Lab Data Specialist

About the Organization

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center is an independent, nonprofit organization providing adult cancer treatment and groundbreaking research focused on cancer and infectious diseases. Based in Seattle, Fred Hutch is the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in Washington. With a track record of global leadership in bone marrow transplantation, HIV/AIDS prevention, immunotherapy, and COVID-19 vaccines, Fred Hutch has earned a reputation as one of the world’s leading cancer, infectious disease, and biomedical research centers.

Fred Hutch operates eight clinical care sites that provide medical oncology, infusion, radiation, proton therapy, and related services, and network affiliations with hospitals in five states. The Statistical Center for HIV/AIDS Research and Prevention (SCHARP) at Fred Hutch is a full-service statistical and data management center focused on HIV prevention research, managing over 40 active phase I-III clinical trials in more than 150 clinical sites worldwide.

About the Role

The Lab Data Specialist draws on expertise in assays, laboratory data management practices, and analysis to support improvements to assay data processing and standardization of assay data submission and assay results dataset generation. They work with Lab Data Managers, programmers, Software Development Engineers, project managers, business analysts, and Statistical Research Associates as part of laboratory data pipeline development and operations to define, document, and maintain inbound and outbound data file and format specifications.

The Lab Data Specialist designs and manages internal data structures for storage and curates laboratory-related metadata for data processing. They serve as a subject matter expert for assay data collection, processing, and analysis within the organization.

Responsibilities

• Works as part of a team to develop laboratory data pipelines, interfacing between SCHARP lab data teams, Software Development Engineers, and programmers to define and document requirements for assay data pipeline configurations, system builds, and designs.
• Collaborates with external laboratories, SCHARP programmers, and statisticians to develop plans for examining data quality, including metrics for data quality and QC resolution to inform quality control and assurance decisions.
• Consults with SCHARP and partner organization statisticians to determine methods for tracking metadata throughout the lab data QC process.
• Leads the development and management of laboratory data standards in SCHARP, including:
  • Data models for data storage and inbound/outbound laboratory data pipelines, covering field names, data types, controlled terminology, and associated metadata required for data processing.
  • Specification formats for documenting data models used by programmers for pipeline implementation and by statisticians and analysts for data consumption.
  • Practices for creating and revising data models and specification documents.
• Works with SCHARP CDISC analysts and network partners to implement CDISC standards into laboratory data.
• Supports other SCHARP staff with relevant technical information on laboratory assays and practices via presentations, trainings, or ad-hoc questions.
• Maintains knowledge of laboratory assays and practices through participation in partner conferences, relevant classes, training seminars, and reading journals.
• Provides feedback to SCHARP Senior Management for the development of infrastructure or software tools needed to capture and process laboratory data.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a scientific, technical, or health-related field such as biology, computer science, or information science.
• 6 years of work experience in a laboratory or performing data/information management or analysis, complementary to education.
• Experience developing data specifications for the purpose of storage and interchange.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to work well in multi-faceted teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Graduate degree in a scientific, technical, or health-related field.
• Experience and advanced knowledge of clinical and research lab assays, data, and processes.
• Experience modeling complex, high-dimensional data.
• Experience programming in a modern procedural, declarative, or statistical programming language such as SAS, R, Perl, Python, or SQL.

Pay

The annual base salary range for this position is from $97,822 to $146,682, with pay offered based on experience and qualifications.

Benefits

• Medical, vision, and dental insurance.
• Flexible spending accounts.
• Life and disability insurance.
• Retirement plans.
• Family life support and employee assistance program.
• Onsite health clinic.
• Tuition reimbursement.
• Paid vacation (12-22 days per year).
• Paid sick leave (12-25 days per year).
• Paid holidays (13 days per year).
• Paid parental leave (up to 4 weeks).