Research Scientist, Computational Social Science

Job Description

We’re looking for a Research Scientist to join Team Snapchat! As a member of the Research team, you will work on creating the next generation of signals that power our product insights through data mining, natural language processing, computational social sciences, and machine learning. Working from our LA headquarters, you will collaborate with researchers and our product/data science teams to develop state-of-the-art technology that allows Snap to better understand the needs of our users. In addition to impacting the company’s products, researchers are encouraged to publish their results to top-tier journals and conferences.

Beyond the application and interviews, Research Scientist candidates should prepare to provide detailed supporting materials including a research statement, biography, and a 60-minute presentation during the evaluation process.

What you’ll do:

• Carry out independent research projects that can support our products and turn into publications
• Build prototypes to prove concepts and provide meaningful insights
• Work in partnership with engineers and product teams to transition prototypes to production-level software
• Mentor PhD interns on research projects
• Provide domain-specific expertise to cross-functional teams within the company

Minimum qualifications:

• PhD in a technical field such as computer science or equivalent experience
• Experience in natural language processing, machine learning, data mining, computational social sciences, and/or related fields
• 2+ years of industrial or academic experience beyond internships or post doctoral positions
• Programming experience in one or more of the following: Python, R, Java, C++

Preferred qualifications:

• 5+ years of industrial or academic experience beyond internships or post doctoral positions
• Experience working with big data algorithms and large datasets
• Efficient and scalable algorithm design and problem solving skills
• Experience with projects that could impact our products
• Proven experience as a highly innovative, motivated, and self-directed researcher
• Ability to perform research that is justified and guided by business opportunities
• Successful record of publication in top-tier international research venues (e.g. ACL, AAAI, KDD, EMNLP, WWW, WSDM)
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, ever-changing work environment
• Excitement for tough technical challenges
• Someone with a collaborative, positive, and team-oriented mindset
• Hands-on experience and fast prototyping skills
• Demonstrated ability in both research and development