Hello
Hope youredoing well
Position: INDOHWastewaterEpidemiologist
Location:2 N. Meridian Street Indianapolis IN(Onsite)
Duration: LongTerm
Client:State of IN
JobDescription:
The purpose of this position is tocoordinate collaborate and perform surveillance utilizingwastewaterbased epidemiology for SARSCoV2 virus other pathogens oradditional program targets.
Collaborate and coordinate between IDOH IDEPD IDOHLaboratory and wastewater treatment facility staff academicpartners and local health departments to maintain grow and managewastewater surveillance program participation;
Collaborate with andparticipate in national initiatives related to wastewatersurveillance.
Maintain current subject matter knowledge of theepidemiology and biology of diseases and public health topicsparticularly as it relates to wastewaterbasedepidemiology;
Provide epidemiologic consultation and technicalassistance to local health departments health care providers thegeneral public and other partners with respect to diseases andpublic health topics;
Manage and analyze trends and correlations in datacollected through routine surveillance and applied epidemiologicstudies;
Monitordata reporting and correct data quality control flags as identifiedby the CDC NWSS system and ensure data is uploaded regularly andcorrectly when issues occur or when required for specific programareas;
Partner withdata analysts in the Office of Data & Analytics to manage andupdate the wastewater dashboard and internal reports asneeded;
Prepare anddisseminate written and oral reports and presentations thatcommunicate necessary information to internal and externalpartners;
Conducteducational presentations and/or trainings for a variety ofaudiences including local health departments health care providersutility operators and the general public;
Engage directly with members of the publicat health fairs and other outreach events;
Participate in writing grants and otherfunding proposals;
Conduct routine epidemiologic surveillance for diseaseand public health topics;
Design and conduct applied epidemiologic studies ofdiseases or public health topics;
Serve as an agency spokesperson at theinvitation and direction of the IDOH Office of PublicAffairs;
Evaluatethe impact of legislation or policy proposals at the invitation anddirection of the IDOH Director of Legislative Affairs;
Serve as a backup to otherstaff as needed;
Perform related duties as assigned.
Job Requirements:
A masters degree in a relevantfield (e.g. public health biological sciences or social sciences)and 2 years relevant public health experience OR
A masters degree in anonrelevant field and 4 years public health experienceOR
A doctorallevel degree in epidemiologyor other relevant fields OR
A graduate orprofessional degree in a healthrelated field (e.g. RN MD/DO DDS/DMDDVM PhD RS) with specific epidemiology training (e.g. MPH degreeCDC Epidemic Intelligence Service or CSTE Applied EpidemiologyFellowship) OR
A bachelors degree in arelevant field and 4 years relevant public health experienceOR
A bachelors degree in a nonrelevantfield and 6 years public health experience.
Current employee promotion requirement: Internal candidate shouldbe a highperforming Epidemiologist 1 or other internal role basedon demonstrated ability competency attainment and/or performancefeedback.
Knowledge Skills andAbilities
Knowledge of the epidemiology andbiology of diseases and public health topics;
Knowledge of state laws and regulations as well asfederal public health guidance documents pertaining to diseases andpublic health topics;
Skill inidentification of public health problems pertinent to Indianaresidents;
Skill in conductingepidemiologic surveillance activities including selection and useof appropriate field methods as well as use and evaluation ofpublic health surveillance systems;
Skillin eliciting relevant information from patients in structured orunstructured telephone interviews;
Skill inconducting public health investigations of individual cases and/oroutbreaks of diseases or public health topics
Skill in designing descriptive and analyticalepidemiologic investigations including hypothesisgeneration;
Skill in managing largedatasets performing complex data analyses and identifying keyfindings;
Skill in recommendingevidencebased interventions and control measures in response toepidemiologic findings;
Skill in preparingwritten and oral reports presentations and educational materialsthat communicate necessary information to internal and externalpartners;
Skill in applying principles ofinformatics including data collection processing and analysis insupport of epidemiologic practice
Demonstrated skill in statistical analytical and/or geospatialsoftware (e.g. EpiInfo SAS ArcGIS SQL SPSS R Python Stataetc.);
Ability to identify appropriatelaboratory resources and use them appropriately;
Ability to provide prompt courteous and helpfulcustomer service;
Ability to collaboratewith others inside and outside the agency to identify public healthproblems and form recommendations;
Abilityto communicate effectively both orally and in writing usingprinciples of risk communication where appropriate;
Ability to prioritize tasks efficiently to meetinternal and external deadlines;
Ability toappropriately document work activities and maintain organizedrecords.
