Chief Scientist, Learning Health System

Chief Scientist, Learning Health System

Kaiser Permanente Georgia's Center for Research and Evaluation is seeking a Senior Manager of Biostatistics to build and lead a new Learning Health System program. This role will leverage research expertise and real-world data to generate rapid and actionable insights, directly supporting care delivery, quality improvement, and organizational strategy. This new position will report to the Executive Director of Research, lead a team of analysts, and collaborate with clinical, operational, and research leaders across the enterprise to inform and evaluate care delivery and operational initiatives. This is a unique opportunity to define a new program, drive high-impact analytics, and shape the future of evidence-based care at Kaiser Permanente in Georgia.

Work location is on-site with the flexibility to work remotely, the primary location will be in-office for meetings, per Kaiser Permanente's Authorized States Policy - Employees may be required to travel to a Kaiser Permanente or customer site. Residency required in the primary location: 10 Piedmont Center, 3495 Piedmont Rd., NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30305

Job Summary:

In addition to the responsibilities listed below, this position is responsible for serving as a statistical leader by using specialized knowledge of statistics to make recommendations for data analysis plans and methodologies during the writing of research proposals and design of studies; building and maintaining an innovative research program; collaborating and offering consultation on the collection, management, and analysis of biomedical data for trials and observational studies across a range of public health topics; developing novel statistical approaches to enhance the impact of research; collaborating with researchers and stakeholders to interpret biomedical data and communicate results; and leading statistical reports and presentations.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Creates and advocates for developmental opportunities for others; builds collaborative, cross-functional relationships. Solicits and acts on performance feedback; works with leaders and employees to set goals and provide open feedback and coaching to drive performance improvement. Pursues professional growth; hires, trains, and develops talent for growth opportunities; strategically evaluates talent for succession planning; sets performance management guidelines and expectations across teams / units. Oversees implementation, adapts, and stays up to date with organizational change, challenges, feedback, best practices, processes, and industry trends; shares best practices within and across teams. Fosters open dialogue amongst team members, engages, motivates, and promotes collaboration within and across teams; motivates teams to meet business objectives. Delegates tasks and decisions as appropriate; provides appropriate support, guidance and scope; encourages development and consideration of options in decision making; fosters access to stakeholders.
• Manages designated units or teams by translating business plans into tactical action items; oversees the completion of work assignments and identifies opportunities for improvement; ensures all policies and procedures are followed; partners with key stakeholders and business leaders to ensure products and/or services meet requirements and expectations while aligning with departmental strategies. Aligns team efforts; builds accountability for and measuring progress in achieving results; assumes responsibility for decision making; fosters direct reports to resolve escalated issues as appropriate. Communicates goals and objectives; incorporates resources, costs, and forecasts into team and unit plans; ensures matrixed resources are fulfilling service or performance requirements across reporting lines. Removes obstacles that impact performance; identifies and addresses improvement opportunities; guides performance and develops contingency plans accordingly; influences teams and units to operate in alignment with operational and business objectives.
• Participates in mentoring activities by: serving as a mentor and advisor to senior team members by providing guidance on research methodologies, project management, and career development, as well as fostering a collaborative and inclusive work environment and overseeing mentorship activities across the department/division.
• Assists in the management of research projects by: partnering with senior leadership to ensure compliance for all research studies and to drive the appropriate application of all applicable local, state, and federal laws, regulations, and accreditation standards, and any funding agency, grant, and/or contract management policies, and terms and conditions of the award across teams and remaining up to date with all organizational, funding, and regulatory agency policies and procedures, and other regulatory requirements relevant to the research environment by attending trainings; leveraging expert knowledge from within ones field to lead teams in the design and development of highly complex study methodologies, protocols, and data collection and analysis plans, as well as providing strategic and managerial oversight to other scientists within ones division to ensure data quality and scientific integrity across research studies; working with senior leaders to establish expectations on maintaining the quality, accuracy, and integrity of data across teams, and leading and/or conducting highly complex qualitative and/or quantitative data collection, cleaning, management, and/or analyses; coaching management and across teams on and collaborating with cross-functional research partners to ensure alignment of project plans, coordinate activities, and provide consultation toward achieving project goals; leading and/or assisting in the development and monitoring of highly complex and/or large research study budgets, timelines, and/or deliverables as well as collaborating with senior management to identify and recommend uses for division/department operation budgets; and collaborating with senior management to determine staffing needs and hiring, training, evaluating performance, and assigning work to team members to ensure integrity, efficiency, and quality of research studies, as well as leading the implementation of training to support staff development.
• Contributes to the development of proposals by: leading and supporting the development and writing of large and/or complex proposals with national impact as a principal or co-investigator, from conceptualization to submission and providing oversight to and setting performance expectations for team members as well as contributing to the development of resources and systems within a division to support proposal development; and serving as a resource within a division on the oversight of pre-award activities (e.g., define and negotiation of aspects of the proposal including the scope of work, budget, and identification of research staff) for highly complex and/or large proposals that may vary in number.
• Advances knowledge of the scientific community by: leveraging expert knowledge to provide guidance across teams, assist, and/or lead the interpretation and/or presentation of highly complex data; and lead- and/or co-authoring technical products and peer-reviewed publications and/or developing abstracts, posters, and/or presentations to disseminate research findings locally, nationally, or internationally to clinical partners, collaborators, stakeholders, or wider audiences, as well as managing dissemination activities for senior authored products.
• Participates in service to the local and scientific community by: serving as a reviewer for scientific journals and grant review panels, participating in committees, conferences, and/or professional organizations, and serving as a resource to the team on insights, advancements, and/or changes in the industry.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: (Core)

• Ambiguity/Uncertainty Management
• Attention to Detail
• Business Knowledge
• Communication
• Constructive Feedback
• Critical Thinking
• Cross-Group Collaboration
• Decision Making
• Dependability
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Support
• Drives Results
• Facilitation Skills
• Health Care Industry
• Influencing Others
• Integrity
• Leadership
• Learning Agility
• Organizational Savvy
• Problem Solving
• Short- and Long-term Learning & Recall
• Strategic Thinking
• Team Building
• Teamwork
• Topic-Specific Communication

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: (Functional)

• Biostatistical Data Management
• Biostatistical Research Design & Analysis
• Biostatistical Research Methods
• Business Process Improvement
• Change Management
• Confidentiality
• Data Governance
• Employee/Labor Relations
• Health Care Compliance
• Interpretation & Dissemination of Research
• Project Management
• Research & Evaluation Data Collection
• Research & Evaluation Study Design
• Research Ethics
• Scientific Writing
• Stakeholder Management
• Systems Thinking

Minimum Qualifications:

• Doctoral degree in Biostatistics or related field AND Minimum four (4) years of experience in biostatistics or a directly related field.
• Minimum two (2) years of experience managing operational or project budgets.
• Minimum five (5) years of experience in a leadership role with or without direct reports.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Four (4) years of experience working with statistical and programming software (e.g., R, SAS, SPSS, STATA).
• Ten (10) years of experience performing analytical techniques on a research project(s).
• Served as an author (lead author