Build a New Kind of School
We are seeking talented people who are excited to create a forward-thinking community with diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and ideas. The School of Data Science is building a community dedicated to furthering data science education, research, and engagement. If you thrive in a startup atmosphere — where innovation, hard work, and enthusiasm are key contributors to success — and are excited to build a new kind of School, then we encourage you to apply.
The scope of data science at UVA is broad and interdisciplinary.
What are the Domains of Data Science?
The UVA School of Data Science is assembling an interdisciplinary and world-class faculty. We are seeking candidates who wish to join us as we pioneer data science methods and applications, innovate data science education, and collaborate on impactful research and solutions to real-world problems.
Faculty Positions
Open Rank Tenured/Tenure Track Professor of Data Science in Natural Language Processing
The University of Virginia School of Data Science is seeking exceptional candidates for an open-rank tenured or tenure-track faculty position in Natural Language Processing (NLP), with particular emphasis on Large Language Models (LLMs). This search prioritizes faculty making foundational and methodological contributions that improve the understanding or capabilities of language models. We seek a scholar with deep technical expertise in advancing language models, including their architectures, learning objectives, data and training methods, adaptation and post-training, reasoning, evaluation, and efficient implementation. We especially welcome candidates who connect language model research with other areas of data science and with important domains across the University. A successful candidate will join a collaborative faculty community committed to research excellence, innovative teaching, interdisciplinary partnership, and the responsible advancement of data science and AI. Faculty have the opportunity to shape a rapidly evolving field while leveraging the strengths of one of the nation's leading public research universities, with exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and scholarly impact.
Position Type: Full time
Open Rank Tenured/Tenure Track Professor of Data Science in Data and Society
The University of Virginia School of Data Science is a leader in preparing students, advancing research, and developing the intellectual foundations that underpin the age of artificial intelligence. As data science and AI transform every field of inquiry, the School brings together researchers, educators, and practitioners to address complex problems and generate knowledge with societal impact.
We seek exceptional candidates for an open-rank tenured or tenure-track faculty position in the School of Data Science (SDS) within the Data and Society domain, broadly understood to include integrative work across the social sciences, policy, humanities, law, business, and more technical areas of data science. We are especially interested in candidates who work on foundational questions at the intersections of data, society, and AI while addressing complex, real-world challenges.
A successful candidate will join a collaborative faculty community committed to research excellence, innovative teaching, interdisciplinary partnership, and the responsible advancement of data science and AI. Our Data and Society faculty work across SDS domains to identify how data-centric systems and AI are embedded into social organization and to evaluate and respond to their potential impacts and consequences for individuals, communities, and institutions. SDS faculty from various disciplinary backgrounds work closely together to shape a rapidly evolving field while leveraging the strengths of one of the nation's leading public research universities, with exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and scholarly impact. A successful candidate will also benefit from multiple data- and AI-focused centers, initiatives, and efforts across the University, including facilities in Northern Virginia.
Position Type: Full time
Staff Positions
Academic Administrative Assistant
The School of Data Science at the University of Virginia invites applications for an Academic Administrative Assistant to provide administrative coordination and special project support, to advance the strategic goals of the School, and ensure smooth operations. This position will operate under the direction of the Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs in coordination with the administrative team across the organization directed by the Associate Dean for Administration.
Position Type: Full time
Job ID: R0086563
Director of Academic Operations and Student Support
The School of Data Science (SDS) at the University of Virginia seeks a Director of Academic Operations and Student Support to lead the academic operations team, oversee comprehensive academic operational functions, and partner closely with faculty and staff colleagues to advance SDS’s mission and program goals. The Director will oversee and execute academic operations to ensure a high-quality, efficient academic environment that supports the student lifecycle from orientation through graduation, with smooth coordination across programs and operational units aligned with School and University strategy.
Position Type: Full time
Job ID: R0085070
Admissions Counselor
The School of Data Science (SDS) at the University of Virginia seeks a passionate, self-directed, and team-oriented professional to join its admissions team as an Admissions Counselor. The Admissions Counselor provides comprehensive support for the admissions and recruitment processes for Data Science programs. This role serves as a first point of contact for prospective students, ensuring a seamless and engaging application experience. The counselor position supports strategic enrollment goals through data-informed decision-making, process management, and exceptional customer service.
