Public Health Data Scientist - County of Riverside
Riverside, CA 92501
About the Job
The Riverside University Health System Department of Public Health (PH) has an exciting opportunity for a PH Data Scientist.
The primary role of this position will be to perform data organization and visualization so that Epidemiologists and other team members can analyze and interpret data more efficiently. The incumbent, under general supervision, develops and applies methods to identify, collect, process, organize, and analyze structured and unstructured data using statistical prediction, inference and optimization; effectively communicates results to the Public Health Department; develops or assists in the development of new analytic methods, functions and data structures necessary to complete complex projects; performs other related duties as required.
The Public Health Data Scientist is an advanced journey level classification and reports to an appropriate supervisory or manager level position. Incumbents work independently while performing duties of considerable difficulty to complete moderately complex projects or major aspects of large/complex projects that may be department-wide in scope. Incumbents deploy techniques such as data extraction, transformation and loading; classical statistical analysis and machine learning, including predictive and prescriptive modeling and optimization; and data visualization to generate critical information and knowledge and effectively communicate findings to technical and nontechnical stakeholders to support data-driven program design, management and decision-making. Incumbents work with data sets characterized by large volume, moderate complexity and significant heterogeneity, integrating data from various sources, requiring direct collaboration with department IT staff to design and provide feedback on data systems and processes necessary to support the IT infrastructure and security compliance requirements.
The Public Health Data Scientist is distinguished from the Research Specialist II by the expertise and knowledge of the former in developing machine learning algorithms to analyze data, build predictive models and create visualizations and dashboards from which the latter uses to plan and design research projects, interpret findings using statistical or qualitative data analysis, and draw conclusions.
Meet the Team!
RUHS Public Health Department RUHS Public Health Department
EXAMPLES OF ESSENTIAL DUTIES
• Collaborate with Public Health Department and Epidemiology and Program Evaluation (EPE) Branch stakeholders to solicit, define and manage data science projects from conception through implementation, including identifying and developing statements of business problems; conduct exploratory data analysis and data mining; develop model specification requirements and conduct advanced statistical analyses.
• Use statistical tools and software to develop and present visualizations of findings and recommendations that can be used to support business decisions and allocation of resources.
• Work with Public Health Department and EPE Branch stakeholders to document business requirements and help frame business problems so that appropriate corresponding data science techniques can be identified and applied.
• Collaborate with Public Health Department and EPE Branch stakeholders to understand, identify and select available and relevant sources of data for use cases, including internal, external, structured, and unstructured data sources.
• Work with Public Health Information Technology team to support collection, integration and retention requirements for large sets of structured and unstructured data from various sources and consults with data engineers and architects on the design and architecture of relevant data systems and processes.
• Collaborate with other department data scientists, epidemiologists, research specialists, and IT staff to select, evaluate, improve, and document tools and systems to strengthen EPE Branch and other Public Health Department Branches analytic capacity.
• Independently conduct advanced analytical studies for the resolution of business problems and transfigures data into critical information by selecting and deploying appropriate advanced statistical techniques such as machine learning, bivariate and multivariate analyses, predictive/prescriptive analytics, and optimization.
• Plan, design and manage experiments, consumer surveys and other data collection projects to augment existing sources of data as necessary to solve business problems.
• Convey findings and conclusions of work orally, in writing, visually, in presentations, and by developing interactive tools as appropriate to communicate effectively with a wide range of audiences, including technical and nontechnical staff, stakeholders and members of the public.
• Work with EPE Branch staff to understand the implications of analyses and to ensure that findings are actionable and support data-driven programs, policies and operational decision-making.
• Assist in implementing recommended business process changes in ways that both retain fidelity to best practices identified through the analysis and recognize the operational realities underlying existing business processes.
• Work with functional teams to develop and implement products, services and tools, such as dashboards and reports, emerging from the analysis.
• Recommend ongoing improvements to methods and algorithms that lead to findings, including new information.
