Data Scientist

Data Scientist — South Dakota Public Health Data Initiative

Location: Remote — South Dakota-based or SD-familiar candidates strongly preferred

Employment Type: Full-time, Contract (W-2 or 1099)

Experience Level: Mid-level (3–5 years)

Engagement: Supports a proposed South Dakota Department of Health data initiative (Rural Health Data Atlas)

About the Role

Graphable is building a bench of top-tier data science talent to support a landmark public health data initiative for South Dakota. As part of a competitive proposal to the South Dakota Department of Health's Rural Health Data Atlas program, we're identifying a Data Scientist to help transform how rural communities across South Dakota access and use health data. This is a long-term, full-time engagement supporting a new state-owned platform that will bring maps, dashboards, and point-and-click analytics to health agencies, Tribal Nations, rural clinics, and researchers statewide.

What You'll Do

• Support the ingestion, curation, and integration of health datasets from South Dakota state agencies, federal sources, and local/county partners into the new statewide data platform.

• Build and maintain metadata, data dictionaries, and variable/change documentation for platform datasets and public health indicators.

• Apply data governance standards to health indicators, including rate stabilization and small-cell suppression rules that protect individual privacy.

• Apply data privacy and de-identification methods, including statistical disclosure limitation, to sensitive health data.

• Help identify solutions for secure, well-governed data access, and support data quality review and decision-making processes.

• Build reports and dashboards in Power BI, ESRI, and Tableau, and support state staff in manipulating and using platform data.

• Serve as a point of contact for internal Department of Health staff and external stakeholders — hospitals, community coalitions, Tribal Nations, rural health clinics, and academic/research partners.

What You'll Need

• Bachelor's degree in Data Science, Mathematics, Computer Science, or a related field.

• Working knowledge of statistical methods, data modeling, and analysis tools such as SAS or R.

• Hands-on experience with Power BI, ESRI, Tableau, or similar data visualization tools.

• Proficiency with SQL, Python, or other scripting languages.

• Strong Microsoft Office skills.

• At least 2 years of experience in a public health setting (state/local health departments, Tribal health programs, federally qualified health centers, public health labs, community health organizations, or academic/research institutions doing population-level health work).

Nice to Have

• South Dakota residency, or deep familiarity with the state — its counties, communities, and rural health landscape.

• 3–5 years of overall data science/analytics experience.

• Experience with Azure data services (Cosmos DB, Databricks, Synapse, Data Factory).

• Prior experience working with health or human-services agencies, or Tribal Nations.

Work Arrangement

• Fully remote, full-time role (~40 hours/week); availability during Central Time business hours preferred.

• Occasional travel to Pierre, SD (roughly twice a year) for in-person planning sessions — travel expenses reimbursed at state per diem rates.

• Engagement structure is flexible — W-2 employee or 1099/contract — consistent with Graphable's federated talent model.

• This is a U.S.-based role; it cannot be performed offshore.

• Selected candidates must be able to pass a fingerprint-based background check, required for access to protected health data.

About Graphable

Graphable is a boutique data and AI consultancy specializing in graph databases (Neo4j), Microsoft Fabric, and Domo — where we hold Domo Elite partner status — alongside modern Python/dbt-based data engineering. We build flexible client teams from a blend of W-2 employees, fractional specialists, and partner firms, and we're growing our public-sector and rural-health data practice into South Dakota through this engagement.

How to Apply

• Interested candidates should apply directly to this posting with a current resume. We are building our South Dakota talent bench now, ahead of contract award — candidates based in South Dakota, or with strong ties to the state, are especially encouraged to apply. Even if this particular engagement doesn't move forward, we'll keep your info