Resume

Chris Swenson

  • Over a decade of experience as a data analyst and data scientist developing successful products to achieve organizational goals using statistics, machine learning, and AI.
  • Pursuing data science or analytics roles, ideally with leadership capacities, backed with demonstrated success in mentoring, communicating with top leadership, and management training.
  • Educational Background: Master's degree in Applied Statistics, certifications in management and machine learning, and Bachelor's degree in Psychology.
  • Technical Skills: Proficient in cloud computing (Azure, Databricks), statistics and machine learning (Python, R, SAS), data visualization (Power BI, Python, R, SAS, Excel), and database management (SQL, stored procedures).
  • Soft Skills: Effective in communication, leadership, adaptability, collaboration, and presentation. Skilled in project management, time management, creative problem-solving, and analytical thinking.
  • Technology Generalist: Extensive knowledge in databases, data modeling, algorithms, and automation; experienced with operating systems (e.g., Linux) and scripting languages (Python, BASH, R).

Sections: Professional Experience | Education | Credentials | Skills

Links: Printable Resume | LinkedIn Profile


Professional Experience

Data Scientist 3 (Mar 2021 – Jul 2025)

Promega, Fitchburg, Wisconsin, United States

Statistical modeling, machine learning, and forecasting.

  • Cross-functional leadership in a project to build pipelines using LLMs for email summarization and follow-up automation, targeting a savings of 4 hours per week per salesperson after evaluation of the strategic direction of the team and leadership goals, using customer insights to drive the project (Python, Databricks, ChatGPT) 
  • Team leadership via management of data science products as product owner for the emerging technologies team, committed to the technical vision of our leadership, delegation of tasks, and assessment of priorities 
  • Redesigned contact-matching logic for downstream analytics, increasing match rate from 48.6% to 83.8%, encompassing $1.25B in historical transactions (SQL)
  • Developed hierarchical forecasting models achieving 6.4% forecast error across 370,000+ sales subcategories, providing strategic direction for the finance team (SQL)
  • Optimized text-search workflows, reducing daily runtime by 83%, enabling faster report delivery and ongoing continuous improvement (SQL)
  • Evaluated promotional campaign performance, identifying opportunities to save £30,000+ annually and recommending A/B adjustments integrated with the product strategy (SQL, R)
  • Investigated and flagged >39,000 discussion threads indicating potential copyright misuse, producing a prioritized remediation list for legal review (Python, R) 
  • Recipient of the Building Connections Award for establishing, leading, and advocating for the members of the Neurodivergent Support Group

Data Scientist (Apr 2020 – Feb 2021)

SSM Health, Madison, Wisconsin, United States

Data modeling, forecasting, and reporting on COVID-19 for leadership.

  • Improved COVID-19 hospital admission forecast accuracy by 99.8% through model redesign, validation, model tuning, and performance tracking (SQL, Python, R, Stan)
  • Conducted system optimization by designing a resilient COVID-19 data model to address severe data-quality issues, achieving 99.7% uptime and powering all operational reporting (SQL, Python, Power BI)
  • Improved operational excellence by identifying 847 high-risk patients (1.3% of cohort) for targeted treatment outreach, enabling prioritized care allocation (SQL, R)
  • Partnered with procurement to estimate PPE needs (gloves, masks, etc.) for COVID-19 response, informing supply planning (R, Excel)

Senior Healthcare Analyst (Sep 2017 – Apr 2020)

SSM Health, Madison, Wisconsin, United States

Statistical analyses on EMR and health insurance claims data.

  • Demonstrated no net cost increase while reducing average BMI by 7 points through a population weight-loss program (SAS)
  • Analyzed disparities in patient care by gender, race, and other demographics; found a 56% higher risk of emergency visits for Black patients vs. White patients, informing targeted interventions (SAS)
  • Improved predictive-model accuracy by 40% by integrating social determinants of health into feature set and preprocessing (SAS)

Data Analyst Consultant (Jul 2017 – Sep 2017)

Great Wolf Resorts, Madison, Wisconsin, United States

Consulted with Great Wolf on an analytical project.

  • Matched $13M in credit-card transactions to reservations, consolidating disparate records for reconciliation and revenue attribution (SQL Server)

Senior Lead Informatics Analyst (Jun 2014 – Jun 2017)

Health Data & Management Solutions, Chicago, Illinois, United States

ETL, report, and analytics developer for a business intelligence tool.

  • Streamlined ETL for large external medical-claims datasets, reducing processing time and simplifying maintenance (SAS)
  • Identified low-value services and recommended changes that reduced client costs (SAS)

Data Scientist - Sales Analytics Supervisor (May 2012 – Jun 2014)

Healthgrades, Madison, Wisconsin, United States

Analyzed website, call center, and medical encounter activity data.

