Research Data Specialist; SQL), School of Social Work

Position: Research Data Specialist (SQL), School of Social Work
Research Data Specialist (SQL)

Center for Prevention Research and Development (CPRD)

School of Social Work

Located in Champaign, IL

Illinois is a world leader in research, teaching, and public engagement. We serve the state, the nation, and the world by creating knowledge, preparing students for lives of impact, and addressing critical societal needs through the transfer and application of knowledge. Illinois is the place where we embrace differences. We embrace it because we value it.

The Research Data Specialist (SQL) for the Center for Prevention Research and Development (CPRD), within the University of Illinois School of Social Work, supports Medicaid research and evaluation by writing, testing, validating, documenting, and maintaining SQL-based data extraction and reporting workflows. The position queries large datasets in Teradata and Postgre

SQL environments; links and reconciles records across multiple tables and data sources; converts metric specifications and applies metric rules including inclusion/exclusion criteria. The person in this position also performs quality assurance and validation checks and prepares reproducible outputs for research reporting and project deliverables. The ideal candidate will have professional SQL experience with large relational databases or data warehouses, working knowledge of Linux command-line workflows, and experience interpreting technical specifications or data dictionaries.

The position works closely with CPRD analysts, project leaders, and technical staff to ensure that query logic is accurate, transparent, maintainable, and aligned with approved specifications and reporting requirements.

CPRD is a vibrant applied research center that has been in operation for 35 years. CPRD has a stable $3.5 million-dollar annual portfolio of grants in Medicaid-related projects, substance use prevention, juvenile justice, maternal and early childhood health, and teen pregnancy prevention. We work with meaningful data that has applications for the field and for impacting policy. CPRD invests in its staff with procedures to support professional development and ongoing learning opportunities.

Duties and Responsibilities

SQL data extraction and dataset creation

* Support data services and reporting workflows using Teradata and Postgre

SQL on Linux and Windows.

* Write, modify, test, and maintain SQL queries to extract, transform, combine, and summarize large Medicaid administrative datasets.

* Translate metric specifications, data dictionaries, code lists, data warehouse documentation, system manuals, and project requirements into clear, testable SQL logic.

* Create reporting datasets by joining, filtering, deduplicating, matching, and aggregating records across multiple tables and source systems.

* Develop SQL logic for Medicaid eligibility, enrollment, claims, encounters, providers, pharmacy, hospital billing, service utilization, continuity of care, and related administrative data, as applicable to assigned projects.

* Use appropriate SQL techniques, including joins, subqueries, common table expressions, temporary or volatile tables, aggregate functions, conditional logic, date-range logic, analytic/window functions, and running aggregations when needed.

* Implement predetermined rules to create flags, derived variables, denominator populations, numerator events, rates, continuity measures, gap measures, and other metric outputs.

* Modify existing SQL programs when reporting specifications, measure definitions, source data structures, or project requirements change.

* Organize SQL scripts and outputs so that recurring reports and metric calculations can be rerun and reviewed consistently.

SQL quality assurance, validation, and workflow support

* Validate SQL outputs against specifications, data dictionaries, source-system documentation, prior reporting runs, and expected record counts.

* Develop and run quality assurance checks for missing values, duplicate records, unexpected row multiplication, invalid dates, inconsistent identifiers, unmatched records, and unusual changes in counts or rates.

* Review intermediate tables and final outputs to confirm that joins, filters, date ranges, inclusion/exclusion rules, matching logic, and metric definitions were applied correctly.

* Compare query results across reporting periods and document reasons for material changes in record counts, denominator/numerator values, rates, or other outputs.

* Troubleshoot SQL errors, data anomalies, query performance issues, and unexpected results in collaboration with CPRD project staff and data-system partners.

* Work in Linux and Windows environments to execute SQL scripts, manage files, review logs, and support repeatable data- processing workflows.

* Run batch-style SQL or data-processing jobs and monitor output files, error logs, and completion status.

* Use command-line tools safely for file navigation, file review, job execution, log inspection, and routine workflow support.

* Follow data security, confidentiality,…