at Government of Alberta
Full TimeJob Information
Job Title: Social Data Scientist (PS5)
Job Requisition ID: 57736
Ministry: Advanced Education
Location: Edmonton
Full or Part-Time: Full Time
Hours of Work: 36.25 hours per week
Permanent/Temporary: Ongoing
Scope: Open Competition
Closing Date: August 5, 2024
Classification: Program Services 5
Salary: $3,076.28 to $4,053.05 bi-weekly ($80,290 – 105,784/year)
The Government of Alberta is committed to a diverse and inclusive public service that reflects the population we serve to best meet the needs of Albertans. Consider joining a team where diversity, inclusion and innovation are valued and supported. For more information on diversity and inclusion, please visit: https://www.alberta.ca/diversity-inclusion-policy.aspx
Responsible for an adult learning system that provides accessible, affordable and high quality education for Albertans. The Ministry prepares Albertans for lifelong success through education by approving programs of study; funding public post-secondary institutions and other adult learning providers; providing financial aid for learners; registering and certifying apprentices; supporting academic research and innovation.
Alberta Advanced Education focuses on the province’s adult learning system. This includes post-secondary education and research, apprenticeship and industry training, community adult learning and literacy, and financial supports for adult students. Alberta’s government is committed to providing an accessible, innovative, and high-quality adult learning system for Albertans. Education helps unlock the potential in our society. Creative, passionate and highly skilled graduates help Alberta remain strong and competitive in a global economy.
For more information on the Ministry of Advanced Education, please visit: https://www.alberta.ca/advanced-education.aspx
The Social Data Scientist is a key ministry lead in framing and executing new research, especially projects that link and analyze large administrative data sets for insight into adult learning in Alberta. These data sets are not necessarily limited to those collected and maintained by the Ministry, but potentially include data from across municipal, provincial, and federal governments, and other entities that possess relevant data. However, while large, existing data sets are a specialization, the Social Data Scientist's work may extend to other primary and secondary sources as needed to frame and answer priority research questions.
Build Networks: To do this work, the Social Data Scientist collaborates closely with the Manager of Analytics, with Advanced Education policy and executive leaders, and with other data owners and researchers across the government, Alberta, and other jurisdictions. This collaboration includes representing ministry, government, and stakeholder interests at relevant tables including Council of Ministers of Education of Canada (CMEC), the Canadian Education Statistics Council (CESC), and the Alberta Institutional Researchers committee (ABIR).
Build Capacity: The Social Data Scientist advises ministry colleagues on research methods and data sources, brings a research focus to ministry strategic planning, and helps build the ministry's strategic research agenda. In these ways, the Social Data Scientist plays a key role in building a research mindset into ministry work.
Responsibilities:
1. To identify emerging information needs and research opportunities that benefit the adult learning system and government.
• Identify emerging research questions of value to the ministry, stakeholders, and government, working with ministry colleagues, other ministries, and the Office of Statistics and Information.
• Represent the ministry to and actively network with relevant government and post-secondary system entities such as the Child and Youth Data Lab, the GoA Demography Working Group, and the Alberta Institutional Researchers (ABIR) group.
• Explore opportunities to partner with academics to research priority policy and program questions for the ministry and post-secondary system.
2. To ensure that the ministry is better able to answer policy and program questions by accessing, linking, and analyzing administrative data.
• Work with the Office of Statistics and Information, Statistics Canada, other governments, and academics to identify and lever administrative data to benefit the adult learning system and government.
• Work with legal counsel to interpret and apply privacy legislation to enable useful research; provide support to amend legislation where needed.
• Working with ministry colleagues to develop and implement a framework for sharing data.
• Develop data-sharing agreements that enable beneficial research to be conducted and results to be communicated while meeting legislative requirements and protecting privacy appropriately.
• Work with Information Technology Management (IMT) leadership and staff, including the Information Management Program (IMP) to explore and implement new linkages between administrative data sets to answer key research questions.
