Research Scientist 4 (Health Services Research)

Duties Description

OPWDD's Division of State Operations (DSO) is responsible for overseeing the delivery of state operated supports and services to over 8,000 recipients across New York State. This Research Scientist 4 position sits within the Bureau of Business Analytics and Research, which is responsible for overseeing all division activities involving operational research, program evaluation, data reporting, and analytics. This includes the development and maintenance of in-house applications and coordination with vendors regarding external software solutions.

The Bureau of Business Analytics and Research as currently structured is organized into three business level units: (1) Enterprise Software Solutions, (2) Application Development, and (3) Data, Statistics and Operational Research. The selected candidate will be assigned to the third the Data, Statistics and Operational Research Unit, which is responsible for producing and maintaining all DSO reporting tools, including both static and dynamic reports (i.e., Tableau dashboards), and fulfilling ad-hoc data requests. The unit identifies trends, patterns, and potential issues to inform DSO policy and practice and ultimately improve service provision, conducting original research studies and disseminating the results though publications and conference presentations used to inform further research and practice within the field. This work involves analyzing and interpreting data from a variety of sources to provide actionable insights.

Under the direction of senior research staff, the Research Scientist 4 will conduct program and policy-relevant research designed to support and inform the division's work. The Research Scientist 4 will lead the unit's efforts in designing, programing, and executing regular data reports and Tableau-based dashboards to aid the division in monitoring compliance and quality of service outcomes across its network of 6 Developmental Disabilities State Operations Offices (DDSOOs) and 13 district offices. Primary responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

• Translating business questions into testable research hypotheses.
• Design, development, and implementation of program evaluations and other research designs.
• Designing and conducting research studies and program evaluations in collaboration with senior researcher staff.
• Identifying data limitations and needs.
• Creation of data collection tools and survey instruments.
• Development of data collection protocols.
• Data cleaning and analysis tasks, including extracting, merging, managing, and analyzing data from large scale administrative databases, such as DSO's Electronic Health Record (EHR).
• Automating production of regular data reports and dashboards, utilizing SAS/SPSS and Tableau.
• Collaboration with ITS and OPWDD Division of Administration staff.
• Utilizing research findings to formulate actionable program and policy recommendations.
• Disseminating research findings through written reports and data presentations, ensuring understanding of content through the inclusion of data highlights, figures, graphs, and other visual aids.
• Supervision of mid-level staff, including a new Research Scientist 3 who will act as the unit's EHR subject matter expert and take on most EHR-related dashboards and reports.
  
  

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nys-office-for-people-with-developmental-disabilities/posts/?feedView=all

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor's degree and five years of professional research experience in the area(s) of public health, psychology, social welfare, sociology, computer science, statistics, or another related field.

Substitutions

Master's degree in an appropriate field may substitute for one year of experience

Ph. D. in an appropriate field may substitute for an additional year of experience.

Preferred Qualifications

Strong statistical and data management skills. Demonstrated experience in data analysis, management, and validation. Strong SAS, SQL, and large administrative database management skills. Knowledge of statistical methods and their application for research studies and program evaluations. Experience developing and applying algorithms to link data across multiple sources. Experience with data visualization software, ideally Tableau. Strong ability to learn new databases with limited documentation. Excellent communication, organization, and project management skills. Ability to work independently and in a fast-paced team environment. Capacity to guide and develop lower-level staff.

Additional Comments

• The Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) and its Division of State Operations is committed to creating and sustaining a culture of inclusion. We believe that we are most effective in managing and improving our service system with a diverse team of employees. With such a large workforce, we rely on the collective individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, self-expression, ideas and talent that our employees bring to their work. This speaks to our culture, and is a key part of our successes. As we continuously recruit people for our
  
  

team, we welcome the unique contributions that applicants bring in terms of their education, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression,

nation of origin, age, languages spoken, veteran’s status, color, religion, disability, sexual orientation and beliefs.

• Preference will be given to OPWDD employees impacted by closures. If you are being impacted by closure, please indicate this on your resume/cover letter.
• In order to be eligible for appointment and to maintain employment, you cannot be listed as an excluded individual or entity on any of the Federal and/or State
  
  

Medicaid and Medicare exclusion lists (or excluded from any other Federal or Federally assisted program). If you are appointed and subsequently listed as an

excluded individual or entity on any of these lists (or excluded from any other Federal or Federally assisted program), you may be terminated from your

employment.

• OPWDD is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
• If an employee or job applicant believes that they need a reasonable accommodation, they should contact the Reasonable Accommodation Unit at (518)
  
  

486-7222 or email accommodationrequests@opwdd.ny.gov to obtain information and RA forms.