About The Opportunity
At Medifast, our team members are relentless in our mission of driving Lifelong Transformation, Making a Healthy Lifestyle Second Nature™. When you join Medifast, you become part of a dynamic, fast-growing community of highly motivated, like-hearted people who share a passion for promoting health and wellness. Just as OPTAVIA Coaches inspire Clients to reach their personal wellness goals, at Medifast, we inspire each other to bring our best to work each day to further our shared mission. If you want to build a rewarding career that makes lives better on a daily basis, Medifast may be the perfect place for you.
Overview Of Position
The Principal Scientist, Health Care Data Sciences, will serve as subject matter expert in obesity and related co-morbidities clinical care, health outcomes research, data sciences and health care policy. This role will help advance our medically supported weight loss programs by contributing to development of real-world evidence-based research programs, evidence based clinical care protocols, programs, plans and products. Responsibilities include driving education, training, communication, and benefit messaging to highlight the company’s medical heritage, scientifically validate the Medifast and OPTAVIA brands, and support both Coaches and Clients effectively. This role will help evaluate existing scientific evidence, internal data and contribute to data-driven decisions to support innovation of our Program, Plans and Products, and health and wellbeing of our Coaches and Clients. The successful candidate will also help create and substantiate company claims through in-house and third-party research and will guide the development of scientific initiatives that advance innovation of programs, plans and products, and contributes to externalization of our science. The research work produced by this position will help support the company’s marketing and public relations positioning, claims, product differentiation, and bolster the scientific credibility of OPTAVIA offerings. This will be a strategic role interfacing with key health care professionals, subject matter experts, and other external partners and will help define long-term focus areas for Medifast in the obesity and related co-morbidities clinical care and policy space. This role may also require the management of the Scientific Advisory Board, help develop research strategy and work cross-functionally to co-lead and deliver across the medically supported weight loss program and other future business initiatives.
II. Job Responsibilities
Subject matter expert in the obesity and related co-morbidities clinical care processes, including medical, pharmaceutical, nutrition, behavior and lifestyle modification. Maintain robust knowledge of pharmaceutical interventions in obesity clinical care and identify opportunities for OPTAVIA. Subject matter expertise in data science, including scientific methods, biostatistics, machine learning, data systems, processing, and visualization with proficiency in R, Python, and SQL to enable the extraction of actionable insights from data. Develop relevant real-world evidence-based, health economics and clinical research programs and related data analytics to demonstrate efficacy of OPTAVIA programs, plans and products in conjunction with medically supported weight loss programs. This includes contributing to the dissemination of findings through scientific publications, ensuring the research aligns with rigorous academic and industry standards to enhance credibility and support evidence-based practices. Contributes to the development of clinical care protocols, health care policy strategy for nutrition and lifestyle programs as part of medically supported weight loss programs. Develops and manages research partnerships with academia, thought leaders, health care and other external partners to support medically supported weight loss. Provides input and support for Medifast’s research, including the development of study design and protocol(s). Identifies, and manages Key Opinion Leaders within academia, health care and other external partners to support medically supported weight loss initiatives. Provides evidence-based recommendations for OPTAVIA programs, plans, and product innovation to support medically supported weight loss. This may entail reviewing new ingredients, technologies, developing and substantiating benefit messaging, identifying gaps in the evidence and opportunities to conduct research, communicating the science and benefits, while working cross-functionally with marketing, PR, R&D, legal, field operations and other internal and external partners. Collaborates with nutrition support, nutrition and wellness, medical safety and surveillance, R&D (product development, regulatory, quality assurance), marketing, PR, legal and other internal and/or external stakeholders, to provide scientifically based reviews/recommendations for plans, products and /or programs and help ensure the messaging of these is evidence-based and consistent across Medifast OPTAVIA brands. Stays abreast of current medical advancements, scientific literature, nutrition, and wellness findings by investing a minimum of 10% of time on continuing education, attending related symposia, reviewing research publications and data reports; presentations on topic findings should be provided quarterly, as may be applicable. Obtain a minimum of 15 CEU’s to maintain current health professional registration/licensure. Collaborate with the Vice President of Scientific and Clinical Affairs, Product Development, and Marketing to develop the company’s strategic vision for products, programs, and research.III. Scope
This is an individual contributor role supporting Scientific & Clinical Affairs projects across the organization. This position may also help manage the budget related to Medifast Sponsored Research, Investigator Initiated Studies and Scientific Advisory Board.
IV. Knowledge, Education, Skills & Abilities
Required: Advanced Terminal Degree (PhD, DNP, PharmD, PA, other) in Health Sciences, Allied Healthcare or other biological or life science-related field (Nutrition Science, Exercise Science, Nursing, Pharmacy, Physician Associate, other). 5+ years scientific affairs and research experience, including biostatistics, data analytics, and machine learning, with programming skills in R, Python, and SQL for advanced data analysis and modeling. Maintain current professional credentials (RPh, RN, RDN, etc.), as applicable 5+ years of experience in health care (clinical care, health care management and related) or Pharmaceutical Industry Experience of cross-functional evidence-based reviews, ingredient and technical reviews, clinical care processes, including data management, biostatistics, medical writing, and regulatory affairs Strong interpersonal, verbal and written communication and presentation skills Problem solving and decision-making skills; strategic thinking and leadership Performs responsibilities with minimal supervision Working knowledge of Microsoft Office, statistical, data collection and analytical packages 25% travel maybe necessaryAt Medifast, Relationships Are At The Center Of What We Do!
We thrive by elevating our connections with one another as well as with our Coaches & Clients. We believe that everyone has the potential to be OUTSTANDING. The Medifast culture is built on seven core values: integrity, courage, teaming, accountability, empowerment, partnership and diversity. These values aren’t just words on a page – they are celebrated as a core part of the company’s philosophy.
We Lead By…
Mastering Relationships: We build trust, promote collaboration and we are reliable.
Being innovative: We strive to improve things in our areas of influence; test, refine and expand within the business strategy; and reach beyond real and perceived boundaries.
Simplifying: We are committed to making things measurable, repeatable and scalable; focusing on outcomes not activities; and eliminating complexity to increase focus.
Anticipating: We predict long-term business and organizational needs; challenge assumptions; and expect and prepare for the unexpected.
About Medifast®
Medifast (NYSE: MED) is the health and wellness company known for its habit-based and coach-guided lifestyle solution OPTAVIA®, which provides people with a simple yet comprehensive approach to address obesity and support a healthy lifestyle. OPTAVIA's holistic solution includes lifestyle plans with clinically proven health benefits, scientifically developed products, and a framework for habit creation – all reinforced by independent coach support for customers on their weight loss journeys. Through its collaboration with national virtual primary care provider LifeMD® (Nasdaq: LFMD) and its affiliated medical group, the holistic solution now includes access to GLP-1 medications where clinically appropriate. Medifast remains committed to its mission of offering Lifelong Transformation, Making a Healthy Lifestyle Second Nature™. Visit the OPTAVIA and Medifast websites for more information and follow Medifast on X and LinkedIn.