Senior Heath Economist

What You'll Accomplish

In your first 3 months:

• Assess Hinge Health's current health economics portfolio and prioritize the highest-impact studies for commercial growth and competitive differentiation
• Establish your presence as a trusted advisor to Client Success and Commercial teams, shaping how we position ROI evidence in sales conversations
• Lead your first complex external ROI study, including vendor negotiation, study design approval from internal and external stakeholders, and results presentation

In your first 6 months:

• Own concurrent health economics workstreams across product lines (e.g., chronic MSK, surgical replacement, pelvic health), balancing rigor with commercial timelines
• Present directly to external clients (health plan C-suite, actuarial teams) with polished, defensible analyses that close deals and renew contracts
• Mentor a junior health economist, establishing team standards for study design, code review, and client communication
• Build advanced analytics infrastructure (e.g., automated claims data pipelines in Databricks) that scales the team's capacity

In your first year:

• Define Hinge Health's long-term health economics research strategy, including publication goals, external partnerships, and methodology innovation
• Lead publication of high-impact manuscripts in top-tier journals (JAMA, Health Affairs) that establish Hinge Health as the evidence leader in digital MSK care
• Influence product roadmap decisions by proactively identifying economic opportunities (e.g., "Which member segments drive the highest ROI?") and designing studies to answer them
• Act as the primary advisor to Senior Leadership Team on health economics questions, shaping how we think about value-based contracting and payer partnerships

Basic Requirements

• PhD in health economics, health services research, or a related field strongly preferred; Master's degree with exceptional applied experience considered
• 6-10 years of experience designing and conducting health economics studies using advanced econometric methods (e.g., causal inference, cost-effectiveness analysis, budget impact modeling)
• 6-10 years of experience working with large-scale claims databases (commercial, Medicare, Medicaid), including deep knowledge of medical billing, CPT/ICD coding, and health insurance requirements
• Expert-level programming skills in R, SQL, and/or Python, with a track record of building reproducible, scalable analytical pipelines

Preferred Requirements

• Publication record with first-author papers in high-impact peer-reviewed journals (JAMA, Health Affairs, Medical Care, Value in Health)
• 3+ years of experience with Databricks, Snowflake, or similar cloud data platforms, including experience optimizing large-scale data transformations
• Digital health or MSK care expertise, including understanding of virtual care delivery models, wearable technology, and value-based contracting
• Experience mentoring junior analysts or economists, including code review and study design feedback
• Proficiency with AI-assisted coding tools (e.g., Claude, GitHub Copilot) and willingness to drive team adoption of AI workflows
• Prior experience in client-facing roles, including presenting to health plan executives, actuaries, or C-suite leaders