  • Built an automated market-configuration tool based on interviews of the user experience, reducing setup time, standardizing inputs, and improving customer relationships (PostgreSQL, Excel)
  • Improved the sales funnel by delivering market analytics and projected ROI to the sales team, enhancing deal prioritization and customer satisfaction (SQL, Excel)

Programmer Analyst (Jul 2011 – May 2012)

UW Health, Madison, Wisconsin, United States

Data architect and EMR ETL developer for research data model.

  • Automated and simplified ETL and improved patient medical-home assignment logic, reducing errors and maintenance (SAS)
  • Delivered cleaned, validated datasets to researchers, accelerating studies on complex medical topics and improving reproducibility (SAS)

Clinical Data Analyst (Jul 2010 – Jul 2011)

UW Health, Madison, Wisconsin, United States

Analyzed medical record data on patient quality measures.

  • Automated pay-for-performance reporting by capturing user requirements and building repeatable workflows, reducing manual effort (SAS, Excel)
  • Recovered and cleaned historical quality-measure data for warehousing and reporting, enabling longitudinal performance analysis (SAS)

Health Care Analyst II - HEDIS Data Project Manager (Sep 2008 – Jul 2010)

Dean Health Plan, Madison, Wisconsin, United States

Provided analytical insight on medical claims data.

  • Managed HEDIS data ETL and analysis project, coordinating deliverables and timelines with a peer analyst to meet reporting deadlines (SAS)
  • Developed a complex algorithm for identifying primary care provider in an open network (SAS)

Researcher (Sep 2005 – Jul 2008)

Renaissance Learning, Madison, Wisconsin, United States

Conducted quasi-experimental research on product use and student achievement.

  • Demonstrated efficacy of products in improving achievement on a state standardized test (SPSS)
  • Communicated research results to teachers and administrators, translating insights into actionable recommendations

Education

Master's Degree in Applied Statistics (Sep 2020 – Dec 2024)

Pennsylvania State University, World Campus (Online), United States

  • Coursework: Regression, Experiments, Epidemiology, Machine Learning, Mulitvariate, Time Series
  • Programming Languages: Python, R, SAS

Bachelor's Degree in Psychology (Sep 2000 – May 2005)

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Whitewater, Wisconsin, United States

  • Graduated with Honors and Summa Cum Laude
  • Psychology: Statistics, Research Methods, Independent Study, Honors Thesis
  • Additional coursework in mathematics and science
  • Thesis Title: Academic Performance and Study Behaviors of Traditional and Non-traditional Aged College Students
  • Cofounded and lead the Whitewater United for Peace student organization

Professional Credentials

  • Manager Boot Camp from Wisconsin School of Business (2022)
  • Certificate in Machine Learning (Python) from Enthought (2020) 
  • Certificate in Machine Learning (Octave) from Stanford University (2013)

Skills

  • Platforms & Developer Tools: Azure, Databricks, JupyterLab, VS Code, RStudio, MLOps, CI/CD for ML, monitoring performance metrics, model versioning, model serving
  • Databases: SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Oracle, Greenplum, SQLite
  • File Formats: Parquet, Delta/Spark, Excel, CSV
  • Languages: Python, R, SQL/T‑SQL, SAS, Bash, Octave
  • Data Engineering: ETL, data wrangling, pipeline automation, Spark
  • Statistical Methods: Time-series forecasting, A/B testing, causal inference, DOE, ANOVA, linear/logistic regression, Bayesian methods, hypothesis testing, power analysis
  • Machine Learning: Supervised models (trees, ensembles, SVM, neural nets), clustering, simulations, NLP, cross-validation, model metrics
  • Visualization & Reporting: Power BI, Excel, PowerPoint, developing KPIs (key performance indicators), dashboards, data storytelling
  • Project & Product: Project management, prioritization, stakeholder alignment
  • Leadership & Communication: Team supervision, mentoring, presenting, conflict management, DEI advocacy, accountability, and strategic leadership
  • Problem-Solving: Algorithmic thinking, analytical troubleshooting, reproducible workflows, automation, creative solutions

Volunteer Work

Founder and Lead of the Neurodivergent Support Group (Feb 2023 – Jul 2025)

Promega, Madison, Wisconsin, United States

  • Founded the support group for parents of neurodivergent children and neurodivergent employees
  • Group lead: scheduled meetings, set agendas, led discussions, and administered chat group

Foster Parent (Oct 2012 – Mar 2014)

Dane County, Madison, Wisconsin, United States

  • Cared for an infant foster child

Awards and Honors

Building Connections (2023)

"This award for Building Connection recognizes your commitment to uniting groups within the company to improve relationships, reduce conflict, and ensure that everyone's voices are heard and validated." I won this award for my efforts with the neurodivergent support group, along with two others, one of whom supported me in setting up and running the support group.

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