Medicaid Programmer, Healthcare Innovations

AIR is currently seeking a Medicaid Data Programmer . This role is ideal for a programmer with deep experience working with Medicaid administrative data , including eligibility, enrollment, claims, and managed care encounter data. The Medicaid Data Programmer II will contribute to applied health services research and policy analysis by transforming complex administrative datasets into high-quality analytic files and research-ready outputs. The ideal candidate will participate in all aspects of project work, including data ingestion, data quality assessment, analytic file development, statistical analysis, and documentation. This position emphasizes Medicaid data expertise, data engineering, and analytic rigor over reliance on any single programming language. The Medicaid Data Programmer will report to AIR's Healthcare Innovations Team, which supports high-quality implementation and produces rigorous evidence on the effectiveness of new approaches to care and payment—translating findings into actionable insights for policymakers, payers, providers, and patients. This position has the flexibility to work remotely within the United States (U.S.) or from one of AIR’s U.S. office locations. This does not include U.S. territories. About AIR Founded in 1946 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, the American Institutes for Research (AIR) is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that conducts behavioral and social science research and delivers technical assistance to address some of the most pressing challenges in the United States and globally. We generate evidence and apply data-driven solutions that expand opportunities and improve lives for all.

Responsibilities

• Work with large-scale Medicaid administrative datasets, including eligibility, enrollment, claims, encounters, and provider files.
• Extract, clean, recode, merge, and de-duplicate complex administrative data from multiple sources.
• Convert and integrate data across analytic environments and formats (e.g., STATA, R, Python, SQL-based systems, mainframe extracts, or cloud-based platforms).
• Perform data quality checks, logic checks, and validation analyses to ensure accuracy and completeness of analytic datasets.
• Handle missing data, conduct outlier analyses, and construct derived variables and analytic measures.
• Develop research-ready datasets to support health policy analysis, program evaluation, and reporting.
• Produce tables, figures, and customized analytic outputs for internal and external stakeholders.
• Contribute to statistical analyses under the direction of senior researchers.
• Write and maintain clear documentation for data processing steps, analytic decisions, and code changes.
• Troubleshoot and revise existing code and workflows to improve performance, reproducibility, and accuracy.
• Provide technical guidance or informal mentoring to junior programming staff, as appropriate.
• Contribute to technical sections of reports and proposals.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Education, Knowledge, and Experience

• Undergraduate degree in Statistics, Epidemiology, Economics, Health Informatics, Computer Science, or a related field.
• At least 3 years of experience working directly with Medicaid administrative data, including claims and/or encounter data.
• Strong hands-on experience using one or more programming or analytic languages (e.g., SQL, R, Python, STATA, or similar) to manage and analyze large datasets.
• Demonstrated experience producing analytic datasets, summary tables, and figures for research or policy projects.
• Familiarity with Medicaid data structures, coding systems (e.g., ICD, CPT, HCPCS, NDC), and enrollment or eligibility concepts.
• Experience working with CMS Medicaid and Medicare Research Identifiable Files (RIF) and/or secure data environments (such as the CMS Virtual Research Data Center) preferred, but not required.
• Experience supporting proposal development or technical write-ups preferred, but not required.

Skills

• Strong data management and data processing skills.
• Excellent attention to detail and commitment to data accuracy and documentation.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills.
• Ability to clearly communicate technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to collaborate effectively in a multidisciplinary team environment.
• Ability to learn new tools, data structures, and analytic approaches quickly.
• Experience applying data programming skills in a health policy or health services research context preferred.

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