• Provide business metrics for departmental projects to show improvements both initially and over multiple iterations; provide ongoing tracking and monitoring of performance of decision systems and statistical models and troubleshoot and implement enhancements and fixes to systems as needed.
• Access ongoing training and professional development opportunities to maintain familiarity with current industry and academic research to apply the latest and most useful statistical learning techniques to extract patterns and trends from data.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Education: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a bachelor's degree in a field of applied research such as data science, computer science, mathematics, statistics, business analytics, psychology, or public health that included 12 semester or 18 quarter units of coursework in data science, predicative analytics, quantitative research methods, or statistical analysis. (A master's degree from an accredited college or university in a related field may substitute for one year of the required experience. A PhD in a related field may substitute for two years of the required experience.)
Experience: Four years of applying machine learning, predictive analytics, data management, and hypothesis-driven data analysis to produce actionable recommendations to support data driven program, policy and operational decision-making.
Knowledge of: Data extraction, transformation and loading techniques; programming languages such as R, SAS and/or SQL; data visualization tools such as Tableau, Python and PowerBi; one or more of advanced Machine Learning techniques such as Classification, Prediction, Recommender Systems, Anomaly Detection, or Optimization; fundamentals and principles of epidemiology, biostatistics and public health; security and confidentiality requirements for reportable disease/public health surveillance data and protection of public health information; classical statistical analysis methodology and machine learning, including predictive and prescriptive modeling and optimization.
Ability to: Visualize data to generate critical information and knowledge and effectively communicate findings to technical and nontechnical stakeholders to support data-driven program design, management and decision-making; apply machine learning techniques to big data systems (e.g., Spark and Hadoop) to largescale datasets; write SQL code using multiple tools such as SQL Server Management Studio or GUI programs that assist with developing queries and reports; organize, synthesize and analyze large amounts of information.
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
Reasonable Accommodations
The County of Riverside is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to applicants as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). If you are a qualified individual and need a reasonable accommodation to take this exam, contact the recruiter before taking the exam. For additional information and the accommodation form, visit the Disability Access Office web page at: http://dao.rc-hr.com
Veterans' Preference
The County has a Veterans Preference Policy. Upload a copy of your (or your spouse's) Member-4 Form DD-214 (or NGB-22) indicating dates of service, and a copy of your spouse's letter of disability (if applicable) with your application. For privacy reasons, it is recommended that you remove your social security information from the document(s). A Human Resources Representative will review the materials and determine if you qualify for veterans' preference. See the policy here ( Download PDF reader ).
Pre-Employment
All employment offers are contingent upon successful completion of both a pre-employment physical exam, including a drug/alcohol test, and a criminal background investigation, which involves fingerprinting. (A felony or misdemeanor conviction may disqualify the applicant from County employment).
Probationary Period
As an Approved Local Merit System, all County of Riverside employees, except those serving "At Will," are subject to the probationary period provisions as specified in the applicable Memorandum of Understanding, County Resolution, or Salary Ordinance. Temporary and Per Diem employees serve at the pleasure of the agency/department head.
What's Next?
Open to All Applicants
This recruitment is open to all applicants.Applicants who are current County of Riverside employees and/or current employees of Riverside University Health System may be considered before other applicants depending on the volume of applications received.
Application Period
BASED ON THE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS RECEIVED, THIS POSTING MAY CLOSE WITHOUT NOTICE.
Applications received prior to the closing date will be considered based on the information submitted. Changes or alterations cannot be accepted. All applicants must submit a complete application by the closing date of this recruitment. No late applications will be permitted.
Include relevant work experience details on your resume and/or application.
Applicants who fail to provide information demonstrating they possess the position requirements may not be considered further in the application process. A description of job duties directly copied from the job classification or job posting will not be considered.
Upload a copy of any license(s), official/unofficial transcript(s), degrees, and/or related employment documents to your NeoGov account. If your education was completed outside of the United States, you will need to provide a copy of your Foreign Education Equivalency evaluation from a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services ( NACES ) or Association of International Credential Evaluators, Inc. ( AICE ).
For questions regarding this recruitment contact the recruiter,Angela Levinson:
alevinson@rivco.org / 951-955-5562
GENERAL APPLICATION INFORMATION:
Please read and follow any special application instructions on this posting. Click the 'Apply' link located on this page to submit your application. For instructions on the application process, examinations, Veteran's preference, pre-employment accommodation or other employment questions, please refer to our web site, www.rc-hr.com . A pre-employment physical examination and background check may be required.
MEDICAL/DENTAL/VISION INSURANCE: A choice of different medical, dental and visions plan are available to elect. The County provides a Flexible Benefit Credit contribution as governed by the applicable SEIU Memorandum of Understanding to contribute towards the cost of these plans.
Note: Employees on assignment through the Temporary Assignment Program (TAP) receive different benefits. See the list here .
MISCELLANEOUS RETIREMENT: County of Riverside has three retirement Tiers through the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS).
- Tier I (Classic Member - Formula 3% @ 60): Applicable to current and former County of Riverside local miscellaneous employees hired prior to 08/24/2012 and did not withdraw CalPERS contributions. The employee contribution is eight (8%) percent.
- Tier II (Classic Member - Formula 2% @ 60): Applicable to local miscellaneous employees 1) hired after 08/23/2012 through 12/31/2012; 2) Previously employed with another CalPERS contracting public agency or a reciprocal retirement system, with a break in service of less than six months between the separation date with the previous employer and the appointment date with the County of Riverside. The employee contribution is seven (7%) percent.
- Tier III (PEPRA New Member - Formula 2% @ 62): Applicable to CalPERS local miscellaneous new members hired on or after the implementation of the Public Employees' Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA) which took effect January 1, 2013. As of July 1, 2020, the employee contribution is 7.25% and subject to change annually.
A new member is defined as any of the following:
CalPERS refers to all members that do not fit within the definition of a new member as "classic members".
Contribution rates are subject to change based on the County of Riverside annual actuarial valuation.
Note:
This summary is for general information purposes only. Additional questions regarding retirement formulas can be sent to retirement@rivco.org or by calling the Benefits Information Line at (951) 955-4981,
Option 2.
If you have prior service credit with another CalPERS agency or within agencies, please contact CalPERS at (888) 225-7377 to determine which retirement tier would be applicable to you. CalPERS is governed by the Public Employees' Retirement Law. The Retirement Law is complex and subject to change. If there's any conflict between this summary and the law, the law will prevail over this summary.
DEFERRED COMPENSATION: Voluntary employee contribution with a choice between two 457 deferred compensation plan options.
VACATION ACCRUAL (Bi-Weekly Accrual):
0< 3 year = 80 Hours (10 Days)
4< 9 years = 120 Hours (15 Days)
10 or more years = 160 Hours (20 Days)
Maximum Vacation leave accumulation is 480 hours.
SICK LEAVE: Four (4) hours Sick Leave accrual per pay period with unlimited accrual.
HOLIDAYS: Normally 12 paid holidays per year.
BEREAVEMENT LEAVE: Allowed 5 days (3 days are County paid; 2 additional days can be taken from accrued Sick Leave balance).
BASIC LIFE INSURANCE: Equal to one times annual base salary not to exceed $50,000 of term life coverage. Premiums are paid by the County. Additional Supplemental Life plan is available for employee purchase.
DISABILITY: Short-term Disability benefit pays up to a maximum of $461.54 weekly, payable up to a maximum of 52 weeks.
POST RETIREMENT MEDICAL CONTRIBUTION: A monthly contribution is made by the County towards retiree health insurance offered through the County as governed by the applicable SEIU Memorandum of Understanding.
OTHER: There may be other benefit provisions as specified in the applicable Memorandum of Understanding. Please contact the recruiter listed on the job posting directly for more information.
