Description
Overview of SANDAG
Our mission is to maintain and improve the quality of life for everyone who calls this region home. The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) is both a metropolitan planning organization and a council of governments, bringing together local decision-makers to develop solutions to regional issues including improving equity, transportation, air quality, clean energy, economic development, goods movement, public health, public safety, housing, and more.
Our current focus is to serve as a data-driven agency, speeding up the delivery of exciting, large-scale infrastructure projects throughout the region. This includes building infrastructure to link transit connections, boosting cross-border travel between the U.S. and Mexico with a new, high-tech border crossing facility, and fortifying our coastal railway corridor against erosion. Other important SANDAG initiatives include administering the TransNet Program, regional tolling operations, providing a forum for housing needs, and offering funding and technical assistance to member agencies.
Overview Of The Data Science Department
The Data Science Department provides SANDAG member agencies, elected officials, other organizations, and the public with information and technical resources for regional planning, funding, and policymaking efforts. The department represents a broad range of expertise from land use and transportation modeling, applied social research, public safety, demographics, economics, and quality assurance. The information the department gathers, analyzes, produces, delivers, and maintains is essential to the success of SANDAG.
Overview Of The Data Quality Assurance/Quality Control Team
The Data Quality Assurance/Quality Control team provides independent verification of data acquired or produced by SANDAG modeling, forecasting, analysis, mapping, and visualization efforts. In addition to conducting data verification steps, the team also develops and implements formalized policies and processes around data quality management.
Role
The Data Science Department is hiring a Data Scientist who will work in the Data Quality Assurance/Quality Control and Data Science Management and Analytics teams. The position will serve as a shared resource to support multiple divisions within Data Science. Under supervision from the hiring manager, the position will develop and implement quality control checks on datasets used and produced by teams across the agency to ensure quality and reliability.
In addition, this position will contribute to developing data-driven analytics applications across the agency and support various agency priority projects. This position is ideal for someone who enjoys analytical and critical thinking and problem solving who is highly organized, hands-on, flexible, and can be relied upon to meet deadlines with changing priorities.
Job Responsibilities
- Analyze and validate regional economic, demographic, land use, and transportation data for use in operational, procedural, and policy decision-making activities; interpret multi-disciplinary data demonstrating a thorough understanding of issues that could affect the validity and reliability of information.
- Develop and perform quality control tests and analysis of data using tools such as Python, R, ArcGIS, and SQL to identify and report data anomalies and identify root cause patterns.
- Examine datasets and supporting documentation to identify risks and problem areas and recommend standards, policies, and procedures to facilitate a comprehensive data quality management system.
- Support Peer Review Process through review of datasets and methodologies, including suggestions for improvement as well as documentation, including meeting notes and action items.
- Create and maintain documentation related to data compliance, business rules, data flows, process flows, and reporting.
- Coordinate the preparation of metrics and statistical reports, perform reviews, and complete special studies; prepare spreadsheets, charts, maps, and data visualizations to support information sharing.
- Participate on inter-departmental and interagency teams assembled for various agency projects.
- Prepare and present written, oral, and visual reports and recommendations to various teams and upper management.
Typical Qualifications
- The minimum education, training, and experience include a bachelor’s degree with major course work in data science, computer science, management information systems, regional planning, geography, demographics, statistics, mathematics or a related field. One to two years of professional experience in data analysis and programming is preferred.
- Intermediate-advanced level programming experience in Python (and other object-oriented program languages) is critical. Experience of Jupyter notebook is desirable.
- Knowledge of design principles for relational database management systems; experience creating SQL queries, stored procedures, and data views; familiarity with MS SQL Server or other enterprise relational database systems.
- Experience using geographic information system software such as Esri ArcGIS or QGIS.
- Experience using business intelligence/information sharing software (Power BI, Tableau, etc.) to create reports and dashboards.
- Experience updating and maintaining project databases, files, and records, including data documentation.
- Knowledge of quality assurance and quality control practices used for validating data and ensuring data accuracy and integrity, including statistical analysis and sampling techniques, preferably for demographic and economic data.
- Experience with data analysis and research methodologies; knowledge of data acquisition and quality control methods used for gathering and compiling various types of information; knowledge of factors that contribute to the reliability and integrity of collected data.
- Experience analyzing, organizing, interpreting, and exploring data with the ability to discover patterns, meaningful relationships, anomalies, and trends.
- Experience communicating highly technical information effectively to a broad range of audiences
- Familiarity with the principles, practices, and objectives of regional planning and forecasting.
- Familiarity with formalized data governance processes and procedures.
- Excellent organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to multitask and work on several projects simultaneously.
- Demonstrated flexibility and willingness to perform a variety of tasks typical of an entry-level data analytics position.
- Experience in cloud computing environment such as Azure.
- Proficiency in implementing Extract, Transform and Load (ETL) processes
- Ability to support ad-hoc research and development work as needed and present research findings.
This employer does not participate in the federal E-Verify program. Employment is contingent upon the employee’s ability to provide documentation verifying identity and authorization to work in the United States.
Annual Salary Ranges
- Data Scientist I: $74,422-$115,357
- Data Scientist II: $82,077-$127,234
First Review Date: February 17, 2026
Expected Start Date: March 2026
