Senior Research Programmer/Analyst Pharmacoepidemiology

Partner's Healthcare; Somerville (MA); Hybrid; USD 80,000 - 116,000; Full time

Job summary

Brigham and Women's Hospital, Inc. seeks a Senior Research Programmer/Analyst to join a multidisciplinary team translating scientific questions into reproducible analytic datasets and analyses.

You will work with SAS as a core tool, with R and Python in supportive roles, handling large healthcare data from claims and EHR sources. The role emphasizes reproducible workflows, collaboration across epidemiologists, biostatisticians, and clinicians, and mentoring junior programmers in a hybrid work

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, data science, statistics, biostatistics, epidemiology, biomedical informatics, mathematics, engineering, or another relevant quantitative field required.
• Master’s degree preferred.
• At least 3 years of relevant programming and data-analysis experience required; 5+ years preferred in healthcare/research/data-intensive settings.
• Advanced proficiency in SAS with data management and analysis of large datasets.
• Proficiency in R and/or Python strongly preferred.
• Experience with SQL and relational databases strongly preferred.
• Experience with large, longitudinal healthcare datasets; healthcare claims/EHR data preferred.

Responsibilities

• Support faculty and research staff in developing analytic datasets and conducting statistical analyses.
• Develop, validate, manage, analyze, and document large healthcare datasets (claims, EHR).
• Translate research questions into reproducible programming workflows (cleaning, transformation, cohort construction, variable creation, analysis).
• Apply programming best practices: QC, version control, modular, well-documented code for reproducibility.
• Contribute to SAS, R, Python, SQL workflows and improve efficiency and reusable infrastructure.
• Collaborate with faculty and cross-disciplinary teams; mentor junior programmers/analysts.

Skills

SAS programming

R

Python

SQL

Linux/Unix

Git/GitHub

Communication of technical concepts

Education

Bachelor's degree in a quantitative field

Master’s degree

Tools

SAS software

Relational databases

R

Python

SQL databases

Git

Job description

Site: The Brigham and Women's Hospital, Inc.Mass General Brigham relies on a wide range of professionals, including doctors, nurses, business people, tech experts, researchers, and systems analysts to advance our mission. As a not-for-profit, we support patient care, research, teaching, and community service, striving to provide exceptional care. We believe that high-performing teams drive groundbreaking medical discoveries.

GENERAL SUMMARY/ OVERVIEW STATEMENT: The Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School was created to facilitate a wide range of activities related to the use and outcomes of medications. Its mission is to bring together medicine, epidemiology, biostatistics, health services research, data science, and related disciplines to evaluate the benefits, risks, utilization, and costs of existing and new prescription medications and to develop methods to optimize medication use. The Senior Research Programmer/Analyst will support this mission as part of a highly collaborative multidisciplinary research environment comprising approximately 30 Harvard Medical School faculty members and 80 research and administrative staff, including a team of experienced research programmers/analysts. The Division's research makes extensive use of large and complex real-world healthcare data, including longitudinal health insurance claims and electronic health records, as well as data from surveys and randomized trials. The Senior Research Programmer/Analyst will have the opportunity to work closely with epidemiologists, biostatisticians, clinicians, and other quantitative researchers to translate scientific questions into reproducible analytic datasets and analyses. The Division uses a range of programming languages and computational tools to work with large-scale, complex healthcare data, with SAS serving as a core programming language and R and Python used in complementary applications across our research portfolio. Because a substantial body of our established analytic infrastructure is built in SAS, advanced SAS expertise is essential for this position, while proficiency in R and/or Python is strongly valued. We encourage the use of modern, efficient, and reproducible approaches to data analysis and welcome candidates who bring strong computational skills and can contribute to the continued evolution of programming practices across languages and platforms.

PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Support faculty and other research staff in the development of analytic datasets and the conduct of statistical analyses for pharmacoepidemiologic, health services, and related research.
• Develop, validate, manage, analyze, and document large and complex healthcare datasets, including longitudinal health insurance claims and electronic health record data.
• Translate research questions and study protocols into efficient and reproducible programming workflows, including data cleaning, transformation, linkage, cohort construction, variable creation, and statistical analysis.
• Apply programming best practices, including systematic quality control, code review, version control, modular and reusable programming, and clear documentation to support reproducibility and collaboration.
• Contribute to the Division's programming and research-computing environment across SAS, R, Python, SQL, and related tools, including identifying opportunities to improve workflows, computational efficiency, and reusable infrastructure.
• Collaborate closely with faculty and research staff across multiple ongoing and new research projects.
• Participate in programmer/analyst team meetings, mentor junior programmers/analysts, and serve as a technical resource to other members of the research team.

Qualifications QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, data science, statistics, biostatistics, epidemiology, biomedical informatics, mathematics, engineering, or another relevant quantitative field required.
• Master’s degree preferred.
• At least 3 years of relevant programming and data-analysis experience required; 5 or more years of experience in a healthcare, research, or similarly data-intensive environment preferred.
• Advanced proficiency in SAS required, including substantial experience with data management and analysis of large datasets.
• Proficiency in R and/or Python strongly preferred.
• Experience with SQL and relational databases strongly preferred.
• Experience working with large, complex, longitudinal datasets required; experience with healthcare claims and/or electronic health record data strongly preferred.

SKILLS/ ABILITIES/ COMPETENCIES REQUIRED

• Strong programming and problem-solving skills, with careful attention to accuracy, reproducibility, and quality control.
• Ability to manage and prioritize multiple concurrent research projects
• Experience working in Linux/Unix-based command-line environments and remote computing systems.
• Experience with version-control systems such as Git/GitHub or similar platforms.
• Ability to work effectively in multidisciplinary research teams and communicate technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical collaborators.

ADDITIONAL DESIRED SKILLS

• Experience developing reusable, efficient, and reproducible data-processing or analytic workflows for large datasets.
• Familiarity with high-performance, cloud-based, or distributed computing environments and modern software development practices.
• Knowledge of epidemiologic and biostatistical methods and/or experience with emerging computational approaches, including machine learning and AI-enabled research tools.

Additional Job Details (if applicable)

Remote Type HybridWork Location 399 Revolution DriveScheduled Weekly Hours 40Employee Type RegularWork Shift Day (United States of America)Pay Range $79,560.00 - $115,720.80/AnnualGrade 7

EEO Statement: 2200

The Brigham and Women's Hospital, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religious creed, national origin, sex, age, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation, military service, genetic information, and/or other status protected under law. We will ensure that all individuals with a disability are provided a reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. To ensure reasonable accommodation for individuals protected by Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Vietnam Veteran's Readjustment Act of 1974, and Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, applicants who require accommodation in the job application process may contact Human Resources at (857)-282-7642.

Mass General Brigham Competency Framework

At Mass General Brigham, our competency framework defines what effective leadership "looks like" by specifying which behaviors are most critical for successful performance at each job level. The framework is comprised of ten competencies (half People-Focused, half Performance-Focused) and are defined by observable and measurable skills and behaviors that contribute to workplace effectiveness and career success. These competencies are used to evaluate performance, make hiring decisions, identify development needs, mobilize employees across our system, and establish a strong talent pipeline.