Principal Researcher - CMMI Evaluations

About the role

Join AIR as a Principal Researcher - CMS Innovation Center (CMMI) Evaluations with our Healthcare Innovations team. Our team works collaboratively to unravel the intertwined challenges of health care quality, costs, and access. Our team of experts - nurses, physicians, psychologists, economists, sociologists, data scientists, and public health experts - advance evidence and save lives by leading rigorous research and evaluation; results-driven technical assistance and training; and leading-edge data science and technology tools.

This position has the flexibility to work remotely within the United States (U.S.) or from one of our U.S. office locations. This does not include U.S. territories.

Responsibilities

• Lead business development activities for CMS and CMMI, including capture planning, client engagement, opportunity shaping, proposal development, and strategic growth initiatives.
• Serve as Project Director or senior evaluation leader for complex evaluations of Medicare payment and service delivery models, overseeing all aspects of project execution, quality, staffing, client relationships, and strategic direction.
• Provide senior technical leadership for evaluations of CMMI models and demonstrations, including technical expertise with quasi-experimental designs, mixed-methods research, Medicare and/or Medicaid claims analyses, beneficiary and provider outcomes, and sub-group analyses.
• Effectively coach and manage others to promote their development; set developmental goals and measurements for staff.
• Foster an environment that values a wide range of perspectives, experiences, backgrounds, and individual strengths.

Qualifications

Education, Knowledge, and Experience

• Ph.D. in Economics, Health Services Research, or a related field with a minimum of 7 years of relevant work experience managing and conducting research or related work or Master's degree and at least 11 years of relevant experience.
• Minimum of 5 years project management experience.
• Served in a leadership role (e.g., Project Director, Deputy Project Director, Technical Director, Task Lead, or similar) on one or more CMMI model evaluation contracts.
• Demonstrated success leading or contributing to winning proposals for CMS, AHRQ, or other HHS agencies.
• Extensive knowledge of Medicare payment policy, Medicare Advantage, and/or Medicaid.
• Knowledge of Medicare claims, provider claims, survey data, and publicly available datasets.

Skills

• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with federal clients and partners.
• Ability to communicate complex evaluation findings to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Must possess strong leadership, organizational, and interpersonal skills at a senior level.
• Ability to lead teams, especially for business development activities as part of pre-RFP planning and design, and through proposal response.
• Extensive success in writing, conceptualizing, analyzing, and consulting on large-scale federally funded projects.
• Attention to detail and commitment to accuracy when writing.

Additional information

Disclosures: Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the U.S. on a full-time basis. Employment-based visa sponsorship (including H-1B sponsorship) is not available for this position. Depending on project work, qualified candidates may need to meet certain residency requirements.

AIR adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo reference and background checks. AIR maintains a drug-free work environment.