Data Specialist

Data Specialist 

Location: Somerville, Massachusetts

VIA is making an impact, and so can you 🫵

VIA’s mission is to make communities cleaner, safer, and more equitable. Now, we need your help to make an even bigger difference. VIA enables real-time data verification, automated ingestion, and secure analysis of energy and environmental data. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and energy companies around the globe trust VIA to help them solve their toughest data challenges. 

As a Data Specialist at VIA, you will play a pivotal role in the growth of our solutions.You will do this by translating customer domain knowledge into data expectations, executing data ingestion, and cleaning processes, 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, 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 
• 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) 
• Passionate about data quality 
• A self-starter attitude and demonstrated ability to learn new technologies quickly

To have a high impact at VIA, you will:

• Be a critical thinker with a passion for solving complex problems alongside teammates
• Have a desire to learn in a high-energy environment
• Demonstrate strong attention to detail and apply follow-up and organizational skills
• Be a great communicator with excellent interpersonal skills 
• Be a part of a team that will transform the energy industry using groundbreaking technology and innovative solutions
• Enjoy sharing your passions, as a foodie, a lover of video games, a fan of pets, or having a good GIF game (doesn’t hurt either!)

Benefits

What you will find at VIA:

A competitive, total rewards package that includes equity, an environment that cares about your learning and development, flexible working arrangements, and a culture of celebrating our collective diversity, are just a few of the things that make every day rewarding!

Read about our perks and benefits here.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.