Senior Research Scientist, TB Model Architecture (4-month LTE*)

The Foundation We are the largest nonprofit fighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world. Founded on a simple premise: people everywhere, regardless of identity or circumstances, should have the chance to live healthy, productive lives. We believe our employees should reflect the rich diversity of the global populations we aim to serve. We provide an exceptional benefits package to employees and their families which include comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with no premiums, generous paid time off, paid family leave, foundation-paid retirement contribution, regional holidays, and opportunities to engage in several employee communities. As a workplace, we’re committed to creating an environment for you to thrive both personally and professionally.

The Team The Institute for Disease Modeling (IDM) is an embedded research institute within the Gates Foundation’s Global Health Division. We develop, use, and share computational modeling tools, and promote quantitative decision-making to support global efforts to eradicate infectious diseases and achieve permanent improvements in the health of those most in need. The IDM team comprises both research scientists and software engineers who work with a wide ecosystem of partners including universities, NGOs, government ministries and other research organizations.

Application Deadline: Friday, November 6, 2026

Your Role We are seeking an outstanding individual to join the Institute for Disease Modeling (IDM) at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as a Senior Research Scientist, TB Model Architecture, on a four-month, full-time, limited-term basis. This hybrid role combines a scientific focus on dynamical systems modeling of tuberculosis with the practical implementation of scalable, reproducible software. You will build a multi-structure ensemble of age-structured TB transmission models in camdl, an open-source language and inference framework for compartmental models. You will calibrate the ensemble to the highest-burden TB countries and equip it to represent the interventions in the Foundation’s TB portfolio. The ensemble makes the uncertainty created by differing structural assumptions about TB natural history explicit and comparable, so that it can be carried into the analyses that inform Foundation strategy and target-setting.

You will report to the Deputy Director, Discovery, Products & Surveillance and work day-to-day with the Principal Scientist who leads TB modeling at IDM. A central expectation of this role is that, when the engagement ends, IDM staff can independently run, modify, extend, and audit the ensemble. *This position is a limited-term position for 4 months. Relocation will not be provided.

What You’ll Do Ensemble Model Development

• Build a shared base model and implement a set of alternative TB natural history structures on it, so that structures differ only where intended. The list of structures is defined with the project lead in the first month and sized to what can be implemented, verified, and calibrated in four months.
• Make every structure age-structured, and extend each to represent HIV co-infection (including ART status) and drug-resistant TB (drug-susceptible and rifampicin-resistant or multidrug-resistant disease).
• Join weekly working sessions with collaborators, including AI developers, in which candidate model structures are identified, and contribute to the discussion of how structures are specified and implemented.
• Calibrate each structure to the highest-burden countries among the 16 highest in estimated TB incidence, completing a priority group first and extending to the rest as time allows. Use staged, reproducible calibration workflows with convergence checks.
• Verify, test, and compare structures using verification checks, calibration diagnostics, held-out validation, and cross-structure comparison, and construct the ensemble using a documented combination method with sensitivity checks.

Interventions

• Build a modular intervention layer, applied consistently across all structures, covering new diagnostics, new drugs and regimens, new vaccines, new case finding approaches, and preventive therapy.
• Estimate the projected impact of a subset of interventions, to be selected with the project lead, in Foundation-priority countries.

Tool and Workflow Development

• Extend camdl as needed to meet project goals, for example support for deterministic differential equation structures in calibration, batch execution across countries and structures, and ensemble outputs.
• Assemble and document country-level calibration data pipelines from publicly available estimates, recording source, year, and processing for every input.
• Keep all code, configurations, and documentation in an IDM-designated, version-controlled repository, with a pinned camdl version so that results are reproducible from a clean checkout.

Collaboration, Handoff, and Knowledge Transfer

• Partner with the project lead, IDM modelers, and Program Strategy Teams to align structures and intervention scenarios with Foundation questions, prioritizing and descoping with the project lead when time or compute is limited.
• Work alongside IDM staff from the second month, review and accept their contributions, and hold walkthrough sessions on the codebase, camdl, and the calibration workflow.
• Write user and developer documentation, including step-by-step guides for adding a structure, adding a country, updating calibration data, changing an intervention, and re-running calibration and ensemble construction.
• By the end of the engagement, enable IDM staff to independently reproduce a calibration run and make a change to a structure or intervention without your help, and deliver a closing technical report.

Your Experience

• Advanced degree (PhD preferred) and 5+ years of experience in computational modeling, quantitative sciences, or a related field.
• Strong foundation in mathematical modeling, dynamical systems, and calibration and inference techniques, including likelihood-based and Bayesian methods.
• Experience building compartmental models of infectious disease; familiarity with TB, HIV, or drug resistance modeling is a plus.
• Proficiency in Python, R, and scientific modeling frameworks, with experience developing reusable software for other scientists. Familiarity with C++ and Rust a plus.
• Direct experience developing or extending camdl is strongly preferred.
• Commitment to reproducible, well-documented research software, including version control, testing, and verification of model implementations.
• Proven experience working in collaborative interdisciplinary teams, translating research needs into actionable solutions.
• Strong mentorship and teaching skills, with a demonstrated ability to transfer technical workflows to others.
• Quick learner in new contextual domains, including disease systems, delivery contexts, and software frameworks. Confidence and humility to tackle unfamiliar challenges with curiosity and a growth mindset.
• Must be able to legally work in the country where this position is located without visa sponsorship.

**Must have unrestricted work authorization in the country where this position is located. The Foundation does not provide immigration-related sponsorship for this role. This includes direct company sponsorship and any work authorization requiring a written submission or other immigration support from the company (eg: H-1B, O-1, L-1, E, OPT, STEM-OPT, CPT, TN, J-1, etc.).

The salary range for this role is $190,100 to $294,700 USD. We recognize high-wage market differences in Seattle and Washington D.C., where our offices are located. The range for this role in these locations is $209,100 to $324,100 USD. As a mission-driven organization, we strive to balance competitive pay with our mission. New hires salaries are typically between the range minimum and the salary range midpoint. Actual placement in the range will depend on a candidate’s job-related skills, experience, and expertise, as evaluated during the interview process.

Hiring Requirements As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check.

Candidate Accommodations We’re committed to providing an inclusive and accessible hiring experience for all candidates. If you have a disability or medical condition and need an accommodation at any stage of the application or interview process - such as an ASL interpreter, alternative interview format, or physical accessibility support - we’re happy to help. Please contact HR@gatesfoundation.org with the position number and a brief description of your accommodation needs. Requests will be handled confidentially.

Inclusion Statement We are dedicated to the belief that all lives have equal value. We strive for a global and cultural workplace that supports ever greater diversity, equity, and inclusion - of voices, ideas, and approaches - and we support this diversity through all our employment practices.

All applicants and employees who are drawn to serve our mission will enjoy equality of opportunity and fair treatment without regard to race, color, age, religion, pregnancy, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and prior protected activity.