Ascension LLC is seeking a Data Management / Data Access Specialist to support policy and data analysis efforts for a federal client within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), specifically supporting ASPE’s Behavioral Health, Disability, Aging, and Human Services policy initiatives.

This role is critical to ensuring that secure, compliant, and high-quality data is accessible for policy analysis, research, and reporting. The ideal candidate is a detail-oriented data professional who understands federal data governance requirements, CMS data access processes, and secure data handling in regulated environments.

This position plays a foundational role in enabling data-driven policy insights, supporting activities such as CMS data acquisition (DUAs), VRDC access, and preparation of datasets for advanced analytics and reporting.

Position Summary

The Data Management / Data Access Specialist will support the full lifecycle of data access, governance, preparation, and compliance. This includes managing CMS Data Use Agreements (DUAs), coordinating access to restricted datasets (e.g., VRDC), ensuring compliance with federal privacy and security requirements, and preparing structured datasets for analysts and policy teams.

The ideal candidate brings a strong understanding of data governance, federal data access protocols, and secure data environments, along with the ability to operate in a fast-paced, quick-turnaround analytical environment.

This role requires someone who is:

• Highly organized and detail-oriented
• Self-driven and capable of working with minimal oversight
• Skilled at navigating ambiguous data access requirements
• Proactive in identifying risks related to data privacy, security, and compliance
• Able to manage multiple data requests and deadlines simultaneously

The candidate will support mission-critical work that enables timely policy analysis, research outputs, and decision-making for federal leadership.

Key Responsibilities / Day-to-Day Activities

• Prepare and manage CMS Data Use Agreements (DUAs) and data access documentation
• Coordinate with ResDAC and federal stakeholders to obtain access to CMS VRDC and other restricted datasets
• Ensure compliance with federal data privacy, security, and data release policies (HIPAA, HHS, CMS)
• Develop and maintain data governance procedures and documentation
• Prepare, clean, and structure datasets for analysis (survey data, administrative data, claims data)
• Validate data integrity, completeness, and consistency prior to analysis
• Support data linkage efforts between survey and administrative datasets
• Maintain secure data environments and enforce access controls
• Track and manage data access requests, approvals, and renewals
• Collaborate with analysts, policy staff, and project teams to support data needs
• Document data sources, methodologies, and transformation processes
• Support audits and compliance reviews related to data usage
• Develop data dictionaries, metadata documentation, and data management plans
• Identify and mitigate risks related to data handling and storage