City of New York

DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AND WORKER PROTECTION

Civil Service Title: City Research Scientist

Level: II   Title Code No: 21744

Salary: $75,504.00 / $86,830.00* – $94,761.00

* minimum with two years of continuous city service

 

Office Title: Data Scientist

42 Broadway, New York, NY

Division/Work Unit: Office of Labor Policy and Standards

Hours/Shift: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

 

Job Description

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 59,000 businesses in more than 50 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 be educated 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 and Standards (“OLPS”) enforces the City’s worker protection laws, such as the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act, the Freelance Isn’t Free Act, the Fair Workweek Laws, including “just cause” legislation that protects fast food workers against unlawful termination, and the Third-Party Service Workers Law, which regulates wages and working conditions for app-based delivery workers. Working closely with outside stakeholders, OLPS also advocates for new laws, performs research and data analysis to make policy recommendations, and conducts outreach and education to workers, employers, and the general public.

OLPS is seeking a Data Scientist to play a key role in the enforcement of groundbreaking new legal protections for workers, especially the Fair Workweek Laws, which prohibit abusive scheduling practices, the Earned Safe and Sick Time Act, which guarantees the right to paid sick leave, and the new Third-Party Service Workers Law, which regulates wages and working conditions of app-based delivery workers. Reporting to the OLPS Research Director, 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. Working on the Office’s most complex cases, 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 create systems to automate and standardize data collection and analysis, develop and implement refinements to investigative methods, 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 include:

• 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; and
• Assisting with other aspects of the OLPS research team’s work, including analysis of labor market data, reporting based on the Office’s internal administrative data, and process design and automation.

Minimum Qualification Requirements

1. For Assignment Level I (only physical, biological and environmental sciences and public health) 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.

To be appointed to Assignment Level II and above, candidates must have:

1. 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
2. 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
3. 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. Two years as a City Research Scientist Level I can be substituted for the experience required in “1” and “2” above.

NOTE:

Appointments to this position are subject to a minimum probationary period of one year.

PLEASE NOTE: New York City residency is required within 90 days of appointment. However, City employees in certain titles who have worked for the City for 2 continuous years may also be eligible to reside in Nassau, Suffolk, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, or Orange County.

Preferred Skills

• 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; and
• Multilingual a plus.

To Apply

For Non-City/External Candidates: Visit the External Applicant NYC Careers site and type “Consumer Affairs” on the search line. Then locate the Job ID number.

For Current City Employees: Visit Employee Self Service (ESS) to view and click on Recruiting Activities, Careers, and search by Job ID number.

A RESUME AND COVER LETTER ARE REQUIRED.

PLEASE INDICATE IN YOUR COVER LETTER HOW YOU HEARD ABOUT THIS POSITION.

INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

NO PHONE CALLS, FAXES, E-MAILS OR PERSONAL INQUIRIES PERMITTED. NOTE: ONLY THOSE CANDIDATES UNDER CONSIDERATION WILL BE CONTACTED.

*Appointments are subject to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval.

*55-a Candidates: NYC Department of Consumer Affairs is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse and culturally responsive workforce. We strongly encourage 55-A candidates to apply to our positions in order to be given the opportunity.

**LOAN FORGIVENESS: The federal government provides student loan forgiveness through its Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) to all qualifying public service employees. Working with DCA qualifies you as a public service employee and you may be able to take advantage of this program while working full-time and meeting the program’s other requirements. Please visit the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program site to view the eligibility requirements: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service

*Drug Screening: A drug screening may be required prior to being appointed.

As of August 2, 2021, all new hires must be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus, unless they have been granted a reasonable accommodation for religion or disability. If you are offered city employment, this requirement must be met by your date of hire, unless a reasonable accommodation for exemption is received and approved by the hiring agency.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations that enable people with disabilities to enjoy equal benefits and privileges of employment as are enjoyed by others. If you are contacted to attend an interview for one of our open vacancies and would like to request an accommodation for that date, please send an email to ReasonableAccommodationRequests@dca.nyc.gov.

Post Date: 11/24/2021

Post Until: 01/23/2022

JVN: 505218

DCWP and the City of New York is an equal employment opportunity employer.