• Use statistical software packages (primarily R) to analyze and summarize data releases from the U.S. Census Bureau (particularly the American Community Survey).
• Supply Council staff, local governments, and the public with data from the U.S. Census Bureau and guidance for using it appropriately.
• Create annual household and population estimates for cities/townships as well as other geographies using an established methodology.
• Collaborate with local governments to refine annual estimates.
• Deliver informational presentations to Council Members and staff.
• Assist with collection of data on demographics and residential development.
• Serve as the project manager or lead.
• Determine research methodology to be used in assigned projects, including identifying required resources and the most feasible and cost-effective methods to gather data.
• Apply advanced statistical methods (e.g., regression, cluster analysis, Bayesian methods, and machine learning methods) in support of advancing actionable and relevant insights on broad issues of regional concern, such as affordable housing, racial disparities, climate change, and sustainable growth.
• Collect or organize primary and secondary data. Plan, develop, and maintain database systems in partnership with Information Services, ensuring data quality.
• Analyze, examine, and display spatial information in static and interactive maps.
• Perform geocoding, spatial data manipulation, and spatial data analysis.
• Collaborate with planners, researchers, community members, and policymakers to define quantitative and qualitative indicators and measures that assess progress toward regional plan outcomes.
• Develop public-facing reports and web-based, interactive data visualization, analysis, and dissemination tools in partnership with Information Services, Communications, Research staff, and others.
• Respond to requests for data and information, including requests from the media, other Council staff, or local partners, by summarizing data in a clear, coherent manner Responses provide sufficient detail to respond to the inquiry and generally include a mix of data tables, visualizations, and brief, accompanying narratives that describe relevant trends or highlight key points.
• Perform socioeconomic/demographic modeling and forecasting work.

Senior Data Scientist
Any of the following combinations in completed education (degree field of study in the social sciences - demography, economics, geography, sociology, or related field; public policy; urban/regional planning; data science; applied data analytics; or other related quantitative field) and work experience (in demographic and socioeconomic research that includes creating, summarizing, and analyzing data; and advanced data analysis and statistics, including development and deployment of regression, machine learning models, econometric modeling, and the manipulation of datasets, one year of which is leading research projects):

• Associate degree with six years of experience
• Bachelor's degree with four years of experience
• Master's degree with two years of experience

• Associate degree with seven years of experience
• Bachelor's degree with five years of experience
• Master's degree with three years of experience

• Experience manipulating and analyzing major sources of demographic and socioeconomic data (decennial census, American Community Survey, migration data, etc.)
• Experience with both summary data (information on geographic areas) and microdata (information on individual households and people)
• Experience with methods for creating population estimates
• Experience with statistical software packages/languages (for example, R, Stata, SAS)
• Experience disaggregating data to highlight variation across different demographic and socioeconomic groups
• Racial and social equity experience and/or training along with demonstrated capacity to participate in conversations about race and equity, and integrate equity initiatives into work products and processes
• Experience communicating complex technical subjects to non-technical audiences
• Experience writing SQL and extracting information from relational databases
• Experience working with socioeconomic or land use forecast models
• Experience with spatial data manipulation and analysis (for example, with geographic information systems software or R/Python)

• Thorough understanding of the Council's population estimates model.
• Advanced knowledge of decennial census and American Community Survey data, including both summary data and microdata.
• Statistical analysis techniques (e.g., generalized linear models, multilevel or mixed model analysis, econometric models, time-series modeling, etc.).
• Academic/industry research methods.
• Database systems (primarily relational).
• Machine learning models (e.g., Random Forests, Support Vector Machines, Neural Networks), web-based, interactive visualization and modeling tool development.
• Thoughtfully organizing and documenting processes for developing data products.

• Project management (organization, administration, and completion of projects).
• Intermediate level applied mathematics and statistics.
• Intermediate level in a statistical analysis software package (R, Python, SAS, etc.).
• Intermediate level data visualization (e.g., 'ggplot2' package in R, Shiny, D3 in JavaScript, Tableau).
• Intermediate level SQL.
• Data mining with structured, unstructured, and semi-structured data.
• Using data creatively - for example, finding new applications for existing data; combining multiple data sources to generate more comprehensive information; or devising inventive ways to generate new data.

• Use GitHub to collaborate with others.
• Read and understand complex academic and technical papers.
• Write summary reports, technical papers, and literature reviews.
• Utilize statistical analysis to analyze data, identify trends, and determine the root causes of trends.
• Guide and lead full analytics project management life cycle ranging from analysis design to datasets publishing and data visualization.
• Communicate, deploy, and train users on analytic solutions.
• Lead, guide, and mentor Data Scientists, Associate Data Scientists, and Interns.
• Participate in conversations about race and equity and identify opportunities to integrate equity initiatives into work.
• Work with stakeholders to arrive at common understandings of problems and mutually agreeable solutions.

Senior Data Scientist
Union/Grade: AFSCME / Grade H
Full Salary Range: $78,000 - $117,728
FLSA Status: Exempt
Safety Sensitive: No

Principal Data Scientist
Union/Grade: AFSCME / Grade I
Full Salary Range: $84,365 - $127,296
FLSA Status: Exempt
Safety Sensitive: No

What your work environment would be:
You would perform your work in a standard office setting. Work may sometimes require travel between your primary work site and other sites.

What steps the recruitment process involves:

1. We review your minimum qualifications.
2. We rate your education and experience.
3. We conduct a structured panel interview.
4. We conduct a selection interview.