Data Scientist - 702209

About the position

The NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) protects and enhances the daily economic lives of New Yorkers to create thriving communities. DCWP licenses more than 45,000 businesses in more than 40 industries and enforces key consumer protection, licensing, and workplace laws that apply to countless more. By supporting businesses through equitable enforcement and access to resources and, by helping to resolve complaints, DCWP protects the marketplace from predatory practices and strives to create a culture of compliance. Through its community outreach and the work of its offices of Financial Empowerment and Labor Policy & Standards, DCWP empowers consumers and working families by providing the tools and resources they need to educate consumers and to achieve financial health and work-life balance. DCWP also conducts research and advocates for public policy that furthers its work to support New York City's communities. For more information about DCWP and its work, call 311 or visit DCWP at nyc.gov/dcwp or on its social media sites, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. The Office of Labor Policy & Standards ("OLPS") enforces the City's worker protection laws, including the Paid Safe and Sick Leave Law, Fair Workweek scheduling laws that protect fast food and retail workers, and Delivery Worker Laws that protect app-based restaurant delivery workers. In OLPS' large, citywide enforcement actions, teams of attorneys, data scientists, and investigators work together to obtain compensation owed to workers and improve employer compliance. More information about our office is available at nyc.gov/workers. OLPS is seeking a City Research Scientist / Data Scientist to play a key role in the enforcement of groundbreaking new legal protections for workers. The Data Scientist will work closely with the Office's Investigation and Litigation teams to develop and implement strategies for the discovery, collection, and analysis of employer data relating to compliance with city workplace laws. The Data Scientist will help collect and use this data to identify violations of NYC workplace laws, assess the validity of claims by employers and workers, calculate employee relief and civil penalties, and guide investigators in the collection of testimonial evidence and other documentation. The Data Scientist will also assist with the creation of systems to automate and standardize data collection and analysis, and play a critical role in ensuring working New Yorkers can access the protections they are entitled to under the law. Since its founding in 2016, OLPS has built a reputation as a leader in the use of data analytics within its field, and the successful applicant will be joining a growing team of data scientists to further develop this area of the Office's work.

Responsibilities

• Working with investigators and attorneys to identify the data necessary to evaluate employers' compliance with NYC workplace laws
• Communicating with employers' counsel and technical staff to ensure delivery of responsive data, along with information necessary for its interpretation
• Developing and using appropriate data analysis tools to describe employer practices, identify key witnesses, and calculate damages
• Assessing how OLPS uses data in its investigations and litigation and recommending and implementing improvements
• Recommending changes to laws, rules, and agency guidance to the extent they may relate to any of the functions described above
• Assisting with other aspects of OLPS's work, including analysis of labor market data and process design and automation

Requirements

• A master's degree from an accredited college or university with a specialization in an appropriate field of physical, biological or environmental science or in public health
• A doctorate degree from an accredited college or university with specialization in an appropriate field of physical, biological, environmental or social science and one year of full-time experience in a responsible supervisory, administrative or research capacity in the appropriate field of specialization; or
• A master's degree from an accredited college or university with specialization in an appropriate field of physical, biological, environmental or social science and three years of responsible full-time research experience in the appropriate field of specialization; or
• Education and/or experience which is equivalent to '1' or '2' above. However, all candidates must have at least a master's degree in an appropriate field of specialization and at least two years of experience described in '2' above.

Nice-to-haves

• Advanced use of programming, scripting, and statistical languages (e.g., Python, R, Stata) and relational databases (e.g., advanced SQL queries)
• Excellent analytic thinking skills, especially the ability to map between legal and regulatory concepts and corresponding data structures and processes
• Excellent strategic thinking skills, especially the ability to tailor analytic approaches to the needs of specific cases
• Comfort with sampling methodologies, extrapolation, and statistical inference
• High level of organization, including ability to ensure findings are reproducible and analytical choices are transparent and well-supported
• Experience handling multiple assignments with competing deadlines, where each requires a high degree of accuracy and attention to detail
• Excellent writing, reading comprehension, and interpersonal communication skills
• Ability to occasionally work flexible hours, including nights and weekends
• Multilingual a plus

Benefits

• Public Service Loan Forgiveness eligibility
• New York City residency requirement within 90 days of appointment