SENIOR DATA SCIENTIST/EMERGENCY APPOINTMENTS HOMELESSNESS

Careers In Government, Inc.; Los Angeles (CA); Hybride; USD 120 000 - 180 000; Plein temps

Résumé du poste

Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health seeks an emergency Senior Data Scientist to lead complex data science initiatives addressing homelessness and related public health concerns. The role involves early-period deployment with potential for permanent appointment based on performance assessments.

Under emergency order, initial appointments may be up to 90 days, with a performance-based path to permanent County employment.

Qualifications

• Two (2) years of experience carrying out complex data science projects with independently developing and applying methods to identify, collect, process, structure, and analyze data.

Responsabilités

• Collaborates with stakeholders to manage complex data science projects from conception through implementation.
• Provides technical oversight to small teams of Data Scientists and Predictive Analysts.
• Leads discovery to document business requirements and frame problems for data science solutions.
• Develops and places advanced analytic products into production and communicates results to diverse audiences.

Connaissances

Data science project leadership

Statistical inference

Stakeholder collaboration

Analytic product development

Programming in statistical languages

Formation

Bachelor's degree in Data Science or related field

Master's/Doctoral degree may substitute for up to 2 years

Description du poste

Job Description

Position/Program Information

TYPE OF RECRUITMENT: OPEN COMPETITIVE- EMERGENCY

EXAM NUMBER: b1764A-EA

FILING START DATE: 7/24/2025 at 9:00 a.m. (PT)

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

This announcement is a re-post to reopen the filing period

The LA County Board of Supervisors recently declared a local state of emergency for homelessness, and the County is working to revise and expand our response to help all who are affected. We are looking for qualified and passionate individuals to help us in the mission of addressing issues like housing, mental health, and substance use. If you are looking for a new career that will directly benefit the population of LA County, this may be the opportunity for you.

The Department of Mental Health is seeking qualified candidates to fill emergency Senior Data Scientist vacancies related to the homelessness crisis.

Under the emergency order, applicants who meet the requirements may be hired for an initial period of up to 90 days, with an opportunity for permanent County employment.

Before the end of your initial work period, you will be assessed on your work performance. This assessment will be weighted 100%.

Those who successfully pass the assessment will be considered for permanent appointment to Senior Data Scientist.

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

Training and Experience

• 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*** 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. Two (2) years of this experience must have been in a lead capacity***.
• For Option II only, 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 the general experience.
• Applicants must meet the above requirement(s) at the time of filing in order to be appointed to fill any vacancies related to this recruitment.

License

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

Physical Class

Physical Class II - Light: This class includes administrative and clerical positions requiring light physical effort that may include occasional light lifting to a 10 pound limit and some bending, stooping, or squatting. Considerable ambulation may be involved.

Special Requirements Information

*Experience at the level of Data Scientist is defined as 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 County, departmental, and divisional decision makers to support data-driven program design and management.

Accreditation Information

**ACCREDITATION: Accredited institutions are those listed in the publications of regional, national or international accrediting agencies which are accepted by the Department of Human Resources. Publications such as American Universities and Colleges and International Handbook of Universities are acceptable references.

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. (AICE). (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.

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 [e-mail] within seven (7) calendar days from application submission or your application may be rejected.

In order to receive credit for Bachelor's or higher 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 [e-mail] within seven (7) calendar days from application submission or your application may be rejected.

***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. A lead person is a Senior member of the Data Science team that provides technical assistance to other team members but does not supervise.

Additional Information

EXAMINATION CONTENT: Under the emergency order, applicants who meet the requirements may be hired for an initial period of up to 90 days, with an opportunity for permanent County employment.

Before the end of your initial work period, you will be assessed on your work performance. This assessment will be weighted 100%. Those who successfully pass the assessment will be considered for permanent appointment.

Important Notes

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 the Class Specification, Minimum Requirements, and/or Special Requirement Information serving as your description of duties WILL NOT be sufficient to demonstrate that you meet the requirements. In doing so, your application will be REJECTED as INCOMPLETE.

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

Computer and Internet Access at 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.

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.