Data Scientist/Policy Analyst

Department:

The Hilltop Institute 

The Hilltop Institute conducts research and policy analysis to support health care financing and delivery system reform in Maryland and other states. With access to an extensive onsite data repository that includes Medicaid and Medicare administrative data, hospital discharge data, nursing home assessment data, and all-payer claims data, Hilltop conducts qualitative and quantitative analysis to inform health care payment, program design, monitoring, and evaluation.

Position Overview:

The Data Scientist will contribute to quantitative analysis aimed at improving access to and the quality of health care services for people and communities. Most projects will focus on populations served by the Maryland Medicaid and Medicare programs, but occasional work is also performed with other states and other state agencies within Maryland.

Why Work at UMBC?

UMBC offers competitive compensation. This role starts at $82,000 and has over 4 weeks of vacation for regular full time roles. Tuition remission is also available.

What is it like to work at UMBC?  Check out Glassdoor or Indeed. And read about our recent award, UMBC is a 2023 Great College to Work for…. In every category.

Telework:

A hybrid telework schedule may be available.

Responsibilities:

• Assist with the development and operationalization of predictive models. This includes literature reviews, risk factor engineering, pre-processing, modeling, deployment, documentation, and model monitoring
• Analyze large data sets assembled from Medicaid, Medicare, and commercial insurers, hospital pricing data, community benefit reports, and/or hospital discharge abstracts using SAS, Stata, or other statistical packages
• Assist with implementation of multivariate program evaluation methodologies to test the effects of health care interventions on program enrollment, utilization, provider participation, and quality of care measures
• Participate in multi-disciplinary project teams that may include SAS programmers and policy analysts, as well as researchers or policy analysts from other organizations
• Draft reports, memoranda, meeting minutes, and/or Power Point presentations
• Assist in preparing research and analysis for publication in peer-reviewed journals
• Assist with presentations to public and professional audiences
• Participate in internal and external meetings

Required Minimum Qualifications:

Experience Required: MA – 1 year experience; BA – 3 years experience.

A master’s degree with course work in health services research, public health, public policy/administration, economics, data science or a related discipline, and at least one year of relevant experience.

A bachelor’s degree with course work in health services research, public health, public policy/administration, economics, data science or a related field and three years of experience with exposure to health services research, public health administration, and/or policy analysis may be substituted for the master’s degree and required experience.

Must be proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, at least one statistical package (SAS, Stata, R, etc.).

Preferred Qualifications: 

The ideal candidate will possess the following professional and interpersonal competencies:

• The ability to work with large data sets and on a variety of platforms supporting quantitative analysis, predictive analytics, mathematical modeling, and/or machine learning
• Experience with advanced statistical modeling
• Familiarity with the health care literature
• A knowledge of publicly funded health insurance programs such as Medicare and Medicaid
• An interest in federal and state health policy
• Well-honed problem-solving skills
• The ability to communicate orally and in writing to diverse audiences
• The ability to work in multi-disciplinary teams and be flexible in a fast-paced environment
• Excellent interpersonal skills

Special Instructions to Applicants:

Upload a cover letter and a resume.  

Closing Date: Open Until Filled Benefits:

UMBC offers a rich b