Senior Data Scientist II – Health Care Analytics - Chicago, DC or Remote

NORC at the University of Chicago • Washington DC, WA

20h • Hybrid

About The Position

The Health Care Evaluation Research Department at NORC seeks a Senior Data Scientist II. In this role, the Senior Data Scientist II will lead analytic work using large administrative and claims-based data to support the implementation, evaluation, and ongoing monitoring of CMS Innovation Center (CMMI) models, Medicare and Medicaid programs, and related payment and delivery system reforms. The position emphasizes technical leadership, analytic execution, and deep familiarity with CMS data systems, and includes mentoring data analysts and data scientists while collaborating closely with other project leaders, policy researchers, economists, and methodologists. At NORC, you will work alongside nationally recognized experts supporting some of the most significant health care reforms in the country. This role offers the opportunity to apply deep technical expertise to CMS Innovation Center models and Medicaid initiatives, lead analytic contributions to new business efforts, manage complex workstreams, and mentor others within a mission-driven, nonpartisan research organization. The Data Science job family exists across multiple departments at NORC and provides advanced analytical expertise for a portfolio of research and evaluation projects. The Senior Data Scientist II (SDS II) plays a strategic, hands-on role in delivering high-quality analytics for complex health care initiatives by leading large-scale data efforts, providing technical leadership to multidisciplinary teams, establishing resources and best practices for health care data work across NORC, and taking leadership on relevant business development initiatives. NORC’s Health Care Evaluation Research department conducts advanced analytics and evaluations for Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial insurance programs. NORC’s health work supports the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of health care payment and delivery reforms, with a particular emphasis on CMS Innovation Center (CMMI) models, state Medicaid demonstrations, and other federal health projects across Health and Human Services, states, and foundations.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Data Science, Economics, Public Health, or a related field.
• At least 9 years of relevant experience (or 12 years with a Bachelor’s degree) in positions of increasing responsibility involving large-scale data analysis and statistical modeling.
• Demonstrated experience leading project teams or teams conducting substantial work streams on larger projects.
• Demonstrated experience working with Medicare and/or Medicaid administrative or claims data.
• Experience accessing and analyzing CMS data through the Chronic Conditions Warehouse (CCW) / Virtual Research Data Center (VRDC).
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex analytic work, mentor technical staff, and communicate results to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Qualified applicants must be eligible to work in the U.S.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree or higher in a relevant field.
• Experience supporting CMS Innovation Center (CMMI) model implementation, monitoring, or evaluation.
• Experience working with CMS data environments, including Model Space and the Integrated Data Repository (IDR).
• Hands-on experience with T-MSIS/TAF, state Medicaid claims and encounter data, Medicare Advantage encounter data, and Medicare Part D prescription drug data.
• Proficiency with SAS, SQL, R, and/or Python, and experience working in modern data warehouse or data lake environments.
• Experience leading or contributing to technical proposal writing for federal health care analytics or evaluation work.

Responsibilities

• Lead advanced analytic work supporting the implementation, evaluation, and monitoring of CMS Innovation Center (CMMI) models, including alternative payment models and delivery system reforms.
• Lead projects and manage major project workstreams including but not limited to advanced analytic work supporting the implementation, evaluation, and monitoring of CMS Innovation Center (CMMI) models, including alternative payment models and delivery system reforms.
• Apply claims-based and administrative data to assess program operations, utilization, quality, access, and cost across Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial populations.
• Lead analyses using Medicaid T-MSIS (including TAF), state Medicaid claims and encounter data, Medicare fee-for-service claims, Medicare Advantage encounter data, and Medicare Part D prescription drug data.
• Access and analyze data in CMS secure data environments, including CCW/VRDC and, as appropriate, Model Space, IDR, and other CMS data platforms.
• Lead data acquisition, ingestion, cleaning, transformation, linkage, and harmonization for large and complex health care datasets.
• Develop and implement quality assurance protocols, documentation standards, and reproducible analytic workflows.
• Serve as a technical lead and mentor to data analysts and data scientists.
• Lead or co-lead analytic and data-focused components of business development efforts, including proposal writing and capture discussions.

Benefits

• Generously subsidized health insurance, effective on the first day of employment
• Dental and vision insurance
• A defined contribution retirement program, along with a separate voluntary 403(b) retirement program
• Group life insurance, long-term and short-term disability insurance
• Benefits that promote work/life balance, including generous paid time off, holidays; paid parental leave, bereavement leave, tuition assistance, and an Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
• This role is bonus eligible.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Number of Employees: 501-1,000 employees