Biostatistician at PicnicHealth
Job Description
PicnicHealth is simplifying clinical research with AI, making it faster and cheaper to get new treatments to patients. We’re bringing a patient-centered, AI-first approach to a $100b market otherwise dominated by old-school, services-driven incumbents. We’re creating a streamlined operating system for clinical research, built on top of our AI for medical record data in trials and a personal health assistant that keeps patients engaged (NPS 66).
Founded in 2014, PicnicHealth has raised over $100 million from investors including YC, Amplify Partners, Felicis Ventures and B Capital Group. Our business running observational studies more than doubled last year and we expect to grow even faster this year. We've gained real traction in a conservative industry: 12 of the top 20 pharma companies use PicnicHealth, we've got 60+ publications across 40 disease areas, and we just had our first FDA approval that included our data in the submission.
The Opportunity
We are seeking a Biostatistician / Data Scientist who excels at translating research needs into robust study designs and impactful analyses, ensuring our life sciences clients derive value from our data. You will lead and execute upon the statistical aspects of multiple research projects, providing expert guidance on study design, statistical methods, sample size and power analyses, protocol development, statistical analysis plans, quality control, analysis execution, and results interpretation. You will dive deep into our data, enabling you to take the lead in generating high quality, impactful results for our clients.
What we’re looking for in a Biostatistician/Data Scientist:
- Advanced experience with R and tidyverse
- Experience leading the development and execution of statistical analysis plans for observational and / or real-world data studies that involve both primary and secondary data
- Experience contributing to observational study design and methodology, protocol development, quality control initiatives, and publications
- Strong communication and presentation skills, especially in customer-facing interactions; you’re able to translate complex concepts and results to a variety of audiences
- A collaborative approach, with experience working cross-functionally with diverse teams such as sales, epidemiology, quality / regulatory, data management, medical, patient enrollment, and clinical operations.
- Intellectual curiosity and independence, strong organizational skills, and a flexible mindset with the ability to balance shifting priorities to meet or exceed expectations.
Over the next 12 months, you will be focused on:
- Leading the development and execution of statistical analysis plans (SAPs) for observational research studies that leverage primary (e.g., PROs, ClinROs, wearables) and secondary data (e.g., medical records, claims)
- Transforming observational study data into actionable insights through advanced statistical methods, analytics, and compelling data visualizations in R
- Ensuring the accuracy, quality, and integrity of statistical data and results, proactively assessing data quality, identifying gaps, and proposing solutions
- Partnering with internal study teams and client stakeholders to develop robust study protocols, data and quality management plans, clinical study reports, and publications
- Confidently presenting statistical findings and lead data trainings,, ensuring our clients can derive maximum value from study data
- Becoming a subject matter expert on our data and its capabilities, and through that lens, lead technical initiatives that enhance our analytics capabilities and drive team-wide process improvements
You’ll be successful if you:
- An advanced degree in (bio)statistics, epidemiology, public health, health economics, or a related scientific discipline
- 3-5+ years experience in a quantitative position, including experience at a pharmaceutical or biotech company, contract research organization (CRO), or similar company within the life sciences
- Have experience with command-line tools, Git, SQL, and/or building R packages (e.g., leveraging shiny, RMarkdown, Quarto, PositConnect)
- Experience with other statistical programming environments (e.g., SAS, Stata, Python)
- Have familiarity with clinical ontologies (e.g. OMOP, ICD, RxNorm, SNOMED, LOINC) and standard data formats (e.g. SDTM, ADAM, CDISC)
- Experience managing or contributing to data submissions to regulatory or other health authorities
- Have experience in the tech/start-up space, and past experience working with product or engineering teams
We expect all team members to be motivated to be amazing in their roles and, ultimately, to move the PicnicHealth mission forward.
Why will PicnicHealth win in Clinical Research?
Trials are a major bottleneck in drug development, and the promising advancements in biotech cannot achieve their full potential unless clinical research becomes more effective. The industry runs on outdated technology and manual processes. Research sites (hospitals, academic centers, doctors' offices) are a major bottleneck, and contract research organizations (CROs) spend most of their time wrangling sites and cobbling together vendor software.
PicnicHealth has built technology that uniquely positions us to run faster, cheaper, and more flexible studies without requiring sites:
- PicnicAI (trained on 350M+ clinician annotations over 100k+ patient records) is the only system that can effectively access and structure all participant EMR data trials need
- Our AI health assistant (NPS of 66 in 2024) guides participants through study activities and enables most to be done at home
- We're an integrated solution — virtual site, CRO, and software platform — with AI built in from the ground up, initially focusing on observational research.
The other perks & benefits you get when you work at PicnicHealth
We pay competitive salaries. Everyone on the team is an owner: all full time employees get competitive equity.
Target Base Salary Range: $135K - $165K
The base salary PicnicHealth offers may vary depending upon the scope, complexity, and autonomy of the position and on the candidate’s job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. We’re a remote first company, with teammates spread across the US. We support in-person gatherings, including co-working spaces and multi-day onsites, to build connections and move forward strategic initiatives. Expect to travel 2-4 times a year. For our team members in the Bay Area, who prefer to work in person we can offer a hybrid set up to work from the SF office on a flexible schedule.
You also get:
- Comprehensive benefits including above market Health, Dental, Vision
- Family friendly environment
- Flexible time off
- 401k plan
- Free PicnicHealth account
- Equipment and internet funds for home office set up
- Wellness Stipend
PicnicHealth is committed to promoting an inclusive work environment free of discrimination and harassment. We value a diverse and balanced team where everyone can belong.