The work of statisticians involves managing large quantities of data. They may design surveys and polls to gather information about a particular topic. These professionals are concerned with randomly sampling their target audience to get realistic sample representations of entire populations. They interpret data and may create visual aids to effectively present their findings to others. Statisticians are employed in sectors such as government, healthcare, marketing, sports and psychology.
As can be expected from someone who works with data, analytical skills are key for success as a statistician. Therefore, while writing your statistician job description, emphasize your need for a strategic thinker who aims to generate change by helping others make data-driven decisions.
Another important aspect of the job is problem-solving, as investigations are sometimes needed when data quality issues are suspected. Take a close look at the example of how to organize and format your statistician job description.
Statistician Job Summary
Are you eager to bring methods to the madness that is big data? We have an immediate need to hire a keen statistician to organize information from several disparate systems. We’re looking for someone who can evaluate our current processing methods and tidy up any areas in need of improvement. You should bring your stellar analytical and presentation skills to the role, and we’ll reward you with satisfying opportunities to assist department heads in making key decisions. We want to support your growth and plan to do so via continuing education and mentorship from our VP of Research. Our firm has offices in several domestic and overseas locations, and we’ll be introducing you to people right away to help you build relationships company-wide.
Job Responsibilities
- Define and document all active and inactive channels for data collection, investigating the possibilities of linking fields, merging tables and archiving legacy information in compressed formats
- Develop analysis schemas that include textual and visual components to model what to expect from a particular plan of action
- Write new and edit existing scripts to programmatically mine information from relational, NoSQL and “flat” file databases
- Work with the IT department on identifying security vulnerabilities to prevent private customer data from being accessed by unauthorized parties
- Sort through results carefully, making corrections where needed and drawing hypothetical conclusions until all the hard facts can be weighed
- Summarize key findings in regularly released reports and use software tools to create easily understandable chart, graph and map accompaniments
- Meet with managers from different departments to discuss their statistical analysis needs and how the research group may be able to provide them on-demand or regular support
- Present figures in quarterly meetings and contribute key figures to the marketing department in preparation for the company’s annual report
Job Skills & Qualifications
Reqiured:
- Bachelor’s degree in mathematics or related field, or equivalent experience
- One year of experience in statistical analysis in a business setting
Preferred:
- Master’s degree in statistics
- Experience using SAS, SPSS or Orange for data mining and visualization
Statistician Job Responsibilities
A large part of recruiting and hiring good employees is empowering them with the tools needed to succeed right from the get-go. This starts by creating a strong statistician job description. Having a well-composed listing that clearly spells out the roles and responsibilities that come with a position allows applicants to envision how to apply their unique skill sets to it. Such a posting can also help to shorten a new hire’s acclimation period by better preparing him or her to assume the role, allowing him or her to more quickly contribute to your organization’s success.
How do you create such a description? You do it by being concise in your statistician job responsibilities section, using a format that it easy to follow and understand. Even though this is the meatiest portion of your job posting, it should still be short enough to hold a reader’s interest. You can easily communicate all of the vital information related to a position in a short space utilizing succinct sentences organized into bullet points. This calls an applicant’s attention to these points and gives them a clear picture of the daily tasks your job entails.
Listed below are some examples of tasks that can serve as reference material as you create your own statistician job description:
- Evaluate market data and organize it into meaningful metrics
- Utilize programs such as PSPP and ADaMSoft to conduct predictive analysis
- Design and implement new data collection methods
- Coordinate with chief planning officer in forming organizational goals
Statistician Job Specifications
The statistician job specifications that you include in your listing should serve as your applicant screening process. You are no doubt hoping to optimize both the time and resources required to make your new hire. Therefore, you do not want to have to waste time reviewing applications from unqualified candidates. Your job qualifications and skills section should set a standard that every applicant must meet. Ideally, those who do not will not bother applying. Yet even if you do receive unqualified submissions, your application screening program can quickly distinguish them based off of the criteria you set in your statistician job description.
Statistics is such a broad-reaching discipline that those who are familiar with its concepts and principles may encounter little difficulty in applying them in almost any scenario (no matter the industry). Thus, you should consider how much emphasis you should place on applicants having previous experience within your industry. You may easily find an ideal candidate whose professional experience is in another field, yet his or her statistical knowledge can be easily applied to your line of work. By not limiting your qualification criteria to only include applicants from within your industry, you may dramatically increase your candidate pool.
Review the example criteria below to get an idea of how you should structure this portion of your statistician job description:
- Master’s degree in statistics or mathematics
- Two years of previous experience in performing professional statistical analysis
- Working knowledge of statistical analytic programs
- Strong communication skills