Senior Researcher, Medicaid Quality Measures

The responsibilities for the position include:

• Lead or co-lead the construction, interpretation, and computation of quality measures relevant to Medicaid programs and models, including work that supports program monitoring and performance-based payment approaches.
• Support measure strategy activities such as annual review and refinement of measure sets, assessment of specification changes and updates from measure stewards, and quantitative/qualitative evaluation of measure performance-bringing a Medicaid lens to feasibility and burden considerations.
• Provide guidance to clients and partners on measure use and implications of updates for feasibility, administrative burden, interoperability, and alignment with broader quality frameworks.
• Manage day-to-day project operations in roles such as principal investigator, project director, or task lead, ensuring deliverables are completed on time, within budget, and to a high standard. Lead collaborative project teams by developing timelines and coordinating staff assignments.
• Identify research problems and design rigorous applied studies, including aligned research questions, methodologies, and analytic plans.
• Apply subject-matter expertise to design and implement relevant, responsive, and impactful research projects.
• Lead and contribute to research proposals for federal, state, foundation, and other clients.
• Devise and implement innovative solutions to practical challenges in applied research.
• Lead data collection and analysis efforts, including the design of qualitative and/or quantitative data collection tools (e.g., interview protocols, focus group guides, surveys).
• Supervise field-based data collection activities, including interviews, observations, focus groups, and document reviews.
• Conduct or oversee data analysis using appropriate tools and techniques for various data types.
• Communicate study progress and findings clearly and effectively through reports, briefs, visualizations, and other materials.
• Represent the organization professionally in client interactions and manage client and stakeholder relationships with awareness of the broader policy and practice landscape.
• Communicate effectively with clients, partners, and stakeholders, and foster positive, collaborative working relationships.
• Contribute thoughtfully and creatively to project teams.

Qualifications:

Education, Knowledge, and Experience

• PhD in a related field (e.g., Health Services Research, Economics, Public Policy, Sociology, Psychology, Anthropology, or related discipline) with 3+ years of relevant experience, or a Master's degree with 7+ years of relevant experience.
• Demonstrated experience contributing to quality measurement work (e.g., measure specification review, measure refinement/updates, computation, benchmarking/scoring, and/or interpretation for monitoring/performance).
• Experience analyzing claims and other large or complex datasets and producing accurate, well-documented analytic outputs.
• Experience leading project tasks and/or managing teams on research, evaluation, analytics, implementation support, or monitoring projects.
• Experience translating complex technical concepts into actionable work plans, timelines, and client-ready deliverables.
• Experience supporting business development efforts, including proposal writing for federal and/or state clients.
• Experience with qualitative data collection methodologies (e.g., structured interviews, focus groups, observations, survey research) and qualitative analytic tools (e.g., NVivo) and/or quantitative analysis using tools such as Stata, R, Python, or Access.
• Experience working in contract research and/or evaluation organizations preferred, but not required.

Skills

• Strong organizational and interpersonal skills, including the ability to produce concise, high-level summaries and briefings for technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strong client partnership skills and the ability to collaborate effectively with multidisciplinary teams and external partners.
• Excellent written communication skills with strong attention to detail and commitment to accuracy and clarity.
• Ability to collaborate effectively in a virtual work environment.

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.

American Institutes for Research is an equal employment opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination on the basis of age, race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability. 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.

ACCESSIBILITY NOTICE:If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process due to a physical or mental disability, please send an email to Taliba Boone at tboone@air.orgor call 202.403.5000.

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