Decision Analytics Associate Consultant - Market Access

About the role

ZS is a place where passion changes lives. We transform ideas into impact by combining data, science, technology, and human ingenuity to deliver better outcomes for all. As a Management Consulting and Technology firm, we focus on improving life and how we live it.

Responsibilities

• Lead research engagements to understand how reimbursement dynamics, prior authorization burdens, and step therapy requirements shape prescribing and patient access.
• Synthesize payer and provider interview findings into nuanced access landscapes, identifying coverage barriers, reimbursement risks, and positioning opportunities for pharmaceutical clients.
• Develop advanced analyses using quantitative data—claims, formulary databases, and pricing benchmarks—to complement and validate qualitative research findings.
• Create pricing and access strategy recommendations grounded in payer intelligence, competitive dynamics, and product value narratives.
• Build crisp, executive-ready deliverables that translate complex reimbursement intelligence into clear strategic guidance for brand, market access, and commercial teams.
• Manage key project workstreams end-to-end, coordinating research design, recruitment, fieldwork, and analysis on deadline.
• Guide and mentor junior Associates, modeling rigorous thinking and strong research craft.
• Design custom analyses in software such as R, Tableau, SAS, SQL, Visual Basic, and Excel to investigate and inform client needs.

Requirements

• Bachelor's or master's degree required in any discipline with a strong record of academic success in quantitative and analytic coursework such as business, economics, marketing, data science, statistics, engineering, and life sciences.
• 3+ years of post-collegiate consulting experience in market access, payer strategy, or reimbursement research.
• Demonstrated experience conducting qualitative primary research with U.S. payers, PBMs, or providers.
• You're comfortable leading interviews and probing beyond surface-level responses.
• Fluency in the U.S. payer landscape: managed care organizations, Medicare/Medicaid, formulary tiers, prior authorization, step therapy, and specialty pharmacy dynamics.
• Understanding of pharmaceutical pricing strategy, including WAC, net pricing, contracting, and value-based arrangements.
• Strong analytical skills—comfort working with claims data, formulary databases, or pricing benchmarks to build evidence-based recommendations.
• A talent for synthesizing complex, sometimes ambiguous research findings into clear strategic narratives that resonate with commercial and access teams.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills—build credibility quickly with senior clients and know how to keep projects on track.
• Client-first mentality.
• Intense work ethic.
• Collaborative spirit and problem-solving approach.

Qualifications

• Fluency in English.

Skills

• Research and analysis skills.
• Interviewing and probing skills.
• Quantitative data analysis.
• Software proficiency (R, Tableau, SAS, SQL, Visual Basic, Excel).
• Strategic narrative creation.
• Stakeholder management.
• Communication skills.

Benefits

• Comprehensive total rewards package.
• Milestone training programs aligned to career progression opportunities.
• Internal mobility paths that empower growth via s-curves, individual contribution, and role expansions.