Director, Advisory Biostatistics at Avalere Health
Avalere Health · Washington, United States Of America · Remote
About Avalere Health
United by one profound purpose: to reach EVERY PATIENT POSSIBLE. At Avalere Health, we ensure every patient is identified, treated, supported, and cared for. Equally. Our Advisory, Medical, and Marketing teams come together – powerfully and intentionally – to forge unconventional connections, building a future where healthcare is not a barrier and no patient is left behind.
Achieving our mission starts with providing enriching, purpose-driven careers for our team that empower them to make a tangible impact on patient lives. We are committed to creating a culture where our employees are empowered to bring their whole selves to work and tap into the power of diverse backgrounds and skillsets to play a part in making a difference for every patient, everywhere.
Our flexible approach to working allows our global teams to decide where they want to work, whether in-office or at home based on team and client need. Major city hubs in London, Manchester, Washington, D.C., and New York, and smaller offices globally, serve as collaboration hubs allowing our teams to come together when it matters. Homeworkers are equally supported, with dedicated social opportunities and resources.
Our inclusive culture is at the heart of everything we do. We proudly support our employees in bringing their whole selves to work with our six Employee Network Groups – Diverse Ability, Family, Gender, LGBTQ+, Mental Health, and Race/Ethnicity. These groups provide opportunities to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion and to connect, learn, and socialise through regular meetings and programs of activity. We are an accredited Fertility Friendly employer with our Fertility Policy, enhanced parental leave, and culture of flexibility ensuring every employee feels supported across their family planning journey and can work in a way that suits their family’s needs.
We are deeply invested in supporting professional growth for our employees through day-to-day career experiences, access to thousands of on-demand training sessions, regular career conversations, and the opportunity for global, cross-capability career moves.
We take pride in being part of the Disability Confident Scheme. This helps make sure you can be interviewed fairly if you have a disability, long term health condition, or are neurodiverse. If you'd like to apply and need adjustments made, you can let us know in your application.
About the Data and Analytics Intelligence Hub
Avalere’s Data and Analytics Intelligence Hub (Data & AI Hub) supports internal stakeholders and clients with three pillars of work (1) Data Sourcing and Strategy, (2) Data and AI Tools, (3) Digital Platforms. This team closely partners with InfoSec, IT, DET, and legal.
About the Role
Avalere Health is seeking a Director-level biostatistics leader to serve as a firmwide methodological anchor for privacy-preserving evidence generation, publication-grade analytics, and complex modeling/tool development across RWE/HEOR engagements. This is a senior individual contributor role (with mentorship expectations) reporting to the Data Strategy & Sourcing lead, designed to:
•Reduce credibility and execution risk through updating standardized, defensible methods and QC;
•Enable growth of complex analytics and scalable tools;
•Increase throughput by centralizing feasibility;
•Centralize DUA review for scopes and SOWs;
•Provide methodological “challenger” reviews across practices
This role operates in a blended model that includes client delivery, business development support, and internal standards/IP development (target allocation approximately 40% client delivery, 20% BD/feasibility, 30% standards/IP, 10% admin/enablement).
What you'll do
- Client delivery & methodological leadership (target ~40% billable)
- Serve as an advanced analytics project architect for practice (Evidence & Strategy, Policy, and Market Access) engagements requiring biostatistics and complex methodology.
- Lead cross-practice review for power/sample size calculations, statistical design choices, and sensitivity analysis planning for high-stakes studies.
- Provide senior technical leadership on study design and analysis execution, including protocol development, SAP authorship/review, statistical modeling, interpretation, and defensible write-up for client and publication audiences.
- Act as an internal challenger to pressure-test assumptions, scopes, and deliverables, improving rigor, feasibility, and credibility before work is finalized.
- Architect validation and QC approaches for complex analytic tools (e.g., large Excel models or web-based analytic applications), including testing strategy, versioning expectations, and controlled change processes.
- Privacy certification, anonymization, and governance leadership
- Lead Avalere’s approach to privacy certification/anonymization in analytics workflows, including documentation expectations and quality controls.
- Develop and maintain statistical QC frameworks aligned to privacy-preserving use of sensitive healthcare data.
- Provide practical guidance on de-identification strategies (e.g., Safe Harbor vs Expert Determination) and analytics design choices that reduce re-identification risk and improve defensibility.
- Business development, feasibility, and proposal support (target ~20%)
- Manage and triage incoming data/analytics requests; advise on conceptual feasibility, data readiness, methodological fit, timelines, and resourcing.
- Lead or support a cross-practice feasibility review forum to standardize intake, solutioning, and risk/assumption documentation.
- Review and approve methodological sections of proposals and SOWs, including analytics scope, endpoints, data language, QC expectations, and deliverable feasibility.
- Standards, SOPs, and reusable IP (target ~30%)
- Develop and maintain SAP templates, QC SOPs, peer review checklists, and analysis standards to improve consistency and reduce publication risk across teams.
- Establish documentation standards for reproducible research and auditability (e.g., protocol/SAP structure, table shells, QC logs, data dictionaries, lineage, and analysis traceability).
- Serve as a methodological evaluator/challenger for in-flight tools and methodologies, recommending improvements to drive scalability, efficiency, and quality.
- Mentorship, enablement, and cross-functional partnership
- Mentor analysts and managers; elevate statistical storytelling, defensible methods, and QC discipline across project teams.
- Partner with data engineering and AI/technology collaborators on evaluation design for analytics tools and accelerators (focus on fit-for-purpose use, validity, and controlled deployment rather than model-building ownership).
About you
- Education
- PhD or MS in Biostatistics, Statistics, Epidemiology, or a related quantitative field (PhD preferred).
- Experience
- Significant experience (typically 5+ years) applying biostatistics in US healthcare/RWE settings, including consulting or client-service delivery.
- Demonstrated ability to produce and/or oversee publication-grade analytics outputs, including rigorous study design, reproducibility, QC, and clear interpretation for non-technical stakeholders.
- Experience leading or materially contributing to privacy/anonymization approaches and associated governance/documentation for healthcare data analytics.
- Proven success reviewing and shaping analytical scopes for proposals/SOWs and improving feasibility, risk management, and delivery quality across teams.
- Technical and methodological capability
- Advanced proficiency in R and/or Python, plus strong SQL (SAS familiarity a plus).
- Depth in methods commonly required for RWE/HEOR, such as:
- GLM/GLMM, survival/time-to-event, longitudinal/mixed models
- Causal inference approaches (e.g., propensity methods) and quasi-experimental designs
- Missing data strategies and sensitivity analyses
- Power/sample size and study feasibility planning
- Ability to architect validation and QC for complex analytic tools (Excel/web), including testing strategy and controlled change management.
- Consulting and leadership competencies
- Strong consulting judgment and stakeholder management; ability to translate technical conclusions into decision-ready narratives.
- Comfortable operating as a cross-practice reviewer and standard-setter, constructively challenging assumptions and raising the bar on rigor.
What we can offer
You will receive a 401K plan with an employer match contribution up to 4% (immediately vested), as well as life insurance, disability coverage, and medical, dental, and vision plans for peace of mind. Enjoy flexible working arrangements, including hybrid and remote work, along with the option to work from anywhere across the globe two weeks each year. We provide 20 vacation days plus one personal well-being day, recognise 9 public holidays, along with gifted end-of-year holidays and an early Summer Friday finish in June, July, and August.
Access free counselling through our employee assistance program and personalized health support. Our enhanced maternity, paternity, family leave, and fertility policies provide support across every stage of your family-planning journey. You can also benefit from continuous opportunities to professionally develop with on-demand training, support, and global mobility opportunities across the business.
