Principal Research Associate- Long-Term & Post-Acute Care Policy

Westat•Bethesda, MD

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Westat is seeking a Principal Research Associate with expertise in gerontology, particularly in research related to healthcare quality measurement, workforce, and federal regulations for Medicare, long-term, and post-acute care. The role involves healthcare analytics, statistical programming, reporting, and task management within multidisciplinary teams on health services research projects. This position requires regular in-person collaboration, with hybrid candidates expected to work at least two days per week in the Bethesda, Maryland office or another Westat location.

Requirements

A master's degree in a relevant discipline including, but not limited to economics, statistics, public health, or computer science, and 8+ years of experience working in a healthcare-related field with progressively increasing responsibilities or a PhD and 5+ years of experience working in a healthcare-related field with progressively increasing responsibilities.
Deep understanding of federal survey and certification and regulations for nursing homes.
Quantitative expertise using SAS, SQL, Python, R, Databricks or other programming languages.
Ability to summarize or synthesize information for different audiences and purposes.
Experience conducting health services research independently and on multidisciplinary teams.
Experience managing projects, including budgets, timelines and multidisciplinary staff.
Ability to work on multiple projects and tasks simultaneously.
Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis.
Westat does not offer employment-based visa sponsorship (including H-1B sponsorship) for this role.

Nice To Haves

Experience working with CMS data, including the Minimum Data Set (MDS) and Medicare claims data.
Demonstrated track record of expertise in long-term and post-acute care, as evidenced through publications and/or experience securing research funding.

Responsibilities

Serving in various technical roles using quantitative research methods for a variety of large, complex projects for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and other federal clients, such as the Administration for Community Living.
Independently conducting data programming and analysis using SAS, SQL, Python, R, Databricks or other statistical packages to ingest, link, clean, create, and manipulate data.
Designing and leading projects and tasks using quantitative methods.
Conducting quantitative analysis, interpreting results, and preparing internal and client-facing reports and deliverables.
Providing project leadership, including overseeing project staff.
Communicating quantitative results verbally and in writing for a variety of internal and external audiences.
Managing projects and tasks, including budgets, deliverables and timelines.
Serving as a technical lead or writer on proposals for government clients and contributing to strategic growth and business development activities.