Job Description
Company Description
Trupanion is a leading provider of medical insurance for cats and dogs in North America. Our mission is to help loving, responsible pet owners budget and care for their pets. At Trupanion, we offer a collaborative, casual, and pet-friendly environment where everyone is encouraged to be themselves.
Job Description
The Senior Manager of Veterinary Data Research will lead a high-impact data research function that turns complex veterinary medical data into actionable insights for product, claims, actuarial, and growth teams. You will set the research agenda, design and oversee multi-quarter studies, ensure data quality and reproducibility, and deliver clear narratives that inform strategic decisions. This role manages a team of data scientists and analysts and partners closely with DVM advisors and domain experts to ensure clinical relevance. (Veterinary medical data examples we frequently encounter include body-system classifications, abnormal lab values, and unstructured medical record narratives.)
This position is open to candidates in the Seattle area. You will have a hybrid remote/in-office schedule where you will work from our casual, pet-friendly office at least 3 days a week.
Key Responsibilities
- Own the data research roadmap aligned to business outcomes; scope studies that quantify drivers of pet health costs, retention, and claim outcomes.
- Design and review rigorous methodologies (e.g., cohort analyses, causal inference, A/B tests, quasi-experiments) with appropriate controls and power calculations.
- Establish standards for data quality, documentation, and reproducibility; implement peer review and research governance across the team.
- Lead cross-functional discovery with Claims Operations, Actuarial, Product, and Growth Insights to translate questions into testable hypotheses and measurable KPIs.
- Synthesize findings into executive-ready narratives and visualizations; communicate tradeoffs and limitations clearly to non-technical stakeholders.
- Mentor and develop a team of analysts/scientists; set goals, coach on methods, and raise the bar on analytical craftsmanship.
- Partner with clinical experts (DVMs) to interpret veterinary medical records, diagnostics, and treatment plans; ensure clinical validity in feature engineering and labeling. (Veterinary context reflected in our Appeals/Claims work.)
- Champion responsible data practices for sensitive veterinary medical data, including privacy-by-design, minimum-necessary access, and robust de-identification.
- Influence data platform roadmaps (e.g., data modeling, instrumentation, and semantic definitions) to improve research velocity and reliability.
Qualifications
- 8+ years in data analytics/data science with 3+ years leading research programs or teams in an applied setting.
- Advanced proficiency with SQL and a modern BI stack (e.g., Tableau); hands-on proficiency with Python or R for statistical analysis and modeling.
- Demonstrated expertise in experimental design, statistical inference, and causal methods; ability to choose the right technique for the question.
- Experience working with medical-like data (unstructured records, lab values, imaging reports) and mapping raw data into normalized schemas. (Examples: lab-value driven “abnormal” classifications and body-system taxonomies.)
- Track record of delivering multi-quarter research projects that changed product, pricing, or operational decisions.
- People leadership: hiring, coaching, performance management, and career development for analysts/scientists.
Background and Skills
- Background in veterinary, biomedical, or health economics domains; familiarity with veterinary terminology and clinical workflows.
- Hands-on experience with feature engineering on medical records; comfort with ambiguous labeling and domain-driven taxonomies.
- Fluency in data storytelling: translating complex methods into crisp insights for senior leaders.
- Exposure to machine-learning methods (e.g., gradient boosting, random forests, GLMs) applied to observational data; strong focus on interpretability.
- Experience collaborating with Actuarial and Claims teams in insurance contexts.
Compensation:
- The base pay range for this position is $120,000 - $140,000, on a full-time schedule.
- Along with base salary, Trupanion employees may be eligible for monthly bonuses.
- We want all employees to be invested in Trupanion’s success, so we grant Restricted Stock Units to all new team members. Our new hire grants vest over 4 years.
Additional Information
Benefits and Perks:
- Full medical, dental, and vision benefits at no cost to the employee
- Four weeks of paid time off and 9 paid float holidays (you can decide which days are most important to you!)
- Five-week sabbatical after five years of employment
- Open, casual, pet-friendly, and fun office environment
- Free medical health insurance for your pet (1 dog or cat)
- Paid time off to volunteer at nonprofit organizations
- Seattle Office Amenities: Free on-site gym, free dog walking services for office pets during business hours, free parking, and paid ORCA cards.
For more information about Trupanion, visit https://trupanion.com/about
Learn more about how Trupanion has revolutionized our industry and the reimbursement model: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdWZ4KHiPTQ
Trupanion is an equal-opportunity employer and embraces diversity. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, abilities, perspectives, and skills.
We will ensure that individuals are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, perform essential job functions, and receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodations.
