Description

Join the Health Care Programs Department at NORC as the newest Principal Research Scientist! Here you will have the opportunity to contribute to the continued success of one of the nation's most respected research institutions. 

The Principal Research Scientist will lead policy projects working with both the federal and state governments, focusing on health care financing and payment reform. This position will be responsible for developing and implementing alternative payment methodologies, including patient and provider attribution, risk adjustment, measures monitoring, benchmarking, and payment calculations for federal and state clients. This role may also be responsible for managing tasks or projects related to Medicaid financing and oversight, demonstrating subject matter expertise, and identifying new business opportunities and drafting and developing proposal responses describing payment model design and implementation.  

Ideal candidates will have a background in health policy and health care financing. Knowledge of Medicare and Medicaid payment is required, and direct experience working with the CMS Innovation Center and State Medicaid programs is preferred. 

Qualified applicants may be considered for other roles, such as Senior Fellow.   

Preferably, this position will have a hybrid work schedule of one or two days a week in either our Washington, DC or Chicago, IL office. Remote applicants may also be considered.

NORC’s Health Care Programs team provides a wide array of services and expertise to support federal and state government and foundation clients in addressing health system transformation and delivery, payment reform and implementation, and a range of policy issues facing public health insurance programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, and Marketplace coverage. 

NORC’s expert staff has extensive knowledge of all aspects of health care delivery, from private marketplaces and employer-sponsored insurance to Medicare and Medicaid; from large health care systems to small clinics; and from the needs of children to those of older adults, and people with disabilities. Our expert team includes social scientists that acquire, collect, and analyze data from health care organizations and patients; evaluators; health services researchers; health-policy analysts; and professionals with first-hand experience running and supporting health care programs. 

Requirements

• At least 12 years of experience in positions of increasing responsibility in the design, development, implementation, and ongoing support of value-based payment models. Experience may be in state or federal government or other relevant experience such as a consulting firm, Accountable Care Organization or managed care organization.
• At least 5 years of experience directing or managing projects in support of value-based payment, alternative payment models, or health policy, ideally in a design and implementation role.
• Expert knowledge of Medicare and Medicaid policy including ongoing value-based care initiatives developed and implemented by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation and those developed by state Medicaid programs.
• Strong understanding of federal and state health care policy environments, including knowledge of emerging key issues, Medicaid and Medicare payment systems, and value-based payment. 
• Deep understanding of varying value-based payment approaches and the design elements involved including attribution and risk-adjustment methods, cost benchmarking, and quality metrics measurement and calculation.  
• Familiarity and experience with CMS data and systems (e.g. Chronic Conditions Warehouse, Virtual Research Data Center, Transformed Medicaid Statistical
• Information System (T-MSIS) Analytic Files (TAF), Model Space).
• Master or Doctoral degrees in Public Policy, Health Economics, Health Services Research or related fields (training in an array of social science disciplines will be considered).  
• Ability to work in and with statistical packages, such as Python and SQL or Stata/ SAS/ R
• Experience leading responses to requests for proposals and securing contracts to conduct high-caliber, compelling health services research projects for the federal or state government and philanthropic foundations.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including an ability to translate evidence for program and policy audiences.
• Intellectual curiosity, strong problem solving, and relationship management skills  
• Ability to manage time to work on multiple projects simultaneously.  
• A strong foundation in quantitative and/or qualitative research methods, and demonstrated experience designing and leading research studies.
• Managerial, leadership, and interpersonal skills to lead inter-disciplinary, cross-national project teams.
• Experience with estimating project and proposal costs and managing project budgets
• Occasional travel for site visits and meetings required.
• Qualified applicants must be eligible to work in the U.S. We regret that we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this position.
• Preferably, this position will have a hybrid work schedule of one or two days a week in either our Washington, DC or Chicago, IL office.
•  Please include a CV and Cover Letter when applying. Candidates should be prepared to provide professional references upon request.