across different teams

Read more about our benefits and perks here.

VIA is committed to the importance of belonging.

VIA is an equal opportunity employer. When you apply for a role at VIA, your application will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identity, or sexual orientation. If you would like to request a specific accommodation, please notify us with your submission.

You can learn more about our mission, values, and team on our careers page.