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

Work arrangement
Yes