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Role Description

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.

• Emphasizes technical leadership, analytic execution, and deep familiarity with CMS data systems.
• Mentors data analysts and data scientists while collaborating closely with other project leaders, policy researchers, economists, and methodologists.
• Opportunity to apply deep technical expertise to CMS Innovation Center models and Medicaid initiatives.
• Leads analytic contributions to new business efforts and manages complex workstreams.

Work Location: NORC supports hybrid work arrangements for this position in either our Washington, DC or Chicago, IL offices. Remote work status may be considered for outstanding candidates. Occasional travel may be required based on project needs and client meetings.

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.
• Manage major project workstreams including advanced analytic work.
• 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.

Qualifications

• 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 workstreams 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. We regret that we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this position.

Requirements

• Strongly Preferred Qualifications:
• 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.

Benefits

• The pay range for this position is $160,000 - $200,000.
• This position is classified as regular. Regular staff are eligible for NORC’s comprehensive benefits program.
• 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. Bonus payment is contingent upon program terms and individual performance.

EEO Statement

NORC is an equal opportunity employer. NORC evaluates qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, sexual orientation, and other legally protected characteristics.