The Associate Data Scientist will support the development, analysis, and validation of data-driven models and analytical solutions that improve healthcare operations and patient outcomes at WVU Medicine. Working alongside data scientists, ML engineers, and clinical analysts, this role applies foundational data science and statistical skills, contributes to data pipelines and exploratory analysis, and helps translate healthcare data into meaningful insights. This is an entry-level to early-career role for candidates who have curiosity about healthcare data and how analytical insights can improve patient care.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
EDUCATION, CERTIFICATION, AND/OR LICENSURE:
1. Bachelor’s degree in Data Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Computer Science, or a related quantitative field AND (2)year of professional experience in data science or Healthcare analytics.
OR
2. Master’s degree in a related quantitative field and one (1) year of professional experience or equivalent demonstrated through academic projects, independent work, or a portfolio in data science or Healthcare data analysis, business intelligence, or healthcare reporting.
To be completed as established by department: (Administered at Department level)
This position will require additional certification in support of the responsibilities of the position, which will be provided by WVUHS Information Technology.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
EDUCATION, CERTIFICATION, AND/OR LICENSURE:
1. Certifications or coursework in data science, statistics, or analytics tools and platforms.
EXPERIENCE:
1. Hands-on experience with statistical modeling or machine learning.
2. Familiarity with data visualization libraries or business intelligence tools.
3. Demonstrated experience or equivalent project work writing SQL queries to extract, join, filter, and transform data from relational databases.
4. Experience or equivalent project work using data to identify trends, patterns, or anomalies.
CORE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES The statements described here are intended to describe the general nature of work being performed by people assigned to this position. They are not intended to be constructed as an all-inclusive list of all responsibilities and duties. Other duties may be assigned.
1. Support data collection, cleaning, preprocessing, and exploratory analysis to prepare datasets for modeling and reporting.
2. Assist in building, evaluating, and validating statistical and machine learning models using Python.
3. Support data collection, cleaning, and preprocessing to ensure datasets are accurate, complete, and ready for analysis and modeling.
4. Assist in feature engineering and selection by identifying, transforming, and evaluating variables from raw healthcare data. Analyze distributions, correlations, and statistical significance to surface the most relevant and reliable model inputs.
5. Perform exploratory data analysis to identify patterns, trends, and anomalies in healthcare operational and clinical datasets.
6. Apply foundational statistical methods including regression, classification, and clustering to analyze healthcare data and surface actionable insights.
7. Support feature selection by analyzing variable distributions, correlations, and statistical significance, using techniques such as importance scoring and multicollinearity checks to identify the most relevant and reliable predictors for a given model.
8. Document analytical processes, data definitions, model assumptions, and findings clearly and thoroughly.
9. Participate in team ceremonies including standups, sprint planning, and project reviews.
10. Monitor model and report outputs for accuracy, relevance, and drift. Evaluate findings to identify data or behavioral shifts and document insights to support retraining and improvement decisions.
11. Stay current with advancements in data science, statistical methods, and analytical tools relevant to healthcare operations.
12. Must pass Electronic medical record system Proficiency or Certification and continue maintaining it.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
1. Primarily sedentary office or remote work environment.
2. Prolonged periods working at a computer workstation.
WORKING ENVIRONMENT The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
1. Normal office environment or remote work setting.
SKILLS AND ABILITIES
1. Proficiency in Python and SQL for data querying, manipulation, and basic analytical modeling.
2. Foundational knowledge of statistical analysis and the ability to apply common methods such as regression, clustering, and classification to real data.
3. Ability to work with with structured, unstructured, balanced and imbalanced data including data cleaning, transformation, and exploratory data analysis.
4. Foundational understanding that patient data is sensitive and must be handled responsibly.
5. Comfort working collaboratively in team settings, including structured or Agile-style workflows; general awareness of how data moves through analytical pipelines from ingestion to insight. Understanding of copyright compliance and intellectual property standards.
6. Understanding of SQL and data processing
Additional Job Description:
Scheduled Weekly Hours:
40
Shift:
Exempt/Non-Exempt:
United States of America (Exempt)
Company:
SYSTEM West Virginia University Health System
Cost Center:
576 SYSTEM IT Artificial Intel Analytics
Address:
1 Medical Center DriveMorgantownWest Virginia
Equal Opportunity Employer
West Virginia University Health System and its subsidiaries (collectively "WVUHS") is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local fair employment practices laws. WVUHS strictly prohibits and does not tolerate discrimination against employees, applicants, or any other covered persons because of race, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, ethnicity, sex (including gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), age, physical or mental disability, citizenship, past, current, or prospective service in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law. All WVUHS employees, other workers, and representatives are prohibited from engaging in unlawful discrimination. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, training, promotion, discipline, compensation, benefits, and termination of employment.
The West Virginia University Health System, which operates under the brand WVU Medicine, is West Virginia’s largest health system and the state’s largest employer with more than 3,400 licensed beds, 4,600 providers, 35,000 employees, and $7 billion in total operating revenues. The Health System is comprised of 25 hospitals – including J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital, an 880-bed academic medical center, and the 150-bed WVU Medicine Golisano Children’s Hospital in Morgantown, West Virginia – and five institutes. To learn more, visit WVUMedicine.org.
