Real World Data Strategy - Associate Consultant

ZS is a place where passion changes lives. As a management consulting and technology firm focused on improving life and how we live it, we transform ideas into impact by bringing together data, science, technology and human ingenuity to deliver better outcomes for all. Here you’ll work side-by-side with a powerful collective of thinkers and experts shaping life-changing solutions for patients, caregivers and consumers, worldwide.

ZSers drive impact by bringing a client-first mentality to each and every engagement. We partner collaboratively with our clients to develop custom solutions and technology products that create value and deliver company results across critical areas of their business. Bring your curiosity for learning, bold ideas, courage and passion to drive life-changing impact to ZS.

Our Data Strategy & Partnerships team helps pharmaceutical and biotech companies maximize the value of their data assets. We advise clients on data strategy, governance, data sourcing, operating models, analytics enablement, and the application of Real-World Data (RWD) and Real-World Evidence (RWE) to support critical business and scientific decisions.

As an Associate Consultant, you will work alongside industry experts and client stakeholders to solve complex data and evidence challenges across the life sciences ecosystem.

• Support the development and delivery of data strategy engagements for global pharmaceutical and biotech clients.
• Help clients define and optimize data operating models, governance frameworks, data partnerships, and data acquisition strategies.
• Lead analyses of healthcare datasets including claims, electronic medical records (EMR/EHR), registries, clinical datasets, patient-level data, and other real-world data assets.
• Assess the suitability of data sources for RWE studies, market access initiatives, commercial strategy, clinical development, and medical affairs use cases.
• Conduct data landscaping, feasibility assessments, and data partner evaluations across global healthcare markets.
• Translate complex healthcare data challenges into actionable recommendations for client stakeholders.
• Support the design of RWD and RWE strategies that inform clinical development, regulatory decisions, market access planning, and commercialization efforts.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including epidemiologists, data scientists, biostatisticians, technologists, and strategy consultants.
• Contribute to proposal development, thought leadership, and the creation of scalable data strategy frameworks and assets.

• Bachelor's, Master's, PharmD, PhD or equivalent degree in Life Sciences, Epidemiology, Public Health, Health Economics, Biostatistics, Data Science, or a related field.
• 2-5 years of experience in consulting, life sciences, healthcare analytics, healthcare data providers, or evidence generation organizations.
• Strong understanding of healthcare data ecosystems and pharmaceutical decision-making.
• Experience working with Real-World Data (RWD) and/or Real-World Evidence (RWE).
• Hands-on experience with RWE studies or evidence generation programs.
• Experience with claims data, EMR/EHR data, registries, hospital data, specialty datasets, or linked patient-level datasets.
• Understanding of evidence generation, epidemiology, HEOR, market access, clinical development, or medical affairs.
• Familiarity with healthcare data vendors such as Optum, Flatiron, TriNetX, Clarivate, or similar data providers.
• Experience evaluating data sources for patient identification, feasibility, clinical trial design, market access, or commercial strategy initiatives.
• Working knowledge of SQL, Python, R, Tableau, Power BI or similar analytical tools.
• Ability to structure and solve ambiguous business problems using data-driven approaches.
• Strong client communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience developing presentations and communicating insights to both technical and non-technical audiences.

• Ability to translate unstructured problems into actionable processes and approaches.
• Can think strategically, support definition and management of…