Senior Epidemiologist

The University of British Columbia; Vancouver; On-site; CAD 8,800 - 13,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of British Columbia invites applications for a Senior Epidemiologist to lead statistical analyses on wildfire smoke and population health in BC and across Canada. You will design studies, build reproducible data pipelines, manage data access, and produce knowledge translation materials including manuscripts and presentations.

Reporting to the Scientific Director, Environmental Health at BCCDC, you will supervise research staff and trainees, collaborate with national partners, and

Qualifications

• Post-graduate degree in statistics or related field.
• Minimum five years of integrative analysis experience.
• Commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical and statistical analyses for multiple projects.
• Build reproducible data pipelines for data cleaning and analyses.
• Design study protocols and ensure minimally biased analyses.
• Supervise staff and trainees on study design, data prep, analysis, and reporting.
• Present methods and results to project teams and external audiences.
• Support grant development and project budgeting.

Skills

Biostatistics

Epidemiology

Statistics

Data analysis

Research leadership

Education

Post-graduate degree in Statistics

Post-graduate degree in Biostatistics or Epidemiology

Tools

R

Python

SAS

Job description

Senior Epidemiologist

Department: Henderson Laboratory | Centre for Disease Control | Faculty of Medicine

Compensation Range: $8,810.92 - $13,202.50 CAD Monthly

Posting End Date: September 9, 2026. Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.

Job End Date: December 31, 2026. This position is expected to be filled by promotion/reassignment and is included here to inform you of its vacancy at the University.

Job Summary

The Senior Epidemiologist will provide technical and statistical leadership for multiple, cutting-edge research projects related to wildfire smoke and population health in British Columbia (BC) and across Canada. The incumbent will be responsible for a range of activities spanning the quantitative research cycle, including data access requests, developing reproducible pipelines for data cleaning and preparation, designing and conducting advanced epidemiologic analyses, and preparing knowledge translation materials, including presentations, reports, and scientific journal articles.

Organizational Status

The Senior Epidemiologist will report to the Dr. Sarah Henderson, who is the Scientific Director, Environmental Health at the BC Centre for Disease Control and a Professor (Partner) at the UBC School of Population and Public Health. The Senior Epidemiologist will work closely with other principal investigators and will oversee the work of other research staff and graduate trainees contributing to the projects at SFU, UBC, BCCDC, Health Canada, uOttawa, and other partner agencies.

Work Performed

• Short-term exposure to wildfire smoke and acute respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological outcomes in children and adults
• Long-term exposure to wildfire smoke and the development of chronic respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological conditions in children and adults
• Prenatal exposure to wildfire smoke and adverse pregnancy and early life outcomes
• Wildfire smoke exposure and previously under-studied outcomes such as lab-confirmed infectious respiratory disease, ocular disease, and fungal skin infections
• Consults with senior statisticians to ensure study design and analysis plans are appropriate and minimally biased
• Builds data pipelines to ensure efficient and reproducible epidemiologic analyses across multiple studies
• Supervises and supports other project staff and research trainees on study design, data preparation, analysis, and reporting
• Manages data access requests and amendments for multiple platforms, including the BC Health Data Platform (HDP), the PHSA Platform for Analytics and Data (PANDA), and platforms used by national project partners
• Presents research methods and results to project teams and external audiences, including delivering conference and symposia papers on epidemiologic methods and results
• Leads technical writing and data visualization for high-impact peer-reviewed publications and other project reports
• Supports grant development for further research related to wildfire smoke and population health, including project budgeting
• Other tasks, as required by project leads

Consequence of Error/Judgement

The Senior Epidemiologist will be responsible for generating statistically defensible epidemiologic evidence to inform provincial and national policy and practice related to wildfire smoke exposure. Errors in this work could lead to spurious relationships and incorrect conclusions that perpetuate into misinformed policy and practice decisions with harmful impacts for the entire population. Wildfire smoke is likely to be the most consequential effect of the changing climate in Canada, and robust evidence is required to guide population health protection in the decades ahead. Due to the use of individual-level administrative health data in these projects, the Senior Epidemiologist must understand and exemplify the ethics of confidentiality, sensitivity, and respect and must uphold the data access policies of all analytic platforms used for the projects.

Supervision Received

The Senior Epidemiologist will be supervised by Dr. Sarah Henderson, and work will be collaboratively guided by Dr. Henderson and other principal investigators on the project teams.

Supervision Given

The Senior Epidemiologist will provide supervision and support for other staff and trainees working on multiple projects. These may include early career epidemiologists, data analysts, biostatisticians, post-doctoral fellows, PhD trainees, MSc trainees, and MPH practicum placements.

Minimum Qualifications

• Post-graduate degree in Statistics.
• Minimum of five years of related experience in integrative analysis, or the equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own
• Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion

Preferred Qualifications

• A post-graduate degree in statistics, biostatistics, or epidemiology
• Advanced experience with air pollution epidemiology and biostatistics.
• Advanced knowledge of R, Python, SAS or other coding language for data management and epidemiologic analyses.
• Advanced experience linking and working with provincial administrative health data in secure research environments.
• Advanced understanding of population health and determinants of health in BC and across Canada.
• Advanced understanding of the role of research in the policy and practice decision‑making processes.
• Strong project and time management skills.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively lead other people, including trainees.
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills.
• Significant experience with scientific peer review and publishing processes is an asset.
• Significant experience with geospatial data analysis is an asset.
• Ability to exercise appropriate tact, discretion and confidentiality in all matters.

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students.

Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.

The University of British Columbia is a global centre for research and teaching, consistently ranked among the top 20 public universities globally. A large part of what makes us unique is the community of engaged students, faculty, and staff who are collectively committed to shaping a better world. Recognized as a leading employer in British Columbia and Canada, UBC supports inspired students, faculty and staff on their journey of discovery, and challenges them to realize their greatest potential. New ideas, changing infrastructure, innovative technology, and fresh approaches are opening up possibilities for the future of research, teaching, and work.

Are you ready to embrace the future together?

Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence.

An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged.

We encourage applications from members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Metis, Inuit, and/or Indigenous person.

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

If you have any accommodation or accessibility needs during the job application process, please contact the Centre for Workplace Accessibility at [e-mail].