Rural Healthcare Scientist (Research Scientist Staff)

Job Description and Duties Under general direction of the Research Scientist Supervisor II, the Research Scientist (RS) Staff plans, organizes, and conducts highly complex rural health-related studies of broad scope. These studies are focused on healthcare access, utilization, quality, cost and equity in rural areas. This involves using statistical methods, established guidelines and technical scientific procedures, and developing standards and procedures where no sufficient procedure exists. The RS Staff is a member of the Healthcare Analytics Branch (HAB) team and serves as a team member on public health and healthcare projects for the Workforce and Utilization Analysis Team (WUAT) within the Analytics and Data Section (ADS). The RS Staff also works closely with members of the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Office, State Office of Rural Health (SORH), Office of Health Workforce Development (OHWD) and external entities under contract with HCAI. In the HCAI work environment, staff may handle confidential patient data. Specific statutes, regulations, and HCAI policies and procedures govern the collection, storage, disclosure, and use of confidential data. The employee is responsible for the safe and secure handling of this data in compliance with these policies and procedures. Effective July 1, 2025, specific Bargaining Units and associated Excluded State employees are subject to a salary reduction between 2% - 4.62% in exchange for Personal Leave Program 2025 (PLP 2025) hours each month. For more details about PLP 2025, visit the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR), visit the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) website. Take a 2-minute survey to tell us why you applied for HCAI! - https://forms.office.com/g/B6eXh2NKpZ You will find additional information about the job in the Duty Statement. Special Requirements Possession of Minimum Qualifications will be verified prior to interview and/or appointment. If you are meeting Minimum Qualifications with education, you must include a copy of your unofficial transcripts and/or license for verification. Official sealed transcripts will be required upon appointment. If it is determined an application does not meet the Minimum Qualifications, the applicant will be withheld from the eligibility list, rendering them inactive and ineligible to be hired for the position. Applicants who have been withheld may file an appeal with the State Personnel Board. 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: • At least 2 years data analysis experience in any programming language • At least 2 years experience writing about health care data or policy (e.g., peer-reviewed or government publications, grant applications, technical documents) • At least 2 years experience conducting rigorous analytic research into rural health care delivery systems • At least 2 years experience analyzing ICD-10 coded data and/or healthcare claims data • At least 2 years experience creating visualizations using Tableau, Power BI, R, ArcGIS, etc. • At least 2 years experience with geographic data analysis, using ArcGIS or another software • At least 1 year experience applying data de-identification policies or other practices to protect individual privacy in data analysis • At least 2 years experience developing measure specifications or investigating the comparative impact of competing measure specifications • At least 2 years experience communicating complex analytic findings to program leadership or executives, including both oral and written communications