Senior Data Scientist-Lead Data Engineer (N373) (Finance)
Salary Range: $9,333.00 -$12,576.46 Monthly
SUMMARY
Housing for Health (HFH) is a program office within Community Programs, a division under the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (DHS) for the County of Los Angeles. HFH was created to support people experiencing homelessness with complex clinical needs. We support people in obtaining housing, improving their health and thriving in their communities. HFH is a core component of Los Angeles County's effort to respond to the homeless emergency. Where appropriate to the job function, a hybrid work schedule may be available, with employees working both remotely and from the office, as needed.
This position offers a unique opportunity to shape the data infrastructure of one of the most impactful homelessness service systems in the nation. The Lead Data Engineer will oversee the foundational architecture for Community Programs' Databricks-based Lakehouse, supporting seamless integration, governance, and analysis of health, housing, and justice data across initiatives including Housing for Health and others. The role reports to the Director of Data Analytics and Evaluation and will guide efforts across data ingestion, transformation, privacy, and CalAIM claims workflows.
This is a chance to architect a scalable data environment from the ground up in a mission-driven context. The engineering team plays a central role in the County's data strategy, with opportunities for mentorship, innovation, and cross-sector impact.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
- Lead the development of bronze, silver, and gold data layers from highly normalized data sources, translating complex table relationships into denormalized, analyst-ready structures.
- Implement GitHub-based CI/CD workflows that manage Dev and Prod separation, parameterized notebook execution, and automated testing.
- Use Azure Data Factory and related tools to ingest and orchestrate data flows from diverse internal and external sources.
- Collaborate closely with analytics and privacy engineers to ensure models align with data governance and privacy requirements.
- Support integration of MDM-linked datasets and promote entity resolution strategies across systems.
- Monitor pipeline health and lead resolution of data quality issues in coordination with analysts and external partners.
- Review and approve engineering code as part of CI/CD workflow, unblock or resolve issues holding up promotion to Prod.
- Define architecture standards and RBAC models in Unity Catalog for Departmental and Countywide access.
- Mentor engineering team members on best practices and solution design.
- Produce clear, maintainable documentation and SOPs to support onboarding, data catalog use, and model transparency.
JOB QUALIFICATIONS
Option I: Two (2) years of experience independently leading complex data engineering projects, including developing and applying methods to collect, structure, and transform data using statistical, programmatic, and engineering techniques to support data-driven decision-making, at a level equivalent to the Los Angeles County class of Data Scientist.
Option II: A Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in a field such as Data Science, Data Engineering, Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Machine Learning, Business Analytics, Psychology, or Public Health, with at least 12 semester or 18 quarter units in data science, quantitative research methods, programming, or statistical analysis – AND – six (6) years of experience in data engineering, including two (2) years in a lead or supervisory capacity. A Master's or Doctoral degree from an accredited college or university in a field of applied research such Data Science, Machine Learning, Mathematics, Statistics, Business Analytics, Psychology, or Public Health may substitute for up to two (2) years of experience.
Certificates/Licenses/Clearances
- A valid California Class C Driver License or the ability to utilize an alternative method of transportation when needed to carry out job-related essential functions.
- Successful clearing through the Live Scan and the Health Clearance process with the County of Los Angeles.
Other Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities
- 7+ years building scalable data pipelines in cloud environments.
- Advanced proficiency in Databricks (Delta Live Tables, Unity Catalog), Spark, SQL, and Python.
- Experienced with CI/CD (GitHub, Azure DevOps), infrastructure-as-code (Terraform), and Azure tools (Data Factory, Synapse).
- Skilled in MDM integration and entity resolution.
- Familiar with MLflow, experience embedding data expectations within ETL/ELT pipelines, and data observability practices.
- Strong grasp of Medallion Architecture, performance optimization, and ETL/ELT design.
- Working knowledge of HIPAA, 42 CFR Part 2, and public-sector data governance.
- Experience mentoring teams and leading technical standards.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS
Stand: Frequently
Walk: Frequently
Sit: Frequently
Reach Outward: Occasionally
Reach Above Shoulder: Occasionally
Climb, Crawl, Kneel, Bend: Occasionally
Lift / Carry: Occasionally - Up to 15 lbs.
Push/Pull: Occasionally - Up to 15 lbs.
See: Constantly
Taste/ Smell: Not Applicable
Not Applicable = Not required for essential functions
Occasionally = (0 - 2 hrs./day)
Frequently = (2 - 5 hrs./day)
Constantly = (5+ hrs./day)
WORK ENVIRONMENT
General Office Setting, Indoors Temperature Controlled
EEOC STATEMENT
It is the policy of Heluna Health to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants, without regard to age (40 and over), national origin or ancestry, race, color, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, pregnancy or perceived pregnancy, reproductive health decision making, physical or mental disability, medical condition (including cancer or a record or history of cancer), AIDS or HIV, genetic information or characteristics, veteran status or military service.
Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.
