Senior Forecasting Analyst

About the Role

InStride Health is seeking a highly analytical and strategic Senior Forecasting Analyst to own, scale, and continuously improve our enterprise forecasting capabilities. Reporting to the Senior Director of Analytics, this role serves as the central owner of predictive modeling across the organization. 

You will be responsible not only for maintaining existing forecasts, but for rigorously challenging and improving them, using advanced SQL, statistical modeling, and programming techniques to increase accuracy, reduce variance, and support executive decision-making. 

This role sits at the intersection of data, analytics, and business strategy. You will translate complex modeling outputs via Looker into clear, actionable insights, build scalable forecasting infrastructure, and partner closely with Finance, Operations, Growth, and Clinical leaders to inform planning and resourcing. This is a fully remote position.

Responsibilities:

Forecasting Model Development & Optimization

• Own the lifecycle of forecasting models across various departments (e.g., Finance, Operations, Marketing).
• Develop, back-test, validate, and deploy predictive models using statistical techniques such as time series analysis, regression, ARIMA, exponential smoothing, and related methods. 
• Define and monitor model performance metrics (e.g., MAPE, RMSE, bias); perform ongoing forecast-vs-actual analysis to identify drivers of variance and continuously improve accuracy. 
• Design scenario-based forecasts (best case, worst case, most likely) to support planning under uncertainty. 
• Document assumptions, methodologies, and limitations to ensure transparency and reproducibility.

Data Pipeline & Management (SQL)

• Write complex, highly optimized SQL queries (CTEs, window functions, advanced joins) to extract, transform, and aggregate data from the data warehouse. 
• Partner closely with Data Engineering to define data requirements, improve data quality, and ensure consistency of metrics used in forecasting. 
• Build and automate reliable data pipelines so forecasts are refreshed on a consistent and scalable cadence. 
• Validate upstream data changes and assess downstream impact on models and dashboards.

Visualization & Reporting (Looker)

• Design, build, and maintain executive-level dashboards in Looker to surface forecasts, trends, and key drivers.
• Translate complex statistical outputs into intuitive, decision-ready visualizations and narratives.
• Maintain and extend LookML to ensure consistent definitions, metrics, and governance across the organization.
• Proactively identify opportunities to improve how forecast insights are consumed by leadership.

Strategic Collaboration

• Partner with functional leaders to understand business drivers, operational constraints, seasonality, and external market dynamics.
• Serve as a trusted thought partner to Finance and leadership during budgeting, re-forecasting, and long-range planning cycles.
• Present insights and recommendations to senior stakeholders with clarity and confidence, explaining not only what changed in a forecast, but why it changed and what it means for the business.
• Mentor and support junior analysts, helping raise forecasting and statistical literacy across the analytics team.

What You Need to Succeed in the Role

Must Have Qualifications:

• Experience: 5+ years of experience in Data Analytics, FP&A, Demand Planning, or Data Science, with a demonstrated focus on forecasting and predictive modeling.
• SQL Expertise: Expert-level proficiency in SQL; advanced querying is second nature (CTEs, window functions, performance optimization).
• Business Intelligence: Strong experience with Looker (dashboard development and LookML) or a comparable BI platform.
• Statistical Modeling: Deep understanding of time series concepts (trend, seasonality, cyclicality) and core statistical methods.
• Programming: Proficiency in Python or R for advanced modeling and analysis (e.g., pandas, statsmodels, Prophet, scikit-learn).
• Data Storytelling: Ability to clearly explain forecast changes, drivers, assumptions, and implications to non-technical stakeholders.
• Analytical Curiosity: A natural instinct to investigate root causes and challenge assumptions.
• Judgment & Ownership: Comfort owning ambiguous problems and making recommendations with incomplete information.
• Collaboration & Mentorship: Ability to partner cross-functionally and elevate the technical maturity of teammates.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience working with modern cloud data warehouses (e.g., Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift).
• Familiarity with machine learning techniques for predictive analytics and model enhancement.
• Experience forecasting in healthcare, behavioral health, or other regulated service-based environments.
• Exposure to workforce, capacity, or utilization forecasting.
  
  

The expected annual salary for this role is between $118,000-$132,000. Actual starting salary will be determined on an individualized basis and will be based on several factors including but not limited to specific skill set, work experience, licensure, etc.