Associate Director of Statistical Programming

Harvard University • Boston, MA

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Center for Biostatistics in AIDS Research (CBAR), an organization within the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, is responsible for the design, monitoring and statistical analysis of clinical trials and observational studies for several major national and international NIH-funded clinical research networks. CBAR employs over 60 statisticians and epidemiologists including Harvard faculty, research scientists, and staff. Investigators within CBAR have provided statistical leadership and support for clinical research networks for thirty-five years. Currently this includes infectious disease networks such as: Advancing Clinical Therapeutics Globally for HIV/AIDS and Other Infections (ACTG) and the International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials Network (IMPAACT). Results from studies have helped to establish the paradigm for the treatment and prevention of HIV and other infectious diseases, and contributed to international treatment and prevention guidelines.
This position is located in the Center for Biostatistics in AIDS Research (CBAR) within the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts. Since 1989, CBAR and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health have provided a strong program for growth and professional development of its research staff -- including a defined career path and opportunities for continuing education and attendance of professional meetings.
CBAR has a hybrid work environment which includes a combination of on-campus/in-person work and remote work.

Requirements

• Minimum of 7 years’ post-secondary education or relevant work experience is required.
• Supervisory experience is required.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, or related field.
• Experience working with all levels of management and consulting with key business stakeholders.
• Proven leadership skills with prior management and extensive supervisory experience.
• Proven history of managing programming capability and projects in a research setting.
• At least seven years of high-level statistical programming skills in a clinical data environment or research setting, preferably with clinical trial data.
• Proven skills in the use of SAS and a scripting language within a Statistical Programming environment, preferably with clinical trial data (knowledge of R is desirable).
• Strong team player that has a customer service approach and is solution-oriented.
• Attention to detail and can work individually, within a multi-disciplinary team, as well as with external partners and vendors.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; technical writing experience is desirable.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with SAS, R, Bash, Linux, and Python are highly desirable.
• Knowledge of R is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Leading the statistical programming efforts for a busy research center.
• Collaborating with CBAR Leadership, project PI's, biostatisticians, and Core programmers as well as the CBAR Quality Management Team, IT professionals, Internal Resource Committees, external collaborators, and other colleagues in the creation, implementation, and maintenance of statistical programming infrastructure and deliverables.
• Leading the effort to continuously improve programming processes to conform to evolving industry standards and participate in the ongoing review and development of quality systems and processes, including CDISC implementation, R programming, AI integration, and other internal/external initiatives.
• Managing the priorities and expectations of the CBAR Programming Core comprised of approximately 10 programmers who design and implement expert applications (including SAS macros, R packages, and BASH scripts) supporting protocol-specific statistical programming and project priorities for Advancing Clinical Therapeutics Globally for HIV/AIDS and Other Infections (ACTG) and the International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials Group (IMPAACT).
• Managing high-level programming projects, including SAS, R, BASH, and Python, and ad hoc protocol-specific programming requests.
• Serving as the process owner for Core Applications, responsible for timely review and final approval of program specifications and requirements.
• Directly supervising programming managers and other senior Core programming staff.
• Making personnel decisions at all levels of the Core, including hiring, promotion recommendations, and disciplinary actions.
• Mentoring programming staff and coordinating with the CBAR Training Committee with respect to the training needs of masters and doctoral-level statisticians and epidemiologists.
• Signatory for CBAR Programming SOPs with responsibility for document revisions, CAPA management, response to internal audit, statistical programming representative for external audit/inspection.
• Assessing new applications, needs of statistics and requirements, allocation of resources including for ad-hoc projects, review, and final approval of program specifications and requirements.
• Managing, cultivating, and establishing requirements for a pipeline of statistical programming projects. Projects may include macro and script development to support the work of biostatistics teams, study-specific work, standardization efforts, ad-hoc projects, etc.
• Directly supervising the Manager of Programming Systems, the Manager of Programmer Development, and the Manager of Data Standardization providing oversight for advanced application design and planning, Core programmer training, and clinical data standardization, respectively.
• Collaboration with the CBAR IT team to ensure thorough and smooth testing associated with critical hardware and software updates.
• Serving as the primary liaison with the ACTG/IMPAACT Data Management Center in Amherst, NY; responsible to ensure the harmonization of programming systems and deliverables between the two organizations.
• Supporting statisticians and epidemiologists with external collaborators to ensure efficient and secure data transfer.
• Coordination with the CBAR Training Committee with respect to the training needs of master- and doctoral-level statisticians and epidemiologists.
• Other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Generous paid time off including parental leave
• Medical, dental, and vision health insurance coverage starting on day one
• Retirement plans with university contributions
• Wellbeing and mental health resources
• Support for families and caregivers
• Professional development opportunities including tuition assistance and reimbursement
• Commuter benefits, discounts and campus perks

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager