People Scientist Lead - People Analytics

USAA Life Insurance Company; San Antonio (TX); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

USAA Life Insurance Company seeks a People Scientist Lead within People Analytics in HR Operations. The role applies I/O psychology, research design, and causal inference to address workforce questions, delivering executive-ready insights and standards for analytics across the organization.

Remote or hybrid flexibility is available per policy, with a base in the Texas area. You will lead cross-functional analyses, develop predictive models, and mentor peers while advancing responsible AI

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree or 4 years of related experience substituted for degree.
• 8+ years in data analytics, HR/people analytics, workforce research, or related discipline.
• 6+ years applying I/O psychology and people analytics in a large complex organization (Fortune 500 or equivalent).
• Conducting linkage research that connects employee survey, sentiment, and talent data to business outcomes.
• Partnering with survey or employee listening teams as an analytics consultant: psychometric analysis of survey data.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end execution of complex, cross-functional analyses addressing workforce and employee experience challenges.
• Synthesize multi-source people data to uncover patterns, predictors, and root causes.
• Design advanced analytical approaches including diagnostic analysis, segmentation, and predictive modeling.
• Translate business problems into structured analytical frameworks, hypotheses, and plans.
• Deliver executive-ready insights and recommendations to inform talent and workforce decisions.
• Partner with HR COEs, HRBPs, and leaders to define analytical needs and ensure insights drive action.

Skills

I/O psychology

People analytics

Data analytics

Statistical modeling

Data storytelling

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Tools

R

Python

SQL

Job description

Why USAA?

At USAA, our mission is to empower our members to achieve financial security through highly competitive products, exceptional service and trusted advice. We seek to be the #1 choice for the military community and their families.

Embrace a fulfilling career at USAA, where our core values - honesty, integrity, loyalty and service - define how we treat each other and our members. Be part of what truly makes us special and impactful.

We are proud to support active-duty military spouses. USAA roles may offer remote or hybrid flexibility for active-duty military spouses consistent with applicable policy and business needs.

The Opportunity

This People Scientist Lead role sits within People Analytics in the HR Operations department of Human Resources and serves as the team's research scientist, bringing I/O psychology expertise in research design, causal inference, linkage research, and psychometrics to answer the organization's most important questions about its people. Apply advanced analytical and employee research methodologies to address complex, cross-functional workforce and employee experience challenges. Leads the design and execution of large-scale analytics initiatives, uncovering systemic patterns, root causes, and predictive insights. Translates broad or evolving business challenges into structured analytical frameworks. Delivers executive-ready insights and establishes standards that elevate the quality, rigor, and impact of people analytics.

• Multivariate statistics: multiple and logistic regression, factor analysis, cluster and latent class analysis, path analysis, structural equation modeling (SEM).
• Multilevel modeling: hierarchical linear and mixed-effects models for nested data (employees within teams, leaders, and locations).
• Psychometrics: classical test theory, reliability, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, measurement invariance, item response theory, and scale validation.
• Causal inference: design and analysis methods for observational data and field experiments.
• Programming: expert in R or Python for statistical modeling plus SQL for data preparation.
• Mixed methods: qualitative analysis and text analytics or NLP on open-ended comments.
• Responsible AI: applying AI/GenAI to people research with attention to bias, privacy, and validity.

We offer a flexible work environment that requires an individual to be in the office 4 days per week. This position can be based in San Antonio, TX or Plano, TX . Relocation assistance is not available for this position.

What you’ll do:

• Leads end-to-end execution of complex, cross-functional analyses addressing association workforce and employee experience challenges.
• Synthesizes multi-source people data to uncover systemic patterns, predictive indicators, and root causes.
• Designs advanced analytical approaches such as diagnostic analysis, segmentation, predictive modeling, and mixed-method research for association level insight needs.
• Translates broad, ambiguous business problems into structured analytical frameworks, hypotheses, and plans that guide high-impact analysis.
• Delivers clear, executive-ready insights and recommendations that inform strategic talent and workforce decisions.
• Partners with HR COEs, HRBPs and cross-functional leaders to define analytical needs and ensure insights drive action.
• Establishes and reinforces analytical standards, methods, and quality controls to ensure rigor, consistency, and reliability across analyses.
• Identifies and leads improvements to analytical tools, data sources, and processes to elevate insight quality and operational efficiency.
• Mentors and guides peers and team members to strengthen analytical capability and data storytelling across the team.
• Lead the exploration, implementation, and ethical deployment of AI/GenAI across the people analytics function, including defining use cases, establishing guidelines for responsible AI usage, assessing potential risks (e.g., bias), integrating AI insights into strategic decision-making, and upskilling the team on advanced AI/GenAI techniques and prompt engineering for HR applications.
• Ensures risks associated with business activities are effectively identified, measured, monitored, and controlled in accordance with risk and compliance policies and procedures.

What you have:

• Bachelor's Degree; OR 4 years of related experience (in addition to the minimum years of experience required) may be substituted in lieu of degree.
• 8 years of progressive experience in data analytics, HR/people analytics, workforce research, or related discipline.
• 6+ years applying I/O psychology and people analytics in a large complex organization (Fortune 500 or equivalent scale)..
• Conducting linkage research that connects employee survey, sentiment, and talent data to business outcomes such as retention, performance, productivity, and customer or member experience.
• Partnering with survey or employee listening teams as an analytics consultant: psychometric analysis of survey i