3. To ensure original research meets ministry and adult learning system needs.
• Design and develop research and data analysis plans working closely with senior policy and program staff, and consulting with internal and external stakeholders.
• Manage as needed for research projects, hire and supervise temporary staff, supervise assigned ministry staff, develop RFPs to hire and work with external contractors, or develop agreements to conduct research with academics.
• Work proactively with ITM to ensure appropriate computing tools and systems are available for data collection, linking, analysis, and dissemination.
• Determine and apply advanced data analysis methods to ensure the most accurate evidence is available to inform tests of significance, measures of central tendency, regression analyses, impact assessment and other statistical analyses as needed.
• Program statistical analysis tools to automate linkage and analysis processes.
• Clean, analyze, re-code, merge, and complete multivariate analyses on large data sets (10,000 plus individual responses).
• Conduct literature reviews and targeted secondary research to answer policy and program questions and to inform primary research.
4. Give expert advice to the Ministry research planning
• Advise executives about emerging trends, needs, opportunities, risks in the ministry's research activities and related adult learning system research activities. This work may include educating executives about the limits, resource requirements, and time frames related to research work.
• Advise colleagues about research-related activities such as research methods, data sources and analysis, data collection and disclosure, and survey design.
Please click on this link to view the job description for this position.
Competencies are behaviors that are essential to reach our goals in serving Albertans. We encourage you to have an in depth understanding of the competencies that are required for this opportunity and to be prepared to demonstrate them during the recruitment process.
The link below will assist you with understanding competencies: https://www.alberta.ca/assets/documents/psc-alberta-public-service-competency-model.pdf
Critical Competencies:
• Systems Thinking – Works closely with statistical experts at Statistics Canada and engages in detailed technical and methodological discussions, while bearing in mind the implications of the methodological decisions on the indicators under development, and their eventual relevance to Alberta.
• Creative Problem Solving – The Social Data Scientist builds teams to develop approaches to answering research questions and solving complex problems. For instance, persons in this role have hired teams of interns, trained them and then taken a group approach to code writing. Agility – Demonstrated ability to manage and adapt to change. Ability to manage human, financial and physical resources within a dynamic environment.
• Develop Networks – This position must build broad networks across multiple organizations and levels of government. For instance, the Social Data Scientist has worked on the analysis of student loan data, collaborating with staff in Alberta student loans as well as building new relationships with Canada student loans staff to be able to incorporate that data into the project.
• Develop self and Others – Proven ability to foster partnerships and to achieve organizational goals within an organization.
• Drive for Results – This position is responsible for delivering results on major projects, presenting the most policy-relevant aspects of the analysis to executive in plain language, while navigating a fine line between the description of the significance and the understanding of the caveats and limitations of the analysis that might impact how it is used in decision-making.
Qualification:
• A university degree in a related discipline, supplemented by six years of progressive experience. A Master’s degree related to statistics or social sciences such as economics, sociology, and education is preferred.
• Equivalency: Directly related education or experience considered on the basis of: - 1 year of education for 1 year of experience; or - 1 year of experience for 1 year of education
Requirement:
• High level of proficiency in programming languages add/or ability to write syntax in statistical software, such as SAS, Python, R, SPSS, or STATA for analysis of data.
Assets:
• Research methodologies, techniques, and procedures, including the application of quantitative research methods and data analysis. Expert knowledge of quantitative skills is required.
• Qualitative research methods.
• Knowledge of project management and Agile methodologies.
• Alberta's socio-economic, political, and post-secondary education issues.
• Government and ministry strategic and policy directions, ministry programs, and functions of ministry business areas.
• Stakeholders and partners affected by the Ministry mandate and operations.
• Organizational structure, business, and culture of the Ministry; relevant Ministry policies, functions, and processes.
• Advanced data analysis and measurement skills using all relevant software, including identifying and learning new tools as needed.
