Research Scientist Staff

Job Description and Duties

Incumbents in one of these classifications who possess a Master’s Degree shall receive an educational pay differential equivalent to 2% of their monthly base pay. Those who possess a Doctoral Degree or Doctor of Medicine, and it is a required to meet the minimum qualifications, shall receive an educational pay differential equivalent to 3% of their monthly base pay. Individuals with both a Master’s and Doctoral Degree will be given the best benefit in relation to salary and shall only be eligible for only one amount.

This position supports the CDPH mission and strategic plan by playing a key role in advancing CDPH’s strategic goal of becoming a Learning, Healing, and Impactful organization by integrating data-driven insights into policy development, supporting cross-sector collaboration, and ensuring that public health initiatives are inclusive, evidence-based, and promote health equity .

The Research Scientist Staff (RSS) will work to ensure that OPP leads and collaborates on complex scientific and policy research projects that assess population health outcomes, identify disparities, and inform equitable public health strategies. Through participation in Let’s Get Healthy California, the RSS contributes in OPP’s efforts to promote transformative system changes and collective action to improve community health across California.

This position is headquartered in Downtown Sacramento and may be eligible for telework under CDPH's telework policy. Employees are required to report to their headquarters office, as needed. Travel expenses to and from the assigned headquarters are the responsibility of the employee.

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 Failure to meet this requirement may result in the job offer being rescinded.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 respons ibility of the selected candidate.

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

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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 # 527938 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 View email address on us.fitly.work 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. Applying research and program evaluation methods to public health and equity-focused initiatives.
2. Conducting assessment activities involving the research, analysis, and visualization of qualitative and quantitative data using social and behavioral science approaches.
3. Leading collaborative, cross-sector projects across multidisciplinary teams to address public health and equity issues.
4. Coordinating complex projects, including alignment, planning, and reporting across teams.
5. Developing clear, concise, and well-structured written materials, including reports, briefs, scientific summaries, and guidance documents that support decision making for stakeholders, leadership, and community partners.

Knowledge of:

1. Public health data standards and policy considerations, including disaggregation, deidentification, and community data ownership.
2. Data management and analysis, web-development, and planning tools such as R/R Studio, Python, Tableau, SAS, ArcGIS, Microsoft Access/VBA/Power BI, and Results-Based Accountability.

Benefits

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

Statement of Qualifications

Describe a scientific research study you planned, organized, and carried out. Include in your answer a description of the study, your role and/or phase of the project, any problems you solved, and what scientific techniques you used.

In your answer, please identify your degree(s), the job(s) in which you performed relevant duties, the length of time in each job, including start and end dates (month and year), and your level of responsibility.

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.
• Statement of Qualifications -

  Please see Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) instructions below at end of posting . Applications received without a written response to the SOQ may be rejected.