Supervisory Responsibilities/Direct Reports:
May be responsible for directing and coordinating thework of interns assigned to the program.
Difficulty of Work:
The employee must have or rapidly acquireexpert knowledge of the epidemiology of diseases and public healthtopics. They must use this knowledge and their critical thinkingskills to ascertain the existence of public health threats conductpublic health investigations and identify appropriateinterventions. The employee will routinely exercise independentjudgment to identify appropriate actions in complex situations thatare not explicitly described in state regulations and public healthguidance documents. The employee must routinely reorganize theirwork activities to prioritize emergent public health threats oftenwith little to no advance warning. They are expected to showinitiative in independently identifying and executing processimprovements and/or special projects that would benefit IDOH andIndiana residents. Failure of the employee to properly executetheir duties could have grave consequences for Indianaresidents.
Responsibility:
The employee is expected to support IDOHsvision comply with agency administrative and fiscal policies andpractice cultural sensitivity in all work activities. The employeemust have knowledge of state and federal privacy laws and protectpatient confidentiality at all times. The employee must identifypossible ethical conflicts in work activities and requestassistance from the supervisor in resolving them. The employee isexpected to independently identify opportunities for theirprofessional development that would benefit IDOH and Indianaresidents.
The employee initially worksunder the close supervision of their supervisor but works moreindependently with acquired experience. The supervisor sets theoverall objectives and determines what resources are available. Theemployee and the supervisor will work together to developguidelines projects and work to be done. The employee plans directsmonitors evaluates and identifies needs and resolves most conflictswithin assigned projects. The employee interprets and appliespolicies in terms of established goals objectives and acceptedpractices. The employee is expected to bring controversial orcomplex issues to the attention of the supervisor for more detaileddirection and guidance. The employee is expected to keep thesupervisor informed of progress and potentially critical items.Completed work is reviewed for feasibility conformance to programpolicy and practices and effectiveness in meeting specific goalsand objectives.
Personal WorkRelationships:
The employee worksclosely with a variety of stakeholders which may include theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention the Water EnvironmentFederation the IDOH Laboratories wastewater utility operatorshealth care providers local health departments and other stateagencies. The employee is expected to maintain good workingrelationships with these entities as well as other internal andexternal partners.
Physical Effort:
The employee must be physically able totype on a computer to communicate via telephone and to sit and/orstand at a workstation for a 7.5hour workday. If this position isfield based the employee must also be physically able to lift 1020lb drive long distances walk long distances over uneven terrain seearthropods under a stereo microscope and manipulate arthropodsusing tools that require fine motor control.
Working Conditions:
Workis performed in an indoor office setting. Occasional field workand/or overnight travel may be required. The employee must bewilling to receive immunizations for communicable diseases whennecessary and appropriate. If the position is field based theposition may require work to routinely be performed outdoors aswell as in an indoor office setting. There is seasonal variation inthe volume of field work with a peak in summer. Field work mayresult in exposure to biting arthropods inclement weather and/orextreme temperatures. Field work may also require driving longdistances in inclement weather.
Extensiveknowledge of the epidemiology and biology of diseases wastewatersurveillance and public health topics;
Required
Demonstrated skill in statistical analytical and/orgeospatial software (e.g. EpiInfo SAS ArcGIS SQL SPSS R PythonStata etc.).
Required
Priorexperience conducting public health investigations of individualcases and/or outbreaks of diseases or public healthtopics.
Required
Priorexperience managing large datasets performing complex data analysesand identifying key findings.
Required
Knowledge of state laws and regulations as well asfederal public health guidance documents pertaining to diseases andpublic health topics.
Required
Ability to effectively communicate with a variety ofstakeholders including state residents state agencies and publichealth departments.
Required
Amasters degree in a nonrelevant field and 4 years public healthexperience
Highlydesired
A doctoralleveldegree in epidemiology or other relevant fields OR
Highly desired
A graduate or professional degree in ahealthrelated field (e.g. RN MD/DO DDS/DMD DVM PhD RS) withspecific epidemiology training (e.g. MPH
Highly desired
A masters degree in a relevant field (e.g. public healthbiological sciences or social sciences) and 2 years relevant publichealth experienc
Highly desired
Priorexperience preparing grants and monitoringbudgets.