Position Type: Full time
Job ID: R0084667
Postdoctoral and Research Scientist Positions
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Large Foundation Models and Causal Inference for Scientific Discovery
The University of Virginia School of Data Science—the first of its kind in the nation—advances discovery, innovation, and societal impact through collaborative, open, and responsible data science research and education. Founded in 2019, the School brings together expertise across business, computation, engineering, humanities, law, mathematics, social sciences, statistics, and law to address complex, real‑world challenges. Its academic offerings include a B.S. in Data Science, an undergraduate minor, residential and online M.S. in Data Science programs, and a Ph.D. in Data Science, all designed to prepare students for a rapidly evolving data‑driven world.
Position Type: Full time
Job ID: R0086561
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Machine Unlearning and Model Editing for AI Biosecurity
This position develops and evaluates machine unlearning and model editing methods that selectively reduce hazardous biological capabilities in AI systems while preserving beneficial scientific functions. The researcher reports to Assistant Professor Tom Hartvigsen and will work closely with other SDS faculty members including Chirag Agarwal, and Stephen Turner, and works with faculty in interpretability and with a laboratory partner that leads adversarial red teaming. The role centers on implementing, innovating, and comparing model editing and unlearning methods, measuring safety--utility tradeoffs against both benchmarks and realistic task batteries, and leading technical development of an open evaluation suite for AI biosecurity. Strong familiarity with biology and biosecurity is important, as the work targets biological capabilities and connects to a human-subjects evaluation running in parallel.
Position Type: Full time
Job ID: R0084978
Postdoctoral Research Associate, AI Biosecurity Evaluation and Study Design
This position leads the design, execution, and analysis of a large paired human-subjects study that links AI biosecurity benchmark scores to performance on realistic biological protocol-design and troubleshooting tasks. The researcher reports to Associate Professor Stephen D. Turner and coordinates closely with co-investigators Tom Hartvigsen and Chirag Agarwal, and a laboratory partner. The role draws on study design, psychometric and statistical analysis, and management of participant data collection. The researcher will also contribute to a parallel machine unlearning effort, supporting measurement of how capability-mitigation methods affect both benchmark scores and real-world task performance.
Position Type: Full time
Job ID: R0084977
Postdoctoral Research Associate
The Human + AI Design Lab at the University of Virginia's School of Data Science seeks a full-time postdoctoral research fellow. This scholar will work closely with Dr. Nur Yildirim on research at the intersection of human-AI interaction and radiology. The selected candidate will translate insights from prior stakeholder research into design requirements for a dashboard tool that supports radiologists in reviewing and editing AI-generated medical imaging reports. The postdoc will then design, build, and iteratively refine this tool in close collaboration with clinical stakeholders. The postdoc will also design and conduct evaluation studies with radiologists at UVA Health.
Position Type: Full time
Job ID: R0082879
Student Positions
FWS Marketing and Communications Intern (Student Wage)
The School of Data Science is seeking a Marketing and Communications Intern to support the Communications team during fall 2026, with the opportunity to renew for spring 2027. The intern will gain hands-on experience in writing, editing, interviewing, event coverage, and content development while working alongside experienced marketing and communications professionals. This role offers a valuable opportunity to contribute to communications that showcase the people, programs, and impact of data science at UVA while building professional skills and a strong portfolio.
FWS Student Worker - Office of Student Support
The School of Data Science is seeking motivated, detail-oriented, and reliable student workers to join the Office of Student Support team. These positions will provide hands-on experience in student services, event planning, and communications while supporting the mission of creating a vibrant and inclusive community for all data science students.
Instructional Assistants, Graders, Graduate Teaching Assistants, and Graduate Research Assistants
The UVA School of Data Science employs undergraduate and graduate students in instructional support positions to facilitate course delivery. For more information about eligibility, application deadlines, and more, visit Instructional Support.
