SENIOR DATA SCIENTIST

Position/Program Information

EXAM NUMBER:

PH1764B

TYPE OF RECRUITMENT:
OPEN COMPETITIVE JOB OPPORTUNITY

FILING DATE:
Thursday, April 4, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. , Pacific Time (PT)

This examination will remain open until the needs of the service are met and is subject to closure without prior notice.

DEFINITION:

Under general supervision, leads the development and application of methods to identify, collect, process, organize, and analyze structured and unstructured data using advanced statistical prediction, inference, and optimization; effectively communicates results to County, departmental, and divisional decision makers and provides ongoing support to strengthen data-driven program design and management.

CLASSIFICATION STANDARDS:

Positions allocable to this class typically report to a Data Scientist Supervisor or a higher-level position responsible for the data analytics, research, or statistical function of a department, and serve as data science project leads and subject matter experts assigned to large and complex data science projects. Incumbents utilize advanced expertise in data science, including standard software tools and programming languages, advanced statistical design and modeling, predictive and prescriptive analytics, and visualization; and are conversant in the principles of data engineering and architecture, contributing to the design of systems to be used by their teams. Senior Data Scientists work collaboratively with both technical and nontechnical partners to develop and complete large-scale projects in response to identified business needs and oversee teams of data scientists and analysts as part of a large-scale project. Incumbents coordinate and contribute to complex projects that require using advanced methods of data science such as cloud-based data design; data extraction, transformation, and loading; statistical analysis and machine learning; data visualization; and placement of predictive models, automated dashboards, and other data science products into production. Incumbents present their findings to technical and nontechnical stakeholders to support data-driven program design and management; and provide and/or delegate ongoing consultation services to client programs to assist with implementing recommendations as necessary.

Senior Data Scientist is distinguished from Data Scientist in that Senior Data Scientists apply advanced methods of data science to identify new and emerging business problems within their assigned departments and may lead project teams of Data Scientists and other analyst staff.

Positions in this class differ from those that plan, design, conduct and evaluate research projects involving complex experimental designs and data analysis, programming and processing of data, and preparing reports and recommendations based on research findings, in that these classes do not employ machine learning or big data as part of their analyses.

Essential Job Functions

• Collaborates with division, departmental, and countywide stakeholders to solicit, define, and manage highly complex data science projects from conception through implementation; ensures that projects result in actionable insights and recommendations that can be used to support business decisions and allocate resources; and provides ongoing consultation during program implementation of recommendations as necessary to ensure program fidelity.
  
• Provides technical oversight to small teams of Data Scientists and Predictive Data Analysts as necessary to ensure project success.
• Leads the discovery process with departmental stakeholders to document business requirements and frame business problems so that appropriate corresponding data science techniques and products can be identified and deployed.
• Collaborates with other department subject matter experts to understand, identify, and select available and relevant sources of data for use cases, including internal, external, structured, and unstructured data sources; and provides guidance to other department data experts in the selection and transformation of such sources.
• In conjunction with the Information Technology organization, supports collection, integration, and retention requirements for large sets of structured and unstructured data from disparate sources; acts as a resource for senior data engineers and architects in the selection and design of systems for use by the data science team.
• Reviews proposals by Data Scientists and analysts regarding selection and improvement of data science tools and ensures that the team’s tools and systems are well documented.
• Conducts and coordinates statistical inference of data and conveys findings and conclusions 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.
• Works with program staff to understand the implications of analyses and to ensure that findings are actionable and support data-driven program, policy, and operational decision-making.
• Assists in implementing recommended business process changes in ways retain fidelity to best practices identified through the analysis and recognize the operational realities underlying existing business processes; provides ongoing consultation as recommended changes and new programs grow and evolve, including recommending modifications to adopted goals and metrics.
• Coordinates with various functional teams to develop and implement products, services, tools, or business process changes resulting from the analysis.
• Creates and validates advanced analytic products (e.g., Recommender Engines, Auto Classification algorithms, Predictive Scoring, geo-spatial clustering, NLP classifier, etc.) and places them in production; works with nontechnical program managers and staff to understand analytic products and to integrate them into departmental programs.
• Recommends ongoing improvements to methods and algorithms that lead to findings, including new information.
• Creates and monitors performance of automated-detection systems and provides business metrics for overall project to show improvements initially and over multiple iterations. Provides ongoing tracking and monitoring of performance of decision systems and statistical models and troubleshoots and implements enhancements and fixes to systems as needed.
• Develops and maintains a high level of expertise in statistical programming languages and packages and other software tools; provides training and support to Data Scientists and Predictive Data Analysts as necessary; and ensures the quality of code and programming logic generated by the data science team.

