Job Description

Posting number: 27-11007

Department: Innovative Justice & Program Analysis

Job classification: PLANNER SENIOR

Posting type: Open & Promotional

Categories: Planning and Development

Summary

Working as a part of a collaborative, multi-disciplinary team, this role focuses on extracting, cleaning, validating, combining, and analyzing data from large administrative datasets, as well as preparing and completing reports that support decision makers to improve services and systems in the Travis County criminal justice system. This role is part of the Data, Research, and Planning (DRP) division in the Innovative Justice and Program Analysis (IJPA) department in Travis County and is funded through September 2028 with the potential to be extended.

What is your role?

As a Senior Planner (Data Reporting Analyst), you will be part of the Data Research and Planning division (DRP) within the Innovative Justice and Program Analysis (IJPA) department. Part of a larger, collaborative team, you will be involved in a variety of different data and research related tasks that are designed to inform the Commissioners Court and other justice system stakeholders to make data informed decisions. A typical day in this role varies considerably and may include querying, cleaning, and testing data quality, creating repeatable workflows, analyzing data, creating data visuals, building dashboards and short reports, or providing technical assistance on data governance and quality improvements. You will work with a variety of stakeholders in the justice system, including the County and District Attorney’s Offices, Sheriff’s Office, Pretrial Services, local mental health authority, Commissioners Court, Clerk’s Office, Court Administration, community advocacy groups, and many more.

This position is currently hybrid, requiring a flexible schedule to meet department needs. In-person vs remote schedule balance varies weekly based on project needs but generally averages one to two in-person days per week. IJPA’s offices are in downtown Austin, but in-person activities may be required at different county and community locations to accommodate specific data collection or reporting requirements.

Examples of duties

Database Querying & Data Management:

• Using a variety of tools and languages (e.g. SQL, PowerBI, Excel) to query, filter, join, clean, and analyze data from large relational databases
• Combine files and tables, match fields, assess data and linkage quality, including identifying appropriate match criteria, validating and reconciling data, investigating discrepancies, and solving for or addressing scenarios where matching variables may be unreliable and impact results
• Work with sensitive data and adhere to data security, protections and privacy regulations (e.g. HIPAA, CJIS), as well as ethical standards in research and data

Technical Assistance & Documentation:

• Assist with data governance and quality initiatives, and support continuous improvement of data processes and reporting
• Catalogs existing data sources and contributes to metadata documentation
• Maintain definitions, calculation rules, reporting procedures, data source information, and limitations
• Provides feedback to team and collaborator data products and outputs
• Leverages a strong understanding of full data product and data management lifecycle
• Collaborates on contextual and primary insights gathering to support end-users of data products
• Identifies opportunities to increase data quality and data use, including automation and data entry procedural training
• Quickly adapt and learn new domain areas and data sets to support analysis and reporting

Reporting and Dissemination:

• Synthesize and translate analytical findings into clear, actionable reports and communication tools (e.g. slide presentations, long and short form reporting),
• Conduct descriptive analysis, identifying trends, comparing results, and explaining meaningful changes or differences
• Produce tables, charts, and dashboards and recurring reporting for nontechnical audiences using tools such as PowerBI and Excel
• Gather requirements and clarify requests for data reporting outputs
• Maintain and troubleshoot recurring reports, resolving refresh issues, and addressing reporting requirements changes
• Collaborate and coordinate with cross-functional teams to understand requirements, understand data and identify limitations, gather and interpret data, and communicate results

Qualifications

Education and Experience:

Bachelor's degree in Planning, Engineering, Landscape Architecture, Geography, Public Policy/Administration, Government, Criminal Justice, Sociology, Business Administration or a directly related field AND six (6) years increasingly responsible experience with strategic planning, planning, research, project management, policy research and program development, including one (1) year of supervisory experience;

OR,

Master's degree in Planning, Engineering, Landscape Architecture, Geography, Public Policy/Administration, Government, Criminal Justice, Sociology, Business Administration or a directly related field AND four (4) years increasingly responsible experience strategic planning, planning, research, project management, policy research and program development, including one (1) year of supervisory experience;

OR,

Any combination of education and experience that has been achieved and is equivalent to the stated education and experience and required knowledge, skills, and abilities sufficient to successfully perform the duties and responsibilities of this job.

Licenses, Registrations, Certifications, or Special Requirements:

None required.

Preferred:

• Education or formal training (e.g. certification, coursework, degree) in quantitative research methodologies, statistics, and/or data science
• Advanced research methodology and statistics knowledge, being able to independently develop, design, and implement appropriate methodological approaches for data acquisition, modeling, and analysis to address specific learning, evaluation, and research questions.
• Knowledge of or experience with the criminal justice system
• Advanced experience with data visualization and communication tools like PowerBI and Tableau
• Working knowledge of and experience with either R or Python
• Experience building repeatable workflows to produce analyses, automations, and reports from large relational, administrative datasets
• Experience using multiple data science and research methodologies, both qualitative and quantitative

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

Knowledge of:

• Supervisory principles, practices and techniques.
• Public Administration and governmental agencies.
• Legislative process.
• Principles and techniques of planning.
• Modern planning research methods, data collection and analysis.
• Issues pertaining to area of assignment.
• Strategic planning techniques.
• Federal, State, Local and County applicable laws, rules, regulations and guidelines.
• Sources of information, current literature, and recent developments.
• Administrative and related business principles.
• Computer equipment to include word processing, spreadsheets, databases, statistical packages, presentation/ graphics and related software applications.
• Business letter writing, grammar and punctuation, and report preparation.
• May be required to develop knowledge of and adhere to federal and state laws requiring the confidential handling of certain health information.

Skill in:

• Developing short-range and long-range comprehensive plans in development of innovative solutions.
• Program planning, developing and implementing.
• Statistical analysis and policy research.
• Analyzing and evaluating data, policies and technical issues.
• Setting up systems for conducting analysis and compiling for reports.
• Coordinating the development and making presentations.
• Coordinating work of others.
• Conducting interviews and group meetings.
• Both verbal and written communication.

Ability to:

• Initiate and develop projects and programs.
• Apply knowledge to data, policy, and process analysis.
• Reach sound conclusions and make recommendations.
• Manage time well and perform multiple tasks, and organize diverse activities.
• Formulate broad perspectives.
• Interpreting planning and program objectives to groups and public.
• Bring together several viewpoints into a balanced position.
• Compile data and to write clear and comprehensive reports.
• Maintenance of appropriate records.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with departmental clientele, representatives of outside agencies, other County employees and officials, and the general public.

Supplemental information

Physical requirements include the ability to lift/carry up to 5–20 pounds occasionally, visual acuity, speech and hearing, hand and eye coordination and manual dexterity necessary to operate a computer and office equipment. Subject to standing, walking, sitting, repetitive motion, reaching, occasional indoor/outdoor activities, climbing stairs, bending, stooping, kneeling, crouching, crawling, pushing, pulling, balancing, client/customer contact, squatting to perform the essential functions.

Travis County employees play an important role in business continuity. As such, employees can be assigned to business continuity efforts outside of normal job functions.

Work Hours: 8 am - 5 pm, Monday-Friday.

Works some nights, and some weekends

Location: 700 Lavaca Suite 1530 Austin, Texas 78701

Department: Innovative Justice & Program Analysis

Criminal, Driving, Education, and Employment Background Checks Required.

For updates or questions on this position, contact: Kristy.Cano@traviscountytx.gov

This job description is intended to be generic in nature. It is not necessarily an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities. The essential duties, functions and responsibilities and overtime eligibility may vary based on the specific tasks assigned to the position.