Environmental Health Services Epidemiologist

Career Opportunities @Phmc•Philadelphia, PA

9d•$60,000 - $63,000

About The Position

The Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH) protects and promotes the health of all Philadelphians and provides a safety net for people who are disproportionately impacted by societal factors that limit their access to healthcare and other resources necessary for optimal health. The agency leads programs to prevent communicable diseases; prevent chronic diseases and promote healthy behaviors; prevent environmental health risks and injuries; investigate outbreaks of disease; respond to public health emergencies; and promote the health of women, children, and families. In addition, the department operates a series of primary care clinics. PDPH has been on the vanguard of public health, proposing policy solutions to issues like opioid and tobacco use, and intends to continue developing creative solutions to both long-standing urban health problems and new crises. The Philadelphia Department of Public Health is seeking a dynamic, skilled, and experienced candidate to provide epidemiological support for the Division of Environmental Health Services (EHS). The mission of EHS is to improve and maintain safe and healthy environments, prevent disease, and promote environmental public health through policy, regulation and legislation, enforcement, and education. EHS monitors, assesses, inspects, regulates, and educates the public about vectors, food safety, environmental engineering and indoor health, and lead and healthy homes. The division does not address outside air or water quality. The person in this position is responsible for analyzing environmental factors to understand exposures that contribute to health. Candidates should have experience designing and conducting quantitative and qualitative research projects and have strong communication and technical writing skills. The EHS Epidemiologist will work with the EHS Director, EHS program managers, supervisors, and other PDPH staff to provide research and analytic support of PDPH’s work to create and sustain safe and healthy environments for all Philadelphians. Departmental priorities in environmental health include food protection, vector control, tobacco control, environmental engineering, and childhood lead poisoning, with an emphasis on environmental justice principles. The EHS Epidemiologist will be responsible for all aspects related to data analysis, research, and evaluation, including data collection, cleaning, management, and presentation; developing research questions; performing statistical analysis; reporting and summarizing findings in clear and concise written and oral reports; and collaborating with other team members and partners on research and evaluation activities. The Epidemiologist will use appropriate data sources to monitor trends, patterns, and changes in risk factors and health outcomes. While academic journal publications are encouraged, the primary purpose of our work is to inform and advise our programs, policymakers, and the public.

Requirements

Knowledge of and experience with environmental epidemiology or social science research methods, including study design, methodology, GIS mapping, and preparation of scientific reports
Ability to analyze data, write project proposals, and write technical reports
Ability to summarize findings for a variety of audiences (e.g., scientists, policy makers, the public)
Interest in using data skills in an applied setting to advance health policy goals
Strong analytic abilities with statistical software (e.g., R - preferred, SAS)
Excellent oral and written communication skills
Able to work as a team, prioritize and handle multiple tasks and deadlines, work independently, take initiative, and follow projects through to completion
Two or more years of experience in environmental or public health required (can include experience during school)
Must meet one of the following: Have a master’s degree with a focus in social science research methods, such as epidemiology, public health, demography, data science, or a related field, OR Have any equivalent combination of education and experience determined to be acceptable by the Department of Public Health that includes a bachelor’s degree as an educational minimum

Nice To Haves

Experience with interactive data visualization (e.g., Shiny, Tableau) a plus
Strong mapping abilities using software (e.g., ArcGIS, Leaflet) a plus

Responsibilities

Manage, clean, analyze, and interpret data, including surveillance data, administrative data, survey data, hospitalization data, and internal research and evaluation project data, among others.
Analyze, develop, design, and maintain the annual Childhood Lead Poisoning Surveillance Report.
Perform regular data matches between health-related data sources.
Coordinate with external agencies to meet reporting mandates.
Contribute to all aspects of the research process for research and evaluation projects, including literature reviews, designing research questions, constructing research instruments, data collection, data entry and preparation, data analysis, statistical analysis, and reporting of research findings.
Contribute to program evaluation planning, and other research and data products (e.g., data briefs, presentations).
Support the development of new data processes, systems, collaboratives, and documentation for EHS use.
Collaborate with EHS program staff, data scientists, and epidemiologists across the department, as well as external academic, medical, and policy partners.
Assist with the development of field data collection efforts, including surveys.
Participate in relevant division and department-wide meetings.
Perform other duties as assigned.