OFFICE OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY

The Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) is committed to advancing Arizona's workforce and fostering opportunities for well-paying jobs, in line with Governor Hobbs's vision. Collaborating with state, federal, local, tribal, educational, business, labor, and community partners, OEO serves as the state's workforce planning coordinator, conducts economic and demographic research, and provides employment and demographic analysis.

OEO also supports the Arizona Finance Authority (AFA), ensuring streamlined financing for businesses, community infrastructure, and first-time home buyers. AFA prioritizes delivering affordable financing swiftly, serving as a one-stop resource for various financial needs to promote Arizona's growth and development.

*Disclaimer - Arizona’s Rural Health Transformation Program is supported by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as a part of a financial assistance award totaling $166,988,955.92 with 100 percent funded by CMS/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor endorsement, by CMS/HHS, or the U.S. Government.

ECONOMIST DATA ANALYST

Job Location:

1400 West Washington Street

Phoenix, AZ 85007

Posting Details:

Salary: $51,625 - $85,000

Grade: 23

Closing Date: October 2, 2026 (first review of resumes September 24)

Job Summary:

Under the general direction of the Deputy Administrator (Division 2 Lead), the Economist Senior serves as a technical modeling and quantitative research lead responsible for engineering the labor market intelligence, data structures, and predictive frameworks powering the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) and Rural Innovation Learning Network (RILN) dashboards.

Operating within the Modeling and Forecasting Division, this position develops in-demand healthcare occupational selection algorithms, regional training-to-jobs models, and longitudinal outcome metrics to support healthcare workforce recruitment, training capacity expansion, and rural retention. This position performs fully programmatic research and modeling and does not perform grant administration, fiscal oversight, procurement, compliance monitoring, or administrative cost pool functions.

This position may offer the ability to work remotely, within Arizona, based upon the department's business needs and continual meeting of expected performance measures.

The State of Arizona strives for a work culture that affords employees flexibility, autonomy, and trust. Across our many agencies, boards, and commissions, many State employees participate in the State’s Remote Work Program and are able to work remotely in their homes, in offices, and in hoteling spaces. All work, including remote work, should be performed within Arizona unless an exception is properly authorized in advance.

Job Duties:

Rural Education and Training Expansion Modeling: Develop econometric models, threshold methodologies, and quantitative criteria to evaluate rural training capacity, clinical placement availability, and regional healthcare workforce shortages. Engineer supply and demand models for nursing and allied health occupations to identify regional educator gaps and inform training cohort expansion. Build data pipelines integrating educational completion records, credentialing data, and licensure information to track student progression through rural healthcare pipelines.

Provider Upskilling and Retention Analytics: Design statistical indicators and predictive frameworks to identify opportunities for provider upskilling, residency expansion, and preceptor network development. Formulate longitudinal evaluation models that link participant training rosters to UI wage records to analyze employment entry, wage growth, and retention within rural health settings. Evaluate regional labor market frictions (such as commute sheds, wage competitiveness, and turnover) to support provider retention modeling in designated shortage areas.

Financial Incentive and Shortage Alignment Modeling: Construct composite indices and scoring models that map local healthcare shortage severity against approved financial recruitment and retention incentives. Deliver data-driven inputs and quantitative scoring frameworks to help workforce boards and healthcare partners align financial resources with high-need rural occupations. Measure the statistical impact of workforce incentives on participant completion rates, rural employment placement, and long-term career advancement.

RILN Intelligence Infrastructure and Dashboard Data Integration: Engineer and maintain back-end database architectures, data dictionaries, and automated output tables that power public-facing RILN dashboards and career pathway tools. Develop structured data feeds and API connections to ensure dashboard visualizations accurately display real-time labor market trends and regional workforce profiles. Formulate transparent documentation and methodology white papers detailing the quantitative logic underlying RHTP dashboard metrics.

Technical Collaboration and Division Modeling Support: Collaborate dynamically with Division 1 (Applied Analysis) economists to ensure complex predictive outputs and econometric models are accurately formatted for stakeholder tools. Contribute to core Division 2 technical initiatives, including WIOA in-demand methodologies, long-term occupational projections, and training provider predictive evaluation models.

Other duties as assigned as related to the position.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities (KSAs):

Knowledge of:
• Econometrics and Quantitative Modeling: Advanced knowledge of econometric analysis, predictive modeling, composite index creation, and longitudinal program evaluation frameworks.
• Healthcare Workforce Data Systems: Deep understanding of healthcare occupation classification systems (SOC), education programs (CIP), licensure databases, and rural health shortage metrics.
• LMI and Database Architectures: Thorough knowledge of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data programs, UI wage record linkages, and Integrated Data Systems (IDS) methodology.

Skill in:
• Statistical Programming and Data Engineering: Advanced skill in programming languages (SAS, Python) and database automation tools for extracting, transforming, and modeling large datasets.
• Dashboard Data Architecture: Skill in structuring complex analytical output into clean, optimized dataset formats designed for web visualization tools and interactive APIs.
• Technical Research and Methodology Writing: Skill in writing clear methodology papers, data dictionaries, and technical briefs for agency leadership and peer economists.

Ability to:
• Quantitative Problem Solving: Ability to translate complex programmatic goals into mathematically sound, reproducible economic methodologies.
• Inter-Divisional Technical Synergy: Ability to collaborate seamlessly with Division 1 economists to ensure back-end modeling directly supports front-end participant engagement tools.
• Data Integrity and Rigor: Ability to enforce rigorous data quality checks, routine verification protocols, and ethical data privacy standards when handling individual wage and participant records.

Selective Preference(s):

• Bachelor's degree in Economics, Statistics, Data Analytics or a related field.

Pre-Employment Requirements:

If this position requires driving or the use of a vehicle as an essential function of the job to conduct State business, then the following requirements apply: Driver’s License Requirements.

All newly hired State employees are subject to and must successfully complete the Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification Program (E-Verify).

Benefits:

The State of Arizona offers a comprehensive benefits package to include:
• Sick leave
• Retirement plan
• Health and dental insurance
• Vacation with 10 paid holidays per year
• Life insurance and long-term disability insurance
• Optional employee benefits include short-term disability insurance, deferred compensation
plans, and supplemental life insurance
• For a complete list of benefits provided by The State of Arizona, please visit our benefits page

By providing the option of a full-time or part-time remote work schedule, employees enjoy improved work/life balance, report higher job satisfaction, and are more productive. Remote work is a management option and not an employee entitlement or right. An agency may terminate a remote work agreement at its discretion.

Learn more about the Paid Parental Leave program here. For a complete list of benefits provided by The State of Arizona, please visit our benefits page

Retirement:

• Positions in this classification participate in the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS).
*NOTE - Enrollment eligibility in ASRS will become effective after 27 weeks of employment.

Contact Us:

• If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Mariem Ly at mariem.ly@oeo.az.gov

ARIZONA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (AMS)

All Arizona state employees operate within the Arizona Management System (AMS), an intentional, results-driven approach for doing the work of state government whereby every employee reflects on performance, reduces waste, and commits to continuous improvement with sustainable progress. Through AMS, every state employee seeks to understand customer needs, identify problems, improve processes, and measure results.
State employees are highly engaged, collaborative and embrace a culture of public service.

The State of Arizona is an Equal Opportunity/Reasonable Accommodation Employer.

If this position requires driving or the use of a vehicle as an essential function of the job to conduct State business, then the following requirements apply: Driver’s License Requirements