Job Description

Job Description and Duties

Step into the future of IT with the Department of Developmental Services. We are implementing next-generation solutions and seeking innovative, driven teammates to make it happen. Join a forward-thinking IT organization where your skills and ideas help shape the future of technology and your career.

Under general direction of the Chief Technology Innovation Officer, the Information Technology Specialist II serves as the department’s senior software engineer responsible for architecting, developing, securing, and operating API development, advanced artificial intelligence solutions, models, and data pipelines that power both public-facing and internal digital services.  The incumbent exercises expert-level judgment for Artificial Intelligence and Data Engineering, and collaborates across IT Project Management, Information Security Engineering, Systems Engineering, and Business Units to deliver resilient, accessible, ethical, and secure API and AI-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 incumbent 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 in an effective, accurate, and timely manner.  The incumbent must stay current with industry trends, standards, and best practices related to artificial intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing, generative AI, and cloud-based AI platforms.  The incumbent must understand project management practices, the system development life cycle, data governance, and testing methodologies for 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.

Working Conditions

Under Government Code 14200, this position is a hybrid, in-office/telework position, and may be subject to change. Incumbent can be required to report to the office, or any designated location at any time. Telework agreements can be modified and/or cancelled at any time. Incumbent must live and work in California.  All commute expenses to the reporting location will be the responsibility of the selected candidate.

This position requires lawful authorization to work in the United States. The Department does not sponsor employment visas for this position.

Open-spaced partitioned offices;  Prolonged periods on a computer up to 90% of the time;  May require 24x7 support responsibility as well as weekend support for emergency work.  Occasional travel up to 10% for overnight or day trips for covered California locations. 

Special Requirements

The Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) must be numbered in the same order as the following areas, typed in 12-point Arial font, single spaced, and be no more than three pages in length. Applicants who fail to answer the questions or submit an SOQ may not be considered. 

1. Application Development
Describe your experience in API development using frameworks such as FastAPI, LLMs, or single technologies . Share an example of an application you built, the business challenge it addressed , and how your solution delivered value. Also, describe your familiarity and experience with frontend frameworks like Angular, Vue or React . 

2. Problem-Solving & Support
Tell us about a time you provided technical support to executives or multiple departments . What was the issue, what did you do, and what was the result?

3. Training & Collaboration
Describe a time when you trained, mentored, or collaborated with staff on new technology (such as Python ). What did you do to make sure they were successful?

Desirable Qualifications

In addition to evaluating each candidate's relative ability, as demonstrated by quality and breadth of experience, the following factors will provide the basis for competitively evaluating each candidate:

Knowledge of: Enterprise Application Integration experience (7+ years) 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 and workshops in Python and AWS, mentor staff, and improve organizational cloud maturity.

The position requires hands-on software development experience. A bachelor’s degree in software development, computer science, information technology, or related fields is desired.

Benefits

As a state employee working for the Department of Developmental Services, you and your family will have access to excellent medical, dental and vision insurance benefits in addition to retirement benefits.

Benefit eligibility may be based on job classification, bargaining unit, time base and length of appointment. Additional benefits may also be outlined for specific bargaining units in employee collective bargaining contracts. For more information, please visit the links below:

Benefit information can be found on the CalHR website and the CalPERS website.

Additional Information

Electronic application submission is highly encouraged.

Multiple positions may be filled from this recruitment. This recruitment may be utilized to fill future vacancies that may occur during the life of the certification list.

Possession of Minimum Qualifications will be verified prior to interview and/or appointment. If you are meeting Minimum Qualifications with education, you must include your unofficial transcripts/diploma for verification. Official transcripts may be required upon appointment. If it is determined an applicant does not meet the Minimum Qualifications, the candidate may be withheld from the eligibility list, rendering them inactive and ineligible to be hired for the position. Candidates who have been withheld may file an appeal with the California Department of Human Resources.

All appointments are subject to State Restriction of Appointment (SROA), Departmental Restriction of Appointment (DROA), Re-employment List procedures, pre-employment physical and fingerprint clearances. Further information on the definition of the above may be found on the California Department of Human Resources' website at:

If you have not taken the INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SPECIALIST II exam/assessment you may find the exam for this classification at the link below. You must take and pass the exam/assessment to obtain eligibility for hire. Click here to gain list eligibility.

Required Application Package Documents

The following items are required to be submitted with your application. Applicants who do not submit the required items timely may not be considered for this job:

• Current version of the State Examination/Employment Application STD Form 678 (when not applying electronically), or the Electronic State Employment Application through your Applicant Account at All Experience and Education relating to the Minimum Qualifications listed on the Classification Specification should be included to demonstrate how you meet the Minimum Qualifications for the position.
• Resume is required and must be included.
• Statement of Qualifications -

  A Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) is required and is a narrative discussion of how the candidate's education, training, experience, and skills meet the minimum and desirable qualifications and qualify them for the position. The SOQ serves as a documentation of each candidate's ability to present information clearly and concisely in writing.  SEE “SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS” ABOVE FOR INSTRUCTIONS.

Job Tags

Permanent employment, Full time, For contractors, Work at office, Remote work, Visa sponsorship, Work visa, Night shift, Weekend work,

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