Director, Community Engagement and Capacity Building, Bureau of Queens Neighborhood Health

City of New York • Long Island City, NY

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Center for Health Equity & Community Wellness (CHECW) aims to eliminate racial and other inequities that lead to premature mortality. CHECW collaborates with community, faith-based, and healthcare organizations to address social determinants of health and both upstream and downstream factors impacting New Yorkers' health. The center includes several bureaus, and will launch a new Bureau of Queens Neighborhood Health in 2026. This role is for the Director of Community Engagement and Capacity Building within the new Bureau of Queens Neighborhood Health, which will focus on strengthening community partnerships, building capacity, and ensuring programs are responsive to community needs. The position will be based in Jamaica, Queens, with initial work in Long Island City, Queens, during renovations. The role emphasizes fostering trust, collaboration, and equity, while supporting chronic disease prevention and management through training, technical assistance, and capacity-building initiatives.

Requirements

• A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and five years of full-time professional satisfactory experience acquired within the last fifteen years, in a health services setting such as a laboratory, hospital, or other patient care facility, or in a public health, environmental health, or mental hygiene program, at least 18 months of which must have been in a managerial capacity, consisting of managerial experience clearly demonstrating the ability to perform difficult and responsible managerial work, requiring independent decision-making concerning program management, planning, allocation of resources, and the scheduling and assignment of work.
• Education and/or experience equivalent to the above.
• Education may be substituted for experience on the basis that each 30 graduate semester credits from an accredited college in hospital administration, public health, public administration, business administration, management or administration can be substituted for one year of non-managerial experience up to a maximum of 60 semester credits for two years.
• However, all candidates must have a minimum of a baccalaureate degree and 18 months of managerial experience as described above.

Nice To Haves

• Strong background in applied public health, statistics, social justice or social sciences.
• Experience in data management and data analysis.
• Experience in community engagement and outreach.
• Experience providing technical assistance and training to community-based partners.
• Knowledge of anti-oppression, racial justice, structural violence efforts including addressing root causes of violence in communities.
• Strong written and oral communication skills, including writing and editing of reports.
• Experience using Excel and PowerPoint.
• Experience using Salesforce.
• Knowledge of excluded communities, including people who are Black, Latino, LGBTQI, have a history of substance misuse, Medicaid recipients, new English learners, people living with HIV (PLWH), undocumented immigrants, transgender and gender non-confirming people, youth, currently/formerly incarcerated.
• Comfort in working in non-hierarchal leadership structures that promote new leadership from marginalized communities.
• Experience and comfort applying a racial equity lens.
• Proficiency in language other than English (Spanish, Mandarin, Bengali, etc.) is welcome.

Responsibilities

• Support coordination of internal and external initiatives in Queens, with a focus on Jamaica, including coordination among community partners.
• Attend community meetings, e.g. Community Board, neighborhood coalition and other groups to support health initiatives and collaborate on community activities and events.
• Provide yearly presentation of health status in community districts and train Community Engagement team to conduct similar tailored presentations.
• Develop budgets for CTL and grant funded initiatives, conduct grants management and performance monitoring of vendors and reporting to funders.
• Lead or participate in grant writing teams, budget proposals and assess human resource needs.
• Implement collaborative community engagement initiative to educate community stakeholders on available resources and activities to decrease chronic diseases.
• Work in close collaboration with the Assistant Commissioner, Action Center Manager, and the Program Director (focused on chronic disease) to plan, track, and monitor one time and ongoing Bureau efforts.
• Initiate and spearhead grant applications to secure funding for future Bureau work.
• Support internal capacity-building efforts related to monitoring and data management.
• Present and report public health data and research findings to community leaders and residents to inform policy initiatives aimed at maintaining and improving the health and safety of New Yorkers across our Action Center neighborhoods.
• Assist in development of community-based policy initiatives related to food access, chronic diseases, and other health concerns.
• Develop and/or strengthen collaboration among agency and external partners of the health department to improve coordinated service provision and information sharing.
• Develop and improve engagement strategies that reduce access barriers for community residents.
• Supervise and mentor a team of four staff with outreach-oriented roles.
• Serve as point person for speaking and presentation opportunities with community partners and media.
• Plan and execute community activities, conferences, and other health related events (some evenings and weekends work required).
• Develop metrics to measure community engagement efforts in collaboration with Research and Evaluation team.
• Coordinate and manage evaluation of coalitions and partnerships across Bureau units.

Benefits

• Loan Forgiveness: Prospective employees may be eligible for federal/state loan forgiveness and repayment assistance programs.
• Premium-free health insurance plan.
• Additional health, fitness, and financial benefits may be available based on the position’s associated union/benefit fund.
• Public sector defined benefit pension plan.
• Tax-deferred savings program.
• Robust Worksite Wellness Program.
• Job Security.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director