INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SPECIALIST II

State of California•Sacramento, CA

36d•Hybrid

About The Position

Under the general direction of the Chief Technology Innovation Officer, the Information Technology Specialist II (ITS II) serves as the department's senior software engineer and data expert responsible for architecting, securing, and developing API-driven database solutions and data pipelines that power both public-facing and internal digital services. The ITS II will assess vendor products and interact with contractors as required. The ITS II brings deep expertise in both database engineering and full-stack software development, including scripting, cloud computing (AWS), and API integration, with specialized knowledge in Medicare, Eligibility Verification, and Insurance Claims. The role exercises expert-level judgment in Data Integration with Disparate Systems, Federated Data Architecture and Modeling, and Cloud Architecture. The ITS II collaborates across IT Project Management, Information Security Engineering, and Business Units to deliver resilient, accessible, ethical, and data-enabled services that comply with the State of California's standards, policies, and regulations. Working under the Chief Technology Innovation Officer and the Chief Architect, the AI Engineer provides technical leadership and may lead small teams and contractors with no direct supervisory authority unless delegated per the organizational structure. The ITS II must possess strong leadership, organizational, analytical, and verbal/written communication skills; work collaboratively, mentor, and provide technical direction to development and data science teams; and complete work assignments effectively, accurately, and on time. The ITS II should stay current with industry trends, standards, and best practices related to database architecture, artificial intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing, generative AI, and cloud-based platforms. The ITS II must understand project management practices, the system development life cycle, data governance, and testing methodologies for data-driven and AI/ML solutions. Effective July 1, 2025, State employees are subject to a salary reduction of three percent in exchange for five hours per month of the Personal Leave. You will find additional information about the job in the Duty Statement.

Requirements

Strong leadership, organizational, analytical, and verbal/written communication skills
Expertise in both database engineering and full-stack software development, including scripting, cloud computing (AWS), and API integration, with specialized knowledge in Medicare, Eligibility Verification, and Insurance Claims.
Must understand project management practices, the system development life cycle, data governance, and testing methodologies for data-driven and AI/ML solutions.

Nice To Haves

Data engineering experience (7+ years) in Health Insurance, Medicare claims, and healthcare data engineering, with a strong record of delivering complex, secure, and scalable solutions.
Enterprise Application Integration experience with a distinguished track record on technically demanding projects, including emerging technologies; developing modern front-end frameworks (React/Next.js, Angular, or Vue), TypeScript, responsive design, and component libraries; server-side expertise in Node.js/NestJS, and Python/FastAPI; API design (REST/GraphQL) with OpenAPI/Swagger; database fluency - SQL/PostgreSQL (schema design, tuning) and NoSQL (Cosmos/Mongo); caching (Redis); working with multi-agent architecture that interacts with APIs, tools, and workflows; advanced level Python programming, including development of automation scripts, APIs, and data processing workflows; AWS services (EC2, S3, Lambda, RDS, API Gateway, CloudFormation).
Ability to: Conduct training, mentor staff, and improve organizational data infrastructure.
A bachelor's degree in software development, information technology, computer science, or related fields is desired.

Responsibilities

Architecting, securing, and developing API-driven database solutions and data pipelines that power both public-facing and internal digital services.
Assess vendor products and interact with contractors as required.
Data Integration with Disparate Systems
Federated Data Architecture and Modeling
Cloud Architecture
Collaborates across IT Project Management, Information Security Engineering, and Business Units to deliver resilient, accessible, ethical, and data-enabled services that comply with the State of California's standards, policies, and regulations.
Provide technical leadership and may lead small teams and contractors with no direct supervisory authority unless delegated per the organizational structure.
Work collaboratively, mentor, and provide technical direction to development and data science teams
Complete work assignments effectively, accurately, and on time.
Stay current with industry trends, standards, and best practices related to database architecture, artificial intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing, generative AI, and cloud-based platforms.
Understand project management practices, the system development life cycle, data governance, and testing methodologies for data-driven and AI/ML solutions.