Position Title: Research Scientist,Sr

Employee Classification: Research Scientist,Sr

College/Division: Agricultural Experiment Station

Department: 317250-JORNADA EXPER RANGE HEADQUARTERS

Internal or External Search: External - Open to all applicants

Location: Las Cruces

Offsite Location (if applicable): Jornada Exper Range Headquarters

Target Hourly/Salary Rate:  Commensurate with qualifications

Appointment Full-time Equivalency:  1.0

Exempt or Non-Exempt:  Exempt

Summary:  Jornada Experimental Range Headquarters invites you to apply for the position of Research Scientist, Sr. Their mission is to increase sustainability and resilience of multiple land uses in rangelands.

Classification Summary:
As an individual researcher or consultant, serves as a recognized leader and authority in a broad area of research or in a narrow but advanced and uniquely specialized field. Makes authoritative decisions and recommendations that have a major impact on extensive scientific research activities. Exercises a high degree of creativity, foresight, and mature judgment in planning, organizing, and guiding extensive scientific research programs and activities of outstanding novelty and/or importance.

Classification Standard Duties:
Develops model concepts and approaches as an individual researcher and acts independently on technical matters. Makes authoritative decisions and recommendations that have a major impact on extensive scientific research activities and result in national and/or international recognition. Exercises a high degree of creativity, foresight, and mature judgment in planning, organizing, and guiding extensive research programs and activities of outstanding novelty and/or importance. Interprets, organizes, executes, and coordinates scientific research assignments concerned with unique or controversial problems. Prepares analyses, reports, and other documentation for publication; presents findings at local, national, and/or international meetings. Prepares grant proposals to obtain funding in support of research activities. Serves as principal investigator on single or multiple projects of complexity and scope consistent with above criteria, and/or manages a research unit. Maintains currency of knowledge with respect to relevant state-of-the-art technology, equipment, and/or systems. Performs miscellaneous job-related duties as assigned.

Required Education, Experience, Certification/License, Equivalency
Requirements: Required Education:Doctorate degree in related field.; Required Experience:Five (5) years of professional experience directly related to the standard duties as outlined.; Equivalency:None; Required Certification/License:

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
KSAs: KNOWLEDGE:Knowledge of current technological developments/trends in area of expertise. Comprehensive knowledge of engineering, scientific, and/or mathematical concepts and theories in area of specialty. Knowledge of scientific approach and methodologies. Knowledge of contracts and grants preparation and management. Knowledge of engineering and/or scientific research principles, practices, and protocols. Knowledge of management principles and practices.; SKILLS:Skill in organizing resources and establishing priorities.; ABILITIES:Ability to develop and deliver presentations. Ability to develop scientific reports and manuscripts based on original research. Ability to design, organize, and coordinate scientific and/or engineering research projects. Ability to use independent judgment to develop model concepts and approaches for research. Ability to plan, develop, and manage highly influential and/or groundbreaking research projects in area of expertise. Ability to conduct systematic analysis and develop solutions to complex scientific and/or engineering problems. Ability to utilize advanced computer statistical and technical applications. Ability to plan, develop, and coordinate multiple projects.

Job Duties and Responsibilities
***POSITION IS A ONE YEAR APPOINTMENT; CONTINGENT UPON FUNDING***

Lead the development of a web-based digital ranching dashboard to gather, curate, analyze, and visualize livestock, climate and remote sensing data which are collected through multiple sensor networks in close to real-time. Lead the development of advanced computational intelligence and machine learning techniques to programmatically analyze livestock behavior and vegetation patterns using various sensor data sources and proximal and satellite remote sensing techniques. Develop and maintain a scalable data server system and data services. Interpret, organize, and coordinate scientific research assignments concerned with unique or controversial problems. Prepare, analyses and develops documentation for scientific publications; presents findings at local, national, and/or international meetings. Prepares grant proposals to obtain funding in support of research activities. Develop novel computational concepts and approaches as an individual researcher and acts independently on technical matters, making authoritative decisions and recommendations that have a major impact on extensive scientific research activities and result in national and/or international recognition. Maintains currency of knowledge with respect to relevant state-of-the-art technology, equipment, and/or systems and lead in the organization, supervision and training of undergraduate and/or graduate students and less experienced members of the project team.

Preferred Qualifications

Phd in Computer Science or related field.
A track record of publication and presentation of research results in quality journals/conferences in the areas of data mining, machine learning, artificial intelligence, or databases.
Extensive software development experience.
Experience in using relational database and no-SQL databases.
Experience of developing web applications.
Experience of making a leading contribution in academic activities.
Experience in undertaking independent research.
Experience in developing and deploying techniques using machine learning and deep learning frameworks such as scikit-learn, Tensorflow, Keras, or pyTorch.
Experience with LoRa WAN communication and IoT developments in agriculture.
Comprehensive and up-to-date knowledge of current issues and future directions within the wider subject area of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
Fluent and familiar with one or more of the following programming languages: Java, Javascript, Python.
Fluent and familiar with one or more web frameworks such as Flask, Django, Spring, Bootstrap.
Familiar with REST framework and how it works with work experience with web-servers (nginx, apache), and web-application-servers (gunicorn, unicorn or express.js).
Work experience with cloud services like AWS, Azure, or GCP.

Special Requirements of the Position

Department Contact:  Samantha Lish, 575-646-1726, slish@nmsu.edu

Contingent Upon Funding: Contingent upon external funding

Bargaining Unit Eligibility: This is NOT a bargaining unit position with American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME).

Standard Work Schedule: Standard (M-F, 8-5)

If Not a Standard Work Schedule: 

Working Conditions and Physical Effort

Environment: Work is normally performed in a typical interior/office work environment.

Physical Effort: No or very limited physical effort required.

Lifting Requirements: Requires handling of average-weight objects up to 10 pounds or some standing or walking.

Risk: No or very limited exposure to physical risk.