Data Scientist

Alignment Health; United States; On-site; USD 150,000 - 225,000; Full time

Job summary

Alignment Health is seeking a mission-driven Data Scientist focused on CAHPS to model member survey responses and satisfaction, translate insights into interventions, and influence Star Rating performance. You will work at the intersection of healthcare, analytics, and survey methodology within the Stars team.

The role emphasizes collaboration with operations and member experience, as well as building end-to-end data science solutions using Python/SQL in a data-driven environment.

Qualifications

• PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, or related field.
• 2+ years of predictive modeling and analysis with survey or member data.
• CMS/NCQA CAHPS methodology including case-mix adjustment and sampling.
• Knowledge of CAHPS domains: Getting Needed Care, Appointments, Customer Service, and others.
• Programming skills in Python, Java, R, Scala, or C++ and SQL proficiency.
• Experience turning analytics into actionable insight for non-technical stakeholders.
• Familiarity with experimental frameworks and evaluation metrics.
• Ability to handle high-volume, unstructured data from multiple sources.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with Stars, member experience, and operations to identify CAHPS drivers.
• Segment members by response likelihood and predicted satisfaction for outreach.
• Build models predicting CAHPS domain scores and track performance drivers.
• Analyze item-level CAHPS data to identify survey questions impacting measures.
• Develop pipelines for CAHPS sampling, fielding, and case-mix adjustment validation.
• Assess statistical significance and year-over-year variance in results.
• Coordinate with CAHPS vendors on sampling and fielding timelines.
• Work with engineering to version, test, and deploy models using Git and CI/CD.
• Partner with compliance, legal, and provider teams to align outputs with CMS guidance.
• Create dashboards tracking CAHPS performance against Star Rating cut points.

Skills

Python

SQL

R

Java

Scala

C++

Data Visualization

Communication

Problem-Solving

Machine Learning

Education

PhD in CS/Engineering/Math/Statistics

Tools

Git

CI/CD

VM Environments

Azure

AWS

Job description

Alignment Health is breaking the mold in conventional health care, committed to serving seniors and those who need it most: the chronically ill and frail. It takes an entire team of passionate and caring people, united in our mission to put the senior first. We have built a team of talented and experienced people who are passionate about transforming the lives of the seniors we serve. In this fast-growing company, you will find ample room for growth and innovation alongside the Alignment Health community. Working at Alignment Health provides an opportunity to do work that really matters, not only changing lives but saving them. Together.

Alignment Healthcare is a data and technology driven healthcare company focused on partnering with health systems, health plans, and provider groups to provide care delivery that is preventive, convenient, coordinated, and that results in improved clinical outcomes for seniors.

We are seeking a mission-driven Data Scientist to join our growing Stars team, with a primary focus on CAHPS (Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) — the member experience survey component of our Star Ratings strategy. This role is responsible for modeling member survey response and satisfaction behavior, identifying the operational and service drivers behind CAHPS measure performance, and translating those insights into targeted interventions that move specific Star Rating cut points.

This is a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of healthcare, member experience, and survey methodology — directly shaping the strategy behind one of the most influential and least understood components of the Star Ratings program.

Job Duties/Responsibilities

• Collaborate with Stars, member experience, and operations leaders to understand CAHPS performance drivers and translate them into analytical solutions.
• Segment members by likelihood to respond to the CAHPS survey and by predicted satisfaction, to prioritize outreach and intervention.
• Build and fine-tune models predicting member-level risk of low CAHPS domain scores, including Getting Needed Care, Getting Appointments and Care Quickly, Customer Service, Care Coordination, Rating of Health Care Quality, and Rating of Health Plan.
• Analyze item-level CAHPS survey data, not just composite or domain scores, to isolate which specific survey questions are driving measure performance.
• Build pipelines that track CAHPS survey administration cycles — sampling, fielding, and response rates — and validate case-mix adjustment logic against CMS/NCQA methodology.
• Model statistical significance and year-over-year variance to distinguish genuine performance shifts from survey noise or sampling error.
• Coordinate with CAHPS survey vendors on sampling methodology, fielding timelines, and case-mix adjustment specifications.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to version, test, and deploy models using Git, CI/CD pipelines, and virtual machine (VM) environments.
• Partner with member experience, call center, provider network, Compliance, and Legal teams to ensure CAHPS-related data outputs and interventions align with CMS guidance.
• Build dashboards tracking measure-level CAHPS performance against Star Rating cut points and prior-year trend for each domain.
• Help standardize definitions, documentation logic, and reporting workflows to scale CAHPS analytics enterprise-wide

Supervisory Responsibilities

N/A

Minimum Requirements

• Minimum Experience:
  • 2+ years of relevant experience in predictive modeling and analysis, with demonstrated application to survey-based or member experience data.
• Education/Licensure:
  • Required: PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, or a related field.
• Domain Expertise (Required):
  • Demonstrated experience with CMS/NCQA CAHPS survey methodology, including case-mix adjustment, sampling and fielding cycles, and item response theory or other psychometric methods.
  • Working knowledge of individual CAHPS measure domains: Getting Needed Care, Getting Appointments and Care Quickly, Customer Service, Care Coordination, Rating of Health Care Quality, and Rating of Health Plan.
  • Working knowledge of CMS Star Ratings procedures, including how CAHPS measures are weighted, cut-point determined, and incorporated into the overall Star Rating.
• Other:
  • Excellent communication, analytical, and collaborative problem-solving skills.
  • Experience building end-to-end data science solutions and applying machine learning methods to real-world problems with measurable outcomes.
  • Solid data structures and algorithms background.
  • Strong programming skills in one of the following: Python, Java, R, Scala, or C++.
  • Demonstrated proficiency in SQL and relational databases.
  • Experience with data visualization and presentation, turning complex survey analysis into clear, actionable insight for non-technical stakeholders.
  • Experience setting experimental or analytical frameworks for complex, ambiguous scenarios.
  • Understanding of relevant statistical measures such as confidence intervals, significance of error measurement, and development/evaluation data sets.
  • Experience manipulating and analyzing complex, high-volume, high-dimensionality, and unstructured data from varying sources.
• Preferred Qualifications:
  • Healthcare experience, particularly within Medicare Advantage.
  • Experience applying NLP techniques to open-ended survey comment analysis.
  • Experience in cloud ecosystems such as Azure or AWS.
  • Published work in academic conferences or industry circles related to survey methodology, psychometrics, or member experience measurement.
  • Demonstrable track record dealing well with ambiguity, prioritizing needs, and delivering results in an agile, dynamic environment.
• Work Environment:
  • The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Essential Physical Functions

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee regularly is required to stand, walk, sit, use hand to finger, handle or feel objects, tools, or controls; and reach with hands and arms.
• The employee frequently lifts and/or moves up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus.

Pay Range: $149,882.00 - $224,823.00

Pay range may be based on a number of factors including market location, education, responsibilities, experience, etc.

Alignment Health is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, gender identity, or sexual orientation.