• Project leadership including designing, conducting, monitoring, and reporting; budgeting, contracting, hiring, and supervising project staff.
Complexity is part of every aspect of the Social Data Scientist's environment and work, so complex challenges requiring problem solving and creative thinking are expected. The Social Data Scientist must regularly break new ground to achieve desired research outcomes. The Social Data Scientist must :
• Understand the broad range of policy and governance questions in the ministry's local, national, and international context, including emerging questions in this and other jurisdictions.
• Imagine how priority policy questions for Advanced Education could be answered through new data linkages, new analysis, new data sources, and new collaborations. Multi-disciplinary research methods may be needed, and so learning new techniques and finding new research partners is a regular part of this work.
• Innovate in a cultural context that resists innovation, understanding where value can be best demonstrated and where best to expend effort.
• Identify, articulate, and solve complicated data sharing and privacy challenges (across jurisdictions, levels of government, and public and private sectors), working with legal counsel to find new solutions short- and long-term up to and including amending legislation.
• Work collaboratively with diverse colleagues throughout the Ministry including Executive Team, MLAs, other ministries and governments, stakeholder organizations, service providers and other organizations in the community. These colleagues often bring conflicting viewpoints, so successful partnerships depend on agile and sensitive relationship building, remarkable communication skills, and creative problem solving.
• Represent Ministry and/or Government positions to partners and stakeholders, balancing varying or conflicting perspectives with the requirement to promote acceptance of and commitment to Ministry and Government direction.
This competition is for a position based in Edmonton, offering a work schedule of Monday to Friday, totaling 36.25 hours per week.
A cover letter is required and will be used as part of the screening process. Applicants should ensure that they describe how they are a good fit for this specific position in their cover letters.
Resumes must include precise employment dates (month and year) to assist in assessing written communication skills and attention to detail.
The final candidates for this position will be asked to undergo an academic check, references, provide a suitable security screening and may be asked to complete a written exercise and/or assessment.
This competition may be used to fill future vacancies across the government of Alberta, at equal or lower classification and salary.
For more information on the Government of Alberta hiring process, view this link: https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-public-service-hiring-process.aspx
Links and information on what the GOA have to offer to prospective employees:
• Working for the Alberta Public Service – https://www.alberta.ca/advantages- working-for-alberta-public-service.aspx
• Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP) - https://www.pspp.ca
• Leadership and mentorship programs
• Professional learning and development
• Positive workplace culture and work-life balance
• Opportunity to participate in flexible work arrangements such as working from home up to two days per week and modified work schedule agreements.
• Research Alberta Public Service Careers tool – https://researchapscareers.alberta.ca
How To Apply
Applicants are advised to provide information that clearly and concisely demonstrates how their qualifications meet the advertised requirements, including education, experience, and relevant examples of required competencies.
Candidates are required to apply for a job online. Please visit https://www.alberta.ca/job-application-resources#before for more information. Please visit Recruitment Principles, for more information.
It is recommended applicants who have completed post-secondary studies from outside of Canada obtain an evaluation of their credentials from the International Qualifications Assessment Service (IQAS)(https://www.alberta.ca/international-qualifications-assessment.aspx) or from a recognized Canadian Credential Evaluator; please visit the Alliance of Credential Evaluation Services of Canada for more information (https://canalliance.org/en/default.html).
It is recommended that applicants include the assessment certificate from IQAS or any other educational assessment service as part of their application.
Closing Statement
This competition may be used to fill future vacancies, across the Government of Alberta, at the same or lower classification level.
We thank all applicants for their interest. All applications will be reviewed to determine which candidates' qualifications most closely match the advertised requirements. Only individuals selected for interviews will be contacted.
If you require any further information on this job posting or require an accommodation during the recruitment process, please contact Shannon Rowe at Shannon.Rowe@gov.ab.ca.
Yearly based
Edmonton, AB
