Epidemiologist

Operational Surveyors, Inc. (OPSurv) is seeking an Epidemiologist. Applied Research Associates, Inc. provides operational support, research and development, subject matter expertise, and decision support to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) as part of its 24/7/365 Reachback contract. The DTRA Technical Reachback team’s prime focus is to respond to Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and (high yield) Explosive (CBRNE) related requests for information (RFIs) from the Combatant Commands (COCOMs), Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), Joint Staff (JS), Intelligence Community (IC), command elements, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), other U.S. Government agencies, and first responders.

The successful candidate will provide general knowledge and subject matter expertise as an Epidemiologist in support of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). The candidate will work closely with other members of the multi-disciplinary Reachback team. Required tasks include performing complex engineering and scientific modeling and analyses and providing scientific reports and technical assessments to military decision makers. Each Technical Reachback team member is cross trained on all models and undergoes a rigorous certification process on the use of our CBRNE models before becoming an active member of the Reachback team.

The successful candidate will be team-oriented and possess strong multi-tasking abilities. In addition, this position requires the use of models in all areas of CBRNE. Tasks also include the presentation of modeling results and decision support aids to both internal and external customers in the form of written reports and oral presentations.

Primary Responsibilities:

Providing subject matter expertise to conduct, implement, and sustain R&D and operational support in epidemiology, public health, and/or biodefense science for Technical Reachback
Providing a support capability for deliberate, crisis, and immediate planning and operations for the following groups/agencies: Combatant Commands; Office of the Secretary of Defense; Joint Staff; Intelligence Community; command elements; first responders, and federal, state, and local government organizations
Using applied knowledge to develop, integrate, test, verify, validate, and apply CBRNE software/scenarios based on results of experiments and predicted phenomena based on theoretical and computational methods
Working closely with other scientists and engineers to define modeling objectives, obtain required model inputs and outputs, and verify/validate results
Presenting modeling results and decision support aid to both internal and external customers in the form of written reports and oral presentations
Reviewing technical work of others

Required Qualifications:

U.S. citizenship with the ability to obtain and maintain a TS/SCI DoD clearance
MS in Epidemiology or related field, i.e. public health, disease modeling, or biodefense
1 – 3 years of scientific experience
Ability to work rotating shifts
Interest in working with a multi-disciplinary team and contributing to other subject areas
Strong communication skills (both written and verbal) along with Microsoft Office proficiency
Ability to travel up to 10% of the time

Desired Qualifications:

Experience in Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) threats (primarily through modeling and simulation and/or test experience)
Experience with GIS tools such as Esri’s ArcGIS Pro
Experience with public health threats such as COVID-19, Ebola, pandemic influenza, emerging infectious agents, and biological warfare agents
Experience working with organizations within the Department of Defense (especially relating to issues concerning WMD) along with other government agencies such as HHS, CDC, etc.
Active DoD Top Secret security clearance