Job Description

Job Description and Duties

Please review the Classification Specifications, Duty Statement, and Desirable Qualifications to ensure your application package is complete and you have met all the minimum requirements for this position.

Incumbents in one of these classifications, where a Master’s Degree is required to meet the minimum qualifications, shall receive an educational pay differential equivalent to 2% of their monthly base pay. Those where a Doctoral Degree is required to meet the minimum qualifications, shall receive an educational pay differential equivalent to 3% of their monthly base pay. Individuals who possess both degrees will receive the higher of the two amounts (3%), not a combination to the two figures.

The incumbent works under the general direction of the Chief, Data and Integrity Branch, Research Scientist Supervisor II (RSS II). The Research Scientist II (RS II) conducts data analysis and scientific research studies of moderate scientific scope and complexity to investigate, detect, and mitigate fraudulent activity against the WIC program to develop and monitor participant-based high-risk indicators, and apply behavioral modeling and data analytics to protect the fiscal health of WIC. The RS II theorizes and tests various hypotheses to identify suspect WIC participant and staff activity within the WIC program; ensures the WIC certification process conforms to federal guidelines and evaluates fiscal, program, and health outcomes. The RS II develops data tables, figures, written summaries, reports, presentations, and articles for internal and external stakeholders, and may provide expert testimony at administrative hearings.

This position may be eligible for telework. The amount of telework permitted is at the discretion of the Department and is subject to change, consistent with CDPH’s Telework Program. All employees who telework are required to be California residents in accordance with Government Code 14200. Candidates who reside outside of the state of California may be interviewed; however, the selected candidate must have a primary residency in the state of California prior to appointment (and continue to maintain California residency) as a condition of employment. Failure to meet this requirement may result in the job offer being rescinded.

Travel may be required for this position. Reimbursement for travel takes into consideration an employee’s designated headquarters, as reflected in the duty statement, and is subject to regulations and bargaining unit contract provisions. All commute expenses to the designated headquarters office will be the responsibility of the selected candidate.

The headquarters office location for this position is identified in the attached duty statement.

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You will find additional information about the job in the .

Special Requirements

In order to be considered for this position, you must submit a copy of your college transcripts official or un-official and/or Degree for education verification.

For experience/education to qualify during the application screening process, and to ensure that minimum qualifications can be determined, applicants should include all employment history on the Employment Application (STD 678) and/or Resume, including detailed job descriptions,  hours worked per week , and  start/end dates (MM/DD/YYYY) .  Application packages without this information will experience delayed processing times and your eligibility for this position may be impacted.

A completed State application (STD. 678) and any other relevant documents (e.g., unofficial transcript, copy of degree, resume, etc.) should be submitted electronically via your CalCareers Account. Please reference  Job Control # 485174  and indicate the basis of your eligibility in the Examination(s) or Job Title(s) section. SROA and surplus candidates should submit a copy of their letter with their application. Please remove any confidential information (i.e., social security number, date of birth) from your documents prior to submission.

Complete Application Packages (including your Examination/Employment Application (STD 678) and applicable or required documents) must be submitted to apply for this Job Posting. Application Packages may be submitted electronically through your CalCareers Account at Submitting an electronic application through your CalCareers account is strongly recommended since electronic applications will be received/processed faster than other methods of filing. Please submit only one application.

If you are unable to submit your application electronically through your CalCareers account, please email  apply@cdph.ca.gov for assistance and a CDPH Human Resources Division staff member will contact you to assist with the online application process or, a hard copy application package may be submitted through an alternative method as explained in the How to Apply section below. When submitting your application in hard copy, a completed copy of the Application Package listing must be included.

Desirable Qualifications

In addition to evaluating each candidate's relative ability, as demonstrated by quality and breadth of experience, the following factors will provide the basis for competitively evaluating each candidate:

1. Ability to work both independently and in a team environment

2. Ability to handle “sensitive and confidential issues”

3. At least two years conducting descriptive and inferential statistics using a software program such as SAS or R

4. Ability to communicate effectively with staff at various levels, external agencies, and the general public

5. Developing and updating Tableau data visualization reports

Experience In:

1. Analyzing and evaluating the impact and effectiveness of program policies

2. Collecting, analyzing, and interpreting various forms of data and querying large databases

3. Developing and monitoring performance and outcome measures

4. Communicating data to non-data colleagues

5. Social/behavioral quantitative and/or qualitative research methods

Knowledge Of:

1. Government assistance programs, especially state and federal policies, and regulations as it relates to the WIC program

2. Data-driven decision-making techniques

3. Structured Query Language (SQL) and relational databases

4. Using data to detect outliers and anomalies

Benefits

Benefit information can be found on the CalHR website and the CalPERS website.

Supplemental Questionnaire

The completed Supplemental Questionnaire is required to be submitted along with the Application. Applicants must provide a separate response to each question below. The completed Supplemental Questionnaire must be limited to one (1) page per question, must be typed, single-spaced in 12-point Arial font, and must include the applicant’s name in the top right corner of each page. Responses are to include the question and must be numbered in the same order as the questions below. Resumes, letters, and other documents will not be considered as responses to the Supplemental Questionnaire. Applications without a Supplemental Questionnaire or those that don’t follow the above instructions may not be considered.

1. Describe how your education, experience and knowledge qualify you to perform the tasks specified in the duty statement.

2. Using a specific example, describe your prior experience applying quantitative and/or qualitative research methods to develop and carry out a project. Describe the project’s objective, data (including the number of records in the analysis), statistical methods used (including software programs), results, and the resulting outcome or recommendation.

Required Application Package Documents

The following items are required to be submitted with your application. Applicants who do not submit the required items timely may not be considered for this job:

• Current version of the State Examination/Employment Application STD Form 678 (when not applying electronically), or the Electronic State Employment Application through your Applicant Account at All Experience and Education relating to the Minimum Qualifications listed on the Classification Specification should be included to demonstrate how you meet the Minimum Qualifications for the position.
• Resume is optional. It may be included, but is not required.
• Other -

  Please see Supplemental Questionnaire (SQ) instructions below at end of posting . Applications received without a written response to the SQ may be rejected.

Job Tags

Permanent employment, Full time, Contract work, Work at office, Local area, Remote work,

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