Lead Research Data & Development Administrator ADMINISTRATOR IV

About the role

When you join the Maryland Department of Human Services (DHS), you join a team of more than 5,000 employees across the state dedicated to positively changing the lives of more than 1 million Marylanders each year. We do this by providing economic support, preventive services, and caring for children and adults. We aim to deliver services so that we more quickly meet the needs of the people we serve. At DHS, we grapple with hard questions to find new ways to foster a culture of bold innovation. We do this to ensure that in Maryland, we leave no one behind.

Main Purpose of Job: This position is to serve as the primary administrator and project manager for SSA’s data development, research, and evaluation initiatives. Operating under managerial supervision, this position ensures data integrity, tracks key performance indicators, and translates complex child welfare and adult services data into actionable policy and programmatic strategies.

Responsibilities

• Evaluates data models and systems to ensure they provide timely data reports to the State and Local Departments of Social Services (LDSSs), accurately measuring casework practice and child/family outcomes.
• Extracts, cleans, and analyzes complex data from CJAMS, federal targets, U.S. Census Bureau, Maryland Department of Planning, and child/adult services data systems.
• Manages the execution, daily deliverables, and resource allocation of the data and reporting contract with the University of Maryland Baltimore, ensuring alignment with the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

Requirements

• Education: Graduation from an accredited high school or possession of a high school equivalency certificate.
• Experience: Six years of administrative staff or professional work.
• Notes: Candidates may substitute 30 credit hours from an accredited college or university for each year up to four years of the required experience.
• Candidates may substitute the possession of a Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university and two years of experience in administrative staff or professional work for the required experience.
• Candidates may substitute the possession of a Master's degree from an accredited college or university for five years of the required experience.
• Candidates may substitute U.S. Armed Forces military service experience as a commissioned officer involving staff work related to the administration of rules, regulations, policy, procedures and processes, or overseeing or coordinating unit operations or functioning as a staff assistant to a higher ranking commissioned officer on a year-for-year basis for the required experience.
• Employees in this classification may be assigned duties which require the operation of a motor vehicle. Employees assigned such duties will be required to possess a motor vehicle operator's license valid in the State of Maryland.

Skills

• One year of experience using business intelligence or data management tools (such as PowerBI, MS Excel, or Python) to clean, analyze, and build reports from complex datasets, ideally from a human services or child welfare data system of record (such as CJAMS).
• One year of experience overseeing vendor deliverables, resource allocation, or Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) for research, data, or reporting contracts (such as with university or government partners).
• One year of experience compiling data for and writing public‑facing reports, responding to Public Information Act (PIA) requests, or preparing executive briefing materials.

Benefits

• Health insurance, dental, and vision plans offered at a low cost.
• Personal Leave: new State employees are awarded six (6) personnel days annually (prorated based on start date).
• Annual Leave: ten (10) days of accumulated annual leave per year.
• Sick Leave: fifteen (15) days of accumulated sick leave per year.
• Parental Leave: up to sixty (60) days of paid parental leave upon the birth or adoption of a child.
• Holidays: State employees also celebrate at least twelve (12) holidays per year.
• Pension: State employees earn credits towards a retirement pension.
• Positions may be eligible for telework.