Requirements

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

Option I: Two (2) years of experience carrying out complex data science projects* that included independently developing and applying methods to identify, collect, process, structure, and analyze data using statistical prediction, inference, and optimization to support data-driven program design and management, at a level equivalent to the Los Angeles County class of Data Scientist.**

Option II: A Bachelor’s degree*** from an accredited college or university in a field of applied research such as Data Science, Machine Learning, Mathematics, Statistics, Business Analytics, Psychology, or Public Health that included 12 semester or 18 quarter units of coursework*** in data science, predictive analytics, quantitative research methods, or statistical analysis
-AND-
Six (6) years of experience, including two (2) years in a lead capacity****, applying and overseeing the application of machine learning, predictive analytics, data management, and hypothesis-driven data analysis to make actionable recommendations to support program, policy, and operational decision-making.

A Master’s or Doctoral degree***** from an accredited college or university in a field of applied research such as Data Science, Machine Learning, Mathematics, Statistics, Business Analytics, Psychology, or Public Health may substitute for up to two (2) years of experience.

LICENSE:

A valid California Class C Driver License or the ability to utilize alternative method of transportation when needed to carry out job-related essential functions

PHYSICAL CLASS:
2 - Light : Light physical effort which may include occasional light lifting to a 10-pound limit, and some bending, stooping or squatting. Considerable walking may be involved.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS INFORMATION:

*Complex data science projects include artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), or sophisticated algorithms.

**Experience at the level of Data Scientist is defined as one who deploys techniques such as 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 leadership to support data-driven program design, management, and decision-making.

***Official transcripts MUST be submitted to verify the required coursework from the accredited institution, which shows the date the Bachelor's degree was awarded, with Registrar's signature and school seal, to the application at the time of filing, or e-mail to hrexams@ph.lacounty.gov within fifteen (15) calendar days from application submission or your application may be rejected.

Foreign degrees must be evaluated for equivalency to United States accredited institutions standards by an academic credential evaluation agency recognized by The National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) or The Association of International Credential Evaluators, Inc . (A ICE ). (see Employment Information under Accreditation Information)Official Transcripts is defined as a transcript that bears the college seal and states "official and/or copy" issued by the school's registrar office. A printout of the courses from the school's website is NOT considered official transcripts and will not be accepted and may result in your application being incomplete and rejected All documents must be attached to your application at the time of filing or e-mailed to HRExams@ph.lacounty.gov within fifteen (15) calendar days from application submission or your application may be rejected as incomplete.

****Lead capacity is defined as act as team or group leader to at least two (2) or more journey or lower-level employees with responsibility for assigning, coordinating, and reviewing the work, ensuring proper work methods are followed, and providing technical assistance and training.

***** In order to receive credit for the Master’s or Doctoral degree , you must attach a legible copy of the Official Diploma, Official Transcripts, or Official Letter from the accredited institution, which shows the date the degree was awarded, with Registrar's signature and school seal, to the application at the time of filing, or e-mail to hrexams@ph.lacounty.gov within fifteen (15) calendar days from application submission or your application may be rejected.

County employees who wish to meet the requirements using out-ofclass experience will be considered for this examination. Those claiming out-of-class experience should describe their out-of-class duties in detail in the Work Experience and Supplemental Questions sections of their application.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS:

Option I: Credit will be awarded for additional experience beyond the Minimum Requirements at a level equivalent to the Los Angeles County class of Data Scientist.

Option II: Credit will be awarded for additional lead capacity experience beyond the Minimum Requirements, applying and overseeing the application of machine learning, predictive analytics, data management, and hypothesis-driven data analysis to make actionable recommendations to support program, policy, and operational decision-making.

Additional Information

Examination Content:

Once we have determined that you meet one of our requirement options the examination process will consist of an evaluation of experience based on application information, desirable qualifications, and supplemental questionnaire information submitted at the time of filing weighted 100%.

Applicants must meet the Minimum Requirements and achieve a passing score of 70% or higher on the examination (evaluation of experience) to be added to the Eligible Register (hiring list).

Passing this examination and being added to the Eligible Register does not guarantee an offer of employment.

Eligibility Information: The names of candidates receiving a passing score in the examination will be added to the Eligible Register in the order of their score group for a period of twelve (12) months following the date of eligibility.

NO PERSON MAY COMPETE IN THIS EXAMINATION MORE THAN ONCE EVERY TWELVE (12) MONTHS.

