As a Senior Research Scientist, you will be the scientific engine driving the implementation of Surgo’s Maternal Health Taskforce project. Sitting at the intersection of research, data science, and behavioral science, you will take primary responsibility for executing the analytical workstreams, managing day-to-day research delivery, and translating complex data into actionable insights that shape real-world decisions across the US maternal health ecosystem.
You will lead hands-on analytical work, designing methods, working directly with data, and generating high-quality evidence, including insights derived from Surgo’s maternal vulnerability index, while coordinating closely with cross-functional colleagues to ensure our outputs are rigorous, timely, and influence the broader maternal health ecosystem. This is a high-impact, multi-method program aimed at bringing together quantitative data with lived experience data and you will play a central role in turning evidence into meaningful change.You’ll thrive here if you:
- Love rolling up your sleeves and leading complex analyses to understand the why behind young people’s maternal health experiences.
- Bring a strong grasp of the US maternal health data landscape and an appetite to innovate with new methods and data sources.
- Enjoy bringing methodological rigor (across quantitative, qualitative, and AI-driven approaches) to messy, multidimensional problems, and take pride in ensuring analyses, instruments, and insights are grounded in evidence and robust scientific practice.
- Get energy from working at the intersection of science and action, producing insights that partners can use immediately to drive change.
- Communicate clearly and confidently with both technical teams and non-technical partners.
- Want to lead delivery within a fast-moving, entrepreneurial environment where analytical creativity and rigor matter.
Lead Scientific Design & Analytical Strategy
- Design and oversee the research strategy and analytical roadmap for the US Maternal Health Task Force (together with our advisory board), including survey research, narrative analysis, quantitative modelling, segmentation, and triangulation across data sources.
- Identify opportunities to advance the science, in particular leveraging natural language processing (NLP), large language models (LLMs), causal inference, and AI–based methods for analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data.
Conduct & Oversee Advanced Analyses
- Conduct rigorous literature reviews and lead the development of behavioral-science-informed research instruments, using Surgo’s LLM-powered tools combined with geospatial data.
- Lead high-complexity analyses on maternal health, wellbeing, behavioral drivers, and system-level factors affecting US pregnant people.
- Build and validate models for analyzing structured and unstructured data.
- Apply strong inferential and statistical reasoning to ensure our insights are scientifically sound and grounded in evidence across multiple datasets.
- Analyze data generated from conversational AI tools used with mothers (e.g., structured dialogues, open-text responses, narrative prompts), ensuring rigorous methodological handling, bias assessment, and validity checks.
Generate High-Impact Insights & Recommendations
- Translate analytical outputs into crisp, actionable insights that funders, policymakers, and service providers can understand and use.
- Co-develop strategic recommendations based on evidence, showing not just what the data says, but what should happen next.
- Produce compelling materials (reports, slide decks, briefs, press releases) that elevate evidence while remaining accessible.
Guide Partner Engagement & Adoption
- Collaborate closely with US-based partners including funders, public sector organizations, policy makers, advocacy groups to ensure insights meet real needs.
- Support partners in integrating findings into policies, service models, and implementation plans that improve maternal health.
Advance Surgo’s Scientific & Product Portfolio
- Contribute to Surgo’s growing portfolio in maternal health.
- Identify scientific and methodological innovations that can strengthen Surgo’s products and tools, including novel applications of LLMs, narrative analytics, and AI-driven measurement.
- Support proposal development and pitches by bringing deep subject-matter and methodological expertise.
Experience & Expertise
- 4+ years of experience in applied research, public health, maternal health, epidemiology, behavioural science, data science, or a related field.
- Advanced degree (PhD strongly preferred; Master’s considered with significant experience).
- Deep familiarity with the US maternal health data landscape and relationships with key actors.
- Demonstrated experience working with complex maternal health datasets, including survey data, and qualitative or narrative data.
Technical & Methodological Skillset
- You are highly experienced in R and/or Python, and are experienced in / eager to learn Databricks.
- Strong technical and methodological expertise, including research design, measurement, and advanced analytical techniques.
- Detail-oriented with excellent research validation skills, able to spot inconsistencies, errors, and methodological gaps.
- Able to implement and uphold rigorous scientific processes, serving as a methodological steward accountable for strong QA, transparent workflows, and high-quality outputs.
- Statistical and methodological expertise in analyzing qualitative data and transforming it into quantitative insights, including coding frameworks, embeddings, clustering, model-based text analysis, and mixed-methods integration.
- Comfortable managing the full analytical workflow—from instrument design to modelling to interpretation—with a strong commitment to accuracy, transparency, and scientific integrity.
Location & travel
- Location: Washington, DC. We have a hybrid schedule with at least 2 days in our DC office.
- Travel: Some travel within the US (e.g. to partner sites, workshops, and events) and occasional international travel may be required.
- Fantastic, fun and collaborative colleagues; opportunity to solve tough challenges in healthcare
- Ability to be entrepreneurial and tremendous opportunities for growth
- Public Benefit Corporation with an impact and equity mission
- Competitive compensation and health benefits
- Generous PTO, 10+ holidays
- Highly competitive 401K
- Professional Development opportunities
Surgo Health is committed to fair, equitable, and transparent practices. Compensation packages are based on several factors such as skill set, prior relevant experience, education, certifications, and market considerations. In addition to base compensation, individuals may be eligible for annual performance-based bonuses and equity (if applicable). We aim to pay salaries that are competitive, benchmarked against companies that are similar in stage, size, and market to Surgo Health.
Our hiring philosophy
We hire for passion and core competencies. We look for problem-solvers and lateral thinkers. We love it if you have done different things with your time. If you think you are ideal for this position, write to us even if your experience doesn’t match all the requirements listed above.
Equal Opportunity and Diversity Policy
Surgo believes a diverse, inclusive staff makes a stronger team and more impactful organization and we are committed to building and developing this team and environment. Qualified people of all races, ethnicities, cultures, ages, sex, genders, sexual orientation, gender identities and expressions, languages, social class, marital status, religions, veterans status, and disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.
