Data Scientist Surgery Research Enterprise

The Data Scientist within the Surgery Research Enterprise at Akron Children's Hospital plays a pivotal role in advancing the department's research and analytics capabilities. Reporting to the Director of Research, the position is integral to the Surgery Research Enterprise and supports clinical research, outcomes research, and advanced analytics across surgical divisions. The Data Scientist is expected to work independently, collaborate with investigators, and develop and lead research and data science projects from concept through analysis and dissemination.

1. Supports the development of advanced analytics and data science capabilities within the Surgery Research Enterprise by gathering feedback and guidance from leaders, investigators, stakeholders, and peers. Contributes to implementing a clear roadmap aligned with surgical research priorities.

2. Develops and maintains collaborative relationships with investigators, clinical leaders, research staff, and partners. Builds an understanding of the clinical and research context and the strategic goals of the surgical divisions.

3. Cultivates external partnerships with professional associations, communities, universities, research institutes, government agencies, and solution providers or vendors to advance research and analytics objectives.

4. Collects and explores raw data from multiple sources to identify patterns, trends, and potential insights. Cleans, transforms, and validates data to ensure its quality and suitability for research and analysis.

5. Designs, develops, implements, and optimizes predictive and prescriptive models using statistical techniques and machine learning algorithms to improve accuracy and performance.

6. Identifies and engineers relevant features from datasets to strengthen model predictive power. Collaborates with clinical investigators and domain experts to extract meaningful features that improve model effectiveness.

7. Develops, evaluates, validates, and refines statistical and machine learning models to ensure accuracy, relevance, and effectiveness in clinical and research settings. Applies advanced analytical techniques to support clinically meaningful surgical research.

8. Creates compelling data visualizations and dashboards that communicate insights and findings effectively to technical and non-technical stakeholders using Tableau, Power BI, or custom code.

9. Prioritizes a limited number of high-impact research and analytics use cases. Collaborates with key partners and investigators to gather feedback, secure support, and make regular adjustments.

10. Identifies research opportunities and independently develops and leads data science and outcomes research projects from concept through dissemination, including research question development, study design, data identification, analysis, interpretation, and communication of findings.

11. Applies research and data science expertise and shares success stories and lessons learned with the Surgery Research Enterprise and broader research community. Teaches or coaches professionals in advanced analytics, data science, problem-solving methodologies, and related techniques to support professional development.

12. Monitors industry, healthcare, surgical research, and data science trends and best practices. Identifies opportunities to apply emerging methods to new research questions.