Complete applications will be processed on an as received basis and promulgated to the Eligible Register accordingly.

Vacancy Information: The Eligible Register resulting from this examination will be used to fill vacancies in the Department of Public Health as they occur.

Available Shift: Any shift, including evenings, nights, weekends and holidays.

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Application and Filing Information

HOW TO APPLY:
Applications must be filed ONLINE ONLY. Applications submitted by U.S. mail, fax, or in person will NOT be accepted. Any required documents and/or additional information, if any, must be received with your application at the time of filing online or sent to HRExams@ph.lacounty.gov within fifteen (15) calendar days from application submission.
Apply online by clicking on the green "Apply" button located on this posting. You can also track the status of your application using this website.

Plan to submit your online application well in advance of 5:00 p.m., PT, on the last day of filing as you may be required to verify your email address. This only needs to be done once per email address, and if you already have a job seeker account on the County of Los Angeles Job Opportunities Website , you can verify at any time by logging in and following the prompts. This is to enhance the security of your online application and to ensure you do not enter an incorrect email address.

The acceptance of your application depends on whether you have clearly shown that you meet the MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS. Fill out the application and Supplemental Questionnaire accurately and completely to receive full credit for any relevant education and/or job experience you include. In the space provided on the application for education, include names and addresses of schools attended, dates attended, degree(s) received, and degree major. For each job held, give the name and address of your employer, your job/position title, start and end dates, the number of hours worked per week, and detailed description of work and duties performed. If the application and/or Supplemental Questionnaire is/are incomplete, the application will be REJECTED .
Important Notes:

• Please note that ALL information supplied by applicants and included in the application materials is subject to VERIFICATION at any point during the examination and hiring process, including after an appointment has been made.
• Applications may be rejected at any stage of the examination and selection process.
• FALSIFICATION of any information may result in DISQUALIFICATION or RESCISSION OF APPOINTMENT.
• Utilizing VERBIAGE from Class Specification(s) and/or Requirements serving as your description of duties WILL NOT be sufficient to demonstrate that you meet the requirements. In doing so your application will be dispositioned as INCOMPLETE and will not be accepted.
• Comments such as "SEE RESUME" or "SEE APPLICATION" will not be considered a valid response; therefore, using such statements will also result in your application being rejected as INCOMPLETE.

Computer and Internet Access at Public Libraries:
For candidates who may not have regular access to a computer or the internet, applications can be completed on computers at public libraries throughout Los Angeles County. You may refer to their website for more information regarding the reopening of some libraries with limited hours throughout Los Angles County.

Social Security Number:
Please include your Social Security Number for record control purposes. Federal law requires that all employed persons have a Social Security Number.

Do Not Share User ID, Email, And Password:
All applicants must file their application online using their OWN user ID and password. Using a family member or friend's user ID and password may erase a candidate's original application record.

ANTI-RACISM, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION (ARDI):
The County of Los Angeles recognizes and affirms that all people are created equal and are entitled to all rights afforded by the Constitution of the United States. The Department of Human Resources is committed to promoting Anti-racism, Diversity, and Inclusion efforts to address the in equalities and disparities amongst race. We support the ARDI Strategic Plan and its goals by improving equality, diversity, and inclusion in recruitment, selection, and employment practices.

Fair Chance Employer:
The County of Los Angeles is a Fair Chance employer. Except for a very limited number of positions, you will not be asked to provide information about a conviction history unless you receive a contingent offer of employment. The County will make an individualized assessment of whether your conviction history has a direct or adverse relationship with the specific duties of the job, and consider potential mitigating factors, including, but not limited to, evidence and extent of rehabilitation, recency of the offense(s), and age at the time of the offense(s). If asked to provide information about a conviction history, any convictions or court records which are exempted by a valid court order do not have to be disclosed.

Equal Employment Opportunity:
It is the policy of the County of Los Angeles to provide equal employment opportunity for all qualified persons, regardless of race, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, or disability or any other characteristic protected by State or Federal law. All positions are open to qualified men and women pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. The County will follow all of its obligations under State and Federal laws regarding the provision of reasonable accommodations to applicants.

Department Contact Name: Exam Analyst
Department Contact Phone: (323) 659-6546
Department Contact Email: HRExams@ph.lacounty.gov

California Relay Services Phone: (800) 735-2922
Teletype Phone: (800) 899-4099
Alternate Teletype Phone: (800) 897-0077

For detailed information, please click here

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• Los Angeles County

• (800) 970-5478

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