Epidemiologist

DHRM•Richmond, VA

7d•Onsite

About The Position

The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) is dedicated to protecting and promoting the health of Virginians. The VDH is made up of a statewide Central Office in Richmond and 35 local health districts. The Richmond & Henrico Health Districts (RHHD) are on the forefront of Public Health and Population Health. Our mission is to protect health, champion equity, and partner to address local needs. We accomplish this by exposing and addressing the root causes of health disparities and protecting health through disease prevention and monitoring, providing clinical services, nutrition services, environmental health services, vital records, emergency planning, and building health equity by partnering with communities and working collaboratively across sectors. WE ARE PUBLIC HEALTH! The entry-level epidemiologist is responsible for carrying out a range of investigative and analytical epidemiologic activities related to the surveillance, detection, and/or prevention of public health events in an assigned district or within a statewide program area. Responsibilities include consulting on scientific and technical issues, conducting routine epidemiologic investigations, data collection/analysis, and providing health education and disease control recommendations. Positions in this role typically work under the close supervision of a more senior epidemiologist or similar position and the work is assigned and reviewed for conformance with overall requirements, contribution to the assignment objectives, consistency of facts and figures, analytical methodology, and practicality of recommendations. The entry-level epidemiologist position serves Richmond and Henrico Health Districts’ (RHHD) mission to protect health by preventing and controlling infectious disease spread and other disease-inducing exposures and building health equity by partnering with