Statistician

Do you want to use your statistical expertise to make the use of medicines safer? Do you thrive in multidisciplinary and multicultural teams and enjoy solving problems of concrete value? Would you like to use your analytical skills to support decision making and answer important research questions? Then this position is the right fit for you!


Uppsala Monitoring Centre (UMC) is a dynamic non-profit foundation with an internationally recognised role within the field of pharmacovigilance and the ambition to improve the safety of medicines throughout the world. By managing and analysing VigiBase, the WHO global database with more than 23 million reports of suspected side effects, reported by patients and healthcare professionals in more than 140 countries, UMC is in a unique position to detect safety concerns associated with medicines.
Within the Research and Education department, the two main goals of our passionate and savvy data scientists are to develop and implement methods to identify previously unknown safety issues with medicines, and to provide data analytics support to the research pharmacists and medical doctors. We are now looking for a skilled and creative statistician with a drive to use her/his skills for the greater good – reflecting UMC’s core values of innovation, inspiration and integrity – in a fun and dynamic multidisciplinary department.


What you will do
Work closely with a passionate team of data scientists, research pharmacists and medical doctors
Gather a deep understanding of our unique database of side effects to support others in their decision-making or research questions (e.g., how to appropriately account for biases and confounding factors, how to choose appropriate backgrounds and appropriate study designs)
Participate in diverse research projects involving in-house data as well as external data, such as electronic health records or social media
Build capacity for statistical thinking
Design and evaluate novel methods to advance the science of pharmacovigilance with statistical modeling or machine learning
Communicate results to internal and external stakeholders, adapting to the diversity of their backgrounds, and disseminate research via scientific publications and participation in research conferences
Engage in international collaborations



Who you are
You have a MSc degree in statistics, mathematics, epidemiology, engineering, or other quantitative discipline. A PhD is desired but not required.
You have hands-on experience in biostatistics, causal inference, epidemiology or statistics.
You are proficient in Python and/or R.
You have at least 2 years of relevant experience.
It’s an advantage if you have experience of working with databases and SQL.
It’s an advantage if you have good data visualisation skills.
You have strong interpersonal skills and are comfortable working with multiple stakeholders, with diverse backgrounds and nationalities.
You are innovative, independent, driven, and can quickly devise relevant research questions as well as come up with data-driven ways to address those questions.
You are generous and enjoy helping others to solve problems.



About us
UMC advances the science of pharmacovigilance and inspires patient safety initiatives all over the world. As an independent, non-profit foundation, we engage stakeholders who share our vision of a world where patients and health providers make wise therapeutic decisions in their use of medicines. As a leader in the research and development of new scientific methods, we explore the benefits and harms of medicines for patients, and offer products and services used by health authorities and the pharmaceutical industry worldwide. For more than 40 years, we have provided scientific leadership and operational support to the WHO Programme for International Drug Monitoring.
Located in the heart of Uppsala, three minutes away from the central station, we are currently around 140 employees and consultants and have generous employee-benefit policies. In addition, UMC provides support for remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information about our activities and products, visit www.who-umc.org.


Applications
Please send your application marked with the reference number 2020-18 Statistician to job@who-umc.org by 28 February 2021. We will process applications continuously so please apply as soon as possible. The position is full-time and requires you to be a citizen of EU/EEA/Switzerland. It is based at UMC’s offices in central Uppsala and begins with a trial period of six months. If you have questions about the position, contact Lucie Gattepaille, Section Manager Data Science, +46 (0)76-697 80 78.
UMC follows the collective agreements between the Swedish Agency for Government Employers and Saco-S and ST. Union representatives are Deliana Aboka (Saco-S) and Jessica Avasol (ST), +46 (0)18-65 60 60.