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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Wellness Analyst

💰 $ - $

WellnessHealth AnalyticsHuman ResourcesData AnalysisEmployee Health

🎯 Role Definition

A Wellness Analyst translates health and wellness program data into clear, actionable insights that improve employee and population health outcomes. Using quantitative methods, predictive modeling, program evaluation, and stakeholder engagement, the Wellness Analyst measures program performance, identifies opportunities for improvement, and supports the design and implementation of evidence-based wellness interventions. The role partners with HR, benefits, clinical teams, and external vendors to drive adherence, engagement, and ROI while ensuring compliance with privacy and regulatory requirements.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Health Data Coordinator
  • Benefits Analyst
  • Population Health Specialist

Advancement To:

  • Senior Wellness Analyst
  • Wellness Program Manager
  • Director of Employee Wellbeing
  • Population Health Analytics Lead

Lateral Moves:

  • Health Outcomes Analyst
  • Benefits Strategy Consultant
  • Employee Experience Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Design, implement, and maintain dashboards and reports that track key wellness program KPIs (engagement rates, biometric trends, utilization, cost savings, ROI), using tools such as Tableau, Power BI, or Looker to enable data-driven decisions by HR and leadership.
  • Conduct comprehensive program evaluations, including pre/post analyses and longitudinal studies, to measure the effectiveness of wellness initiatives and recommend evidence-based program adjustments to improve outcomes and participation.
  • Use statistical and predictive modeling techniques (regression, survival analysis, clustering) to identify high-risk cohorts, forecast utilization and costs, and prioritize targeted interventions that maximize health impact and cost-efficiency.
  • Aggregate, clean, and integrate multi-source health data (claims, EHR, biometric screenings, self-reported surveys, wearable devices, HRIS) while ensuring data quality, consistency, and adherence to HIPAA and other privacy standards.
  • Develop and manage performance metrics and targets tied to organizational objectives (reduced absenteeism, improved chronic condition control, lower healthcare spend), and produce executive-level summaries and actionable insights for stakeholders.
  • Collaborate with vendors and third-party wellness partners to define data exchange requirements, validate delivered analytics, and negotiate service-level reporting that supports program goals and compliance.
  • Design and administer employee wellness surveys (engagement, health risk assessments), analyze results using advanced analytics, and synthesize findings into prioritized recommendations for program design and communication strategies.
  • Plan and execute A/B tests and controlled pilots for new wellness interventions (digital coaching, incentive structures, behavior nudges), measuring program lift, engagement drivers, and cost-effectiveness.
  • Translate complex analytical findings into clear, non-technical deliverables—presentations, one-pagers, and workshops—for HR business partners, benefits teams, and senior leadership to support strategic decision-making.
  • Build and maintain cohort-level and individual-level risk stratification models to guide case management referrals, care navigation, and targeted outreach to improve chronic disease management.
  • Monitor vendor performance against contractual KPIs, validate vendor-submitted data and claims, and manage remediation activities when performance or data quality gaps are identified.
  • Create and maintain data governance documentation, data dictionaries, and process workflows to support reproducible analytics, audit readiness, and cross-team knowledge transfer.
  • Work with legal and compliance teams to ensure analytics and reporting activities meet regulatory obligations, including de-identification, data minimization, and appropriate consent handling.
  • Support benefit design and program budgeting by modeling potential financial impact, break-even points, and long-term ROI of wellness programs and incentives using scenario analysis and cost-benefit frameworks.
  • Facilitate cross-functional project teams (HR, clinical staff, safety, finance, IT) to operationalize wellness program changes, set milestones, and remove analytic or data integration blockers.
  • Provide subject matter expertise on clinical measures, preventive services, and behavioral economics to inform program content, incentive structures, and communication strategies that increase adoption and retention.
  • Maintain and improve ETL pipelines for wellness-related data feeds, coordinate with data engineering to resolve source-system issues, and document data lineage for key analytic datasets.
  • Educate HR partners and program managers on metric interpretation, data limitations, and recommended actions to increase adoption of analytics-informed practices across the organization.
  • Identify and implement methods to reduce health inequities by analyzing program uptake and outcomes across demographics, and recommend culturally competent engagement tactics to improve equity of access and impact.
  • Produce quarterly and annual population health and wellness impact reports that summarize outcomes, financial implications, lessons learned, and prioritized recommendations for next-phase interventions.
  • Lead root-cause analyses for unexpected trends (spikes in utilization, declines in engagement) and recommend corrective action plans with timelines, owners, and success metrics.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
  • Train and mentor junior analysts or interns on wellness analytics best practices and tools.
  • Assist in the development of employee-facing content that explains program benefits and how to use wellness resources effectively.
  • Coordinate logistics and measurement frameworks for onsite or virtual health events, screenings, and coaching programs.
  • Maintain vendor registries and support procurement processes for analytic tools and wellness services.
  • Validate incentive disbursal accuracy and reconcile participation records with payroll or rewards platforms.
  • Support regulatory reporting requirements and audit requests related to wellness program administration and outcomes.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Strong proficiency in SQL for data extraction, transformation, and complex cohort analyses across multiple health data sources.
  • Experience with data visualization tools (Tableau, Power BI, Looker) to build executive dashboards, interactive reports, and self-serve analytics.
  • Statistical analysis and modeling skills using R, Python (pandas, scikit-learn, statsmodels), or SAS for inferential statistics, predictive modeling, and A/B testing.
  • Familiarity with healthcare data types: medical and pharmacy claims, EHR/clinical data, biometric screening results, health risk assessments, and wellness vendor feeds.
  • Experience designing and validating risk stratification models and population health segmentation techniques.
  • Knowledge of data integration and ETL processes, including experience working with data engineers and cloud data platforms (Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift).
  • Ability to perform cost-benefit and ROI analyses for wellness program investments using financial modeling and scenario planning.
  • Understanding of privacy and regulatory frameworks (HIPAA, GINA) and techniques for de-identification and secure data handling.
  • Experience conducting survey design, psychometrics, and analysis for engagement and HRA instruments.
  • Familiarity with CRM, HRIS, and benefits administration systems (Workday, ADP, Oracle ERP) for linking wellness engagement to employment and benefits data.
  • Experience with project management tools and methodologies (Jira, Asana, Agile) to drive program delivery and cross-functional initiatives.
  • Proficiency in Excel for advanced analysis, pivot tables, and financial modeling.

Soft Skills

  • Strong business partnering and stakeholder management skills; able to translate analytic insights into strategic recommendations and operational plans.
  • Clear, concise written and verbal communication; adept at presenting complex analyses to non-technical audiences and executive stakeholders.
  • Strategic thinker with the ability to prioritize high-impact initiatives and balance short-term needs with long-term analytics roadmap.
  • Strong attention to detail and commitment to data quality, reproducibility, and transparent methodology.
  • Problem-solver and critical thinker who can synthesize diverse data sources and ambiguous inputs into actionable guidance.
  • Collaborative mindset and team orientation; able to work across HR, benefits, clinical teams, finance, and external partners.
  • Empathy and cultural sensitivity when interpreting health data and recommending engagement tactics for diverse populations.
  • Time management and project delivery skills; able to manage competing priorities and deliver high-quality work on schedule.
  • Curiosity and continuous learning orientation toward new analytical methods, wellness trends, and evidence-based interventions.
  • Facilitation and training skills to enable adoption of analytics and measurement practices across the organization.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Public Health, Statistics, Health Informatics, Data Science, Epidemiology, Business Analytics, or related field.

Preferred Education:

  • Master's degree in Public Health (MPH), Health Informatics, Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Data Science, or MBA with relevant analytics coursework.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Public Health
  • Epidemiology
  • Biostatistics
  • Health Informatics
  • Data Science
  • Healthcare Administration

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 2–5 years of experience in health analytics, wellness programming, population health, benefits analytics, or related fields.

Preferred:

  • 4–7+ years with progressive responsibility in wellness analytics, demonstrated experience managing vendor relationships, running program evaluations, and delivering executive-level reporting. Prior experience within corporate benefits, healthcare systems, insurance, or large employer wellness programs is highly desirable.
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