Salary: $7,224.00 - $9,712.00 Monthly
Location : Thurston County - Olympia, WA
Job Type: Full Time - Permanent
Remote Employment: Flexible/Hybrid
Job Number:
Department: Attorney General's Office
Division: Medicaid Fraud Control Unit
Opening Date: 06/29/2026
Closing Date: Continuous
Salary Information: The high end of the salary range, Step M is typically a longevity step

Description

Position and Salary
The Attorney General's Office is recruiting for a permanent full time Digital Forensic Specialist (Forensic Scientist 4)in the Medicaid Fraud & Abuse Division. This position is located in Olympia, Washington, and is represented by the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE).

Forensic Scientist 4 Salary Range (68): $84,984 - $114,264 (Effective 7/1/25) | $86,688 - $116,544 (Effective 7/1/26)
The base pay offered will take into account internal equity and may vary depending on the preferred candidate's job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

Excellent benefits
Washington State offers one of the most competitive in the nation, including Medical/Dental/Vision for employees & dependent(s); Vacation, Sick, and Other Leave; 11 Paid Holidays per year; Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) plans; and Life Insurance. Beyond these traditional benefits, we offer Dependent Care Assistance, Flexible Spending Accounts, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, Tuition Waiver, Deferred Compensation, Employee Recognition Leave, and more. With the goal of employee health and wellness, we also offer:

• Flexible schedules and part-time/hybrid telework options;
• A Wellness Program, an Infants in the Workplace Program, and the Employee Assistance Program, which provides counseling, webinar, and other cost-free support resources;
• Numerous employee-driven affinity groups to foster community and connection, including Bereavement, Elder Care, Parenting, POC, LGBTQ+, Veterans and more. The AGO is a place to belong and make a difference!

About the Medicaid Fraud & Abuse Division

The work of the Office's Medicaid Fraud & Abuse Division (MFAD) focuses on both criminal and civil law enforcement. The 75% federally funded MFAD's mission is combating provider fraud, abuse and neglect in residential facilities and involving Medicaid recipients in non-institutional settings.

MFAD's Headquarters is located in Olympia, Washington with some team members also located at the AGO's Spokane Office and Seattle Office. The Division currently has a staff of 84 FTEs, including attorneys, special agents, data scientists, clinical health investigators and professional support staff.

MFAD involves protecting not only the Medicaid program of roughly 22.9 billion dollars annually, but also its most vulnerable persons, typically elderly persons in residential facilities or persons abused or neglected by a Medicaid Provider. In many of our cases, there is no precedent, so MFAD is consistently on the cutting edge of legal theories and issues. The cases range from abuse and neglect of persons in nursing homes, large scale organized individual and corporate civil and criminal fraudulent activity to national whistleblower actions. Our staff is a highly professional, fun and seasoned analytical investigative team. MFAD is unique in that all cases have an attorney, special agent, and data scientist assigned with legal support. In cases involving digital evidence, a Digital Forensics Specialist is assigned as needed to provide specialized technical expertise. This, and the great people who make up the division, gives MFAD a particularly terrific team atmosphere.
Duties and Essential Functions of a Digital Forensic Specialist (Forensic Scientist 4)

This expert level position within the MFAD's Digital Forensics Section serves as the forensic technical lead and directs operations in the Olympia DF Lab and MFAD mobile labs, applying research, method modification, or unique approaches to complex digital forensic casework, forensic acquisition, and advanced data analysis while ensuring legal defensibility, evidentiary integrity, and compliance with applicable forensic, data governance, and laboratory standards.

Some of the work includes:

• Responsible to independently operate as the forensic technical lead at multiple search warrant sites and locations which often occur simultaneously across WA state. Maintains and runs a mobile laboratory during onsite search warrants ensuring it maintains quality processes and ensuring operational compliance with all certification, accreditation, legal standards, and requirements.
• Responsible for assigning, auditing and correcting the casework of new digital forensics personnel in all laboratory and field settings. Authorized to direct and stop casework processes at any time if a problem occurs in the laboratory, mobile laboratory, and/or out in the field.
• Perform highly complex analyses of digital evidence from computers, mobile devices, cloud services, IoT devices, network traffic, and other storage media. Interpret complex datasets, identify patterns and anomalies, and reconstruct events from multiple evidence sources.
• Uses forensic techniques, programming language and develops queries to identify and recover hidden, encrypted, unparsed or deleted information related to the case, safeguards the integrity of data by following a chain of custody that ensures its admissibility in court, testifying as an expert witness in legal proceedings when required
• Forensic reporting of digital evidence across numerous formats. Reports findings in the form of a written laboratory report based on the interpretation of observations and analytical test results

This recruitment announcement may be used to fill multiple open positions for the same classification, in addition to the position(s) listed in this announcement.
Required Qualifications

Six (6) years of experience in digital forensics or a closely related field with at least four (4) years of technical experience working and managing and/or operating a lead role in a forensic lab and testifying in a court of law.

A Bachelor's degree in forensic science or closely related field may substitute for two (2) years of experience in digital forensics.

Skills & Abilities

• Professional certifications such as GCFA, GCFE, CCO, CCPA, CCME, MCFE, FTK or CFCE
• Background in specialized areas such as SQL, SQLite, Python, and other programming languages, cloud forensics, IoT forensics, or malware reverse engineering
• Ability to apply knowledge of network computer systems, common communication software, including Outlook, and familiarity with electronic e-mail systems; knowledge of different operating systems, including Windows, DOS, Linux, and Mac OS; the Internet; hardware in standalone computers; various electronic storage media including internal and external hard drives and data archiving technology; USB/Firewire technology; and skilled in the use of various digital forensic software, including but not limited to Axiom Cyber, Encase and Forensic Tool Kit.
• Knowledge of the physical sciences; principles embraced in the scientific method; theory and practice of forensic science as it relates to digital forensics
• Technical casework experience
• Demonstrated competency in coordinating and planning projects, programs, or task forces
• Healthcare Fraud and/or Abuse and Neglect experience

Conditions of Employment

A background check consisting of employment history, professional references and educational verification (e.g., degree, license, or official transcript) may be conducted. Prior to any offer, the applicant selected will be required to submit to and pass a fingerprint-based criminal background check conducted by the Washington State Patrol, Criminal Records Division. The incumbent will submit to additional background checks as a condition of employment every five (5) years thereafter.
Application Instructions

In addition to completing the online application, applicants must attach the following documents to their profile in order to be considered for this position:

• A letter of interest, describing your specific qualifications for the position;
• A current resume detailing experience and education.

Read the Following Information Completely:

• Carefully review your application for accuracy, spelling and grammar before submitting.
• You may not reapply to this posting for 30 days.
• The initial screening of applications will be solely based on the contents and completeness of the "work experience" and "education" sections of your application in , completeness of the application material submitted, and responses to the supplemental questionnaire.
• A resume will not substitute for completing the "work experience" section of the application.
• All information may be verified and documentation may be required.

More than Just a Paycheck!
Employee benefits are not just about the kind of services you get, they are also about how much you may have to pay out of pocket. Washington State offers one of the most competitive benefits packages in the nation.

We understand that your life revolves around more than just your career. Like everyone, your first priority is ensuring that you and your family will maintain health and financial security. That's why choice is a key component of our benefits package. We have a selection of health and retirement plans, paid leave, staff training and other compensation benefits that you can mix and match to meet your current and future needs.

Read about our benefits:
The following information describes typical benefits available for full-time employees who are expected to work more than six months. Actual benefits may vary by appointment type or be prorated for other than full-time work (e.g. part-time); view the job posting for benefits details for job types other than full-time.

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