Data Scientist, Technology, Data, & Knowledge Management

Job Summary

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The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) is a community of dedicated researchers, consultants, educators, and former practitioners who drive innovation and advancement in courts and justice systems. NCSC’s reputation for trusted leadership allows us to work alongside top judicial officers to examine some of the most complex and significant issues facing society.

Our team of experts and court leaders are deeply committed to advancing just, free, and safe communities. To learn more about NCSC, visit NCSC.org

NCSC is seeking an experienced Data Scientist to join our Technology, Data, and Knowledge Management team. The Data Scientist supports cross-functional teams and project directors in identifying and implementing data analytic techniques to enhance project designs, workflows, and work products.

The position is responsible for promoting and implementing best practices for data governance, processing data (both structured and unstructured), designing analytic approaches, and translating data into information for internal and external stakeholders.

Duties and Responsibilities

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• Own the analysis on court-funded projects. Work with court staff and project directors to define questions, select methods, and deliver results.
• Apply statistical methods to court case data to answer operational and policy questions, such as case processing time, caseload, and outcome patterns.
• Build NLP and LLM-based pipelines to extract, classify, and structure information from court documents and other unstructured text.
• Validate models and analyses, and document methods and limitations so clients understand what results can and can't support.
• Communicate findings through reports, dashboards, and occasional maps designed for judges, administrators, and court staff.
• Apply data governance practices to sensitive court data, including access controls, de-identification, and documentation.
• Build data literacy among NCSC staff and court partners through training and consultation.
• Contribute to NCSC's data science and AI strategy.

Qualifications

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• A bachelor's degree in statistics, data science, computer science, or a quantitative social science, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of professional data analysis experience, including at least 2 years applying statistical modeling or machine learning.
• Applied statistics, including regression, hypothesis testing, and research design.
• Hands-on NLP or LLM experience with real-world text, such as text classification, entity extraction, or LLM-assisted document processing.
• Proficiency in both Python and R.
• Strong SQL skills with relational databases.
• Experience building dashboards in a tool such as Tableau or Power BI.
• Experience explaining technical methods and their limitations to non-technical audiences.

Additional Skills and Abilities

• Represents NCSC in a professional manner, including an ability to establish credibility and to interact productively with staff across the organization and with external stakeholders.
• Experience with court or justice-system data.
• Experience handling sensitive or personally identifiable data.
• GIS experience, such as ArcGIS.
• Client-facing experience where the client funds the work.
• Solid writing, communication, interpersonal, and time management skills.

Travel

Occasional travel to courts and conferences.

Additional Information

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Benefits

NCSC is proud to provide a comprehensive benefits package for our regular full-time and regular part-time employees consisting of:

Insurance

• Medical Insurance: PPO, HDHP options (HMO option for VA residents)
• Dental Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• Employer-paid Life Insurance for Employee + Family
• Employer-paid Accidental Death Insurance
• Employer Paid Short-Term & Long-Term Disability
• 125 Plan
• Employee Assistance Program

Retirement

• Retirement: Money Purchase Plan Pension account (9% of salary)
• Retirement Option: 403B

Paid Time Off

• All Purpose Leave (APL)
• Paid Holidays (10)

Other Benefits

• Annual Performance Review
• Education Assistance
• Paid Training and Development
• Qualifying Employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness under 501(c)(3)

The annual starting salary for this role is between $100,000 - $124,800, factors that affect starting pay within the range include education, experience, and other qualifications as it relates to the position.

Join our Team!

This position closes on October 30, 2026. Please submit your resume and cover letter in addition to your completed NCSC application. For reference, include professional references only, with at least one previous or current supervisor.

NCSC is an equal opportunity/disability/veteran employer.

NCSC is proud to provides a comprehensive benefits package for our regular full-time and regular part-time employees consisting of:

Insurance

• Medical Insurance: PPO, HDHP options (HMO option for VA residents)
• Dental Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• Employer Paid Life Insurance for Employee + Family
• Employer Paid Accidental Death Insurance
• Employer Paid Short-Term & Long-Term Disability
• 125 Plan
• Employee Assistance Program

Retirement

• Retirement: Money Purchase Plan Pension account (9% of salary)
• Retirement Option: 403B

Paid Time Off

• All Purpose Leave (APL)
• Paid Holidays (10)

Other Benefits

• Education Assistance
• Paid Training and Development
• Qualifying Employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness under 501(c)(3)