Job Details

Job Summary:

The Data Scientist/Statistician will work with UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative under the direction of the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative (BHHI) faculty director, executive director, and Senior Statistician.

The Data Scientist/Statistician will apply statistical and data science methodologies to original research projects that focus on homelessness and its effects on health. The successful candidate will have the ability to work with a variety of data sources, including administrative and longitudinal survey data and will be able to clean, manage, link, and analyze these sources. They will be passionate about using data to find innovative solutions to homelessness. The individual will be able to conduct analyses and data management on multiple projects concurrently. We seek a highly organized individual with outstanding statistical analysis and data management skills who has superior written and verbal communications skills and excellent time management.

The Data Scientist/Statistician will:

• Report to the Senior Statistician of BHHI and work closely with other analysts. Work collaboratively with other investigators, trainees, staff and partner organizations


• Determine data sources for gathering available data - including utilizing San Francisco and surrounding county's data, as well as California data when appropriate


• Plan and design data management and data analysis of multiple studies


• In consultation with the senior statistician and principal investigators (PIs), develop multivariable data analysis plans, using appropriate statistical methods (should be able to carry out the analysis plan independently)


• Provide statistical input into development of data collection tools, including questionnaires


• Document processes to ensure accuracy and outcomes of research


• Evaluate inconsistencies and trends in the data and present hypotheses related to the implications in the analysis


• Present findings to PI and incorporate the feedback into additional iterations of the report


• Provide statistical expertise to PI


• Design processes to guarantee strict privacy of data


• Provide documentation, including drafting statistical sections of grant proposals, manuscripts and reports


• Develop systems to allow data to be used adhering to data use agreement


• Contribute to study design, ensure the data necessary to evaluate study hypotheses are collected, and the resulting datasets are of sufficient quality to provide reliable results


• Collaborate with investigators on research papers


• (Preferred) Create presentations of data using Tableau or other data visualization software


• (Preferred) Utilize GIS software to find relationships between collected data and geographic areas.

Department Description:

The UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations (CVP) at San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) carries out innovative research to prevent and treat chronic disease in populations for whom social conditions often conspire to both promote various chronic diseases and make their management more challenging. Founded in 2006, the CVP is located on the campus of SFGH. Beyond the local communities it serves, CVP is nationally and internationally known for its research in health communication and health policy to reduce health disparities, with special expertise in the social determinants of health, including literacy, homelessness, food policy, poverty, and minority status, with a focus on the clinical conditions of pre-diabetes, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

The UCSF Benioff Homeless and Housing Initiative is a new program within Center for Vulnerable Populations, which launched in July 2019. The initiative's goals are to develop and disseminate evidence-based strategies to prevent and end homelessness by conducting high quality research and disseminating findings to policymakers and the general public.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in statistics or related area and/or equivalent experience/training


• 3 or more years of experience in a related field with relevant research experience


• Thorough skills in programming, statistical analysis and data management in STATA, SAS or R


• Substantive knowledge of quantitative research methods and casual inference


• Extensive experience conducting statistical analysis of observational studies, program evaluations, administrative data or longitudinal cohorts


• Ability to work discreetly with sensitive and confidential data


• Strong skills in project management


• Research skills at a level to evaluate alternate solutions and develop recommendations


• Skills to communicate complex information in a clear and concise manner both verbally and in writing


• Ability to work independently and as part of a team


• Ability to multi-task with demanding timeframes

Preferred Qualifications:

• Graduate degree in statistics, epidemiology or related area and/or equivalent experience/training


• Knowledge of Tableau or other data visualization software


• Knowledge of ArcGIS or other geographic information system software