[Hiring] Postdoctoral Fellow in Biostatistics & Business Analytics @PurposeMed

Role Description

This 1–2 year fellowship is designed explicitly as a transition-to-industry opportunity. It bridges the gap between academic training and real-world application in digital health, clinical operations, and business analytics, while maintaining the academic rigour and publication support expected of a postdoctoral position.

The Fellow will be formally affiliated with the University of Calgary and embedded within PurposeMed’s Data and Analytics team. This dual structure offers a rare professional advantage: a named academic home combined with direct industry immersion. Most uniquely, you will be supported by a three-person supervisory triad—academic, clinical, and technical—ensuring you grow in all three dimensions simultaneously through the mentorship of Dr. Ranjani Somayaji (U of C), Dr. Caley Shukalek (CMO), and our Head of Data.

In this role, you’ll make an impact by:

• Elevating Patient Care & Health Equity
  • Applying biostatistical methods including regression analyses, ROC curves, risk scoring, and survival analysis to real-world healthcare datasets
  • Partnering with clinical, operations, and product teams to design and conduct analyses that drive decision-making and improve patient outcomes
  • Participating in patient communication initiatives that make analytical findings accessible to the communities PurposeMed serves
• Bridging Data Rigor and Business Strategy
  • Translating complex statistical insights into actionable recommendations for clinical, ops, and leadership teams
  • Collaborating in the development, validation, and communication of metrics and KPIs for clinical, operational, and business performance
  • Collaborating with PurposeMed's data engineering team to extract, manage, and transform data from cloud-based healthcare data warehouses
• Advancing Academic Research & Partnerships
  • Contributing to peer-reviewed publications, white papers, and conference presentations in collaboration with Dr. Somayaji
  • Collaborating with government agencies, non-profits, and community partners, including HIV CTN-affiliated organizations, on joint research initiatives
  • Receiving structured mentorship in business analytics, product decision-making, and applied healthcare data science

Qualifications

• A PhD in Biostatistics, Statistics, Epidemiology, or a closely related quantitative field (conferred or imminent, PhD candidates with a confirmed defense timeline are welcome to apply)
• Demonstrated experience with advanced statistical analyses: regression modeling (linear, logistic, mixed-effects), ROC curves, risk score development and validation, survival analysis (Kaplan-Meier, Cox proportional hazards)
• Proficiency in R, including tidyverse and statistical modeling packages
• Working knowledge of SQL for querying healthcare data warehouses
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and is able to present findings to clinical, operational, and non-technical audiences
• A proven ability to work independently and collaboratively in multidisciplinary teams

Requirements

• Experience using Python (pandas, scikit-learn, statsmodels)
• Familiarity with cloud data warehouses (Snowflake, BigQuery, or Redshift) and version control (Git)
• Prior experience with real-world healthcare or clinical research datasets, particularly those with missingness, selection bias, or irregular observation times
• Exposure to BI tools (Looker, Tableau, Power BI) or R dashboard frameworks (Shiny, flexdashboard)
• Awareness of dbt or similar data transformation frameworks
• An interest in or prior experience with LGBTQ+ health, HIV/sexual health, gender-affirming care, or chronic disease management
• A prior connection to the HIV CTN, Alberta Innovates, University of Calgary research networks, or Dr. Somayaji's research group

Benefits

• Compensation: $80,000 CAD a year
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision care from your first day of work—we cover 100% of your premiums, with coverage available for dependents
• 20 vacation days and a team that will remind you to use them!
• Annual winter break closure
• 8 health/sick days
• Extended mental health coverage
• $20,000 of lifetime coverage for gender-affirming care and procedures (Canada)
• $500 learning fund to use towards courses and other professional development
• Our unique People Potential program, in which you'll partner with your manager to identify opportunities to grow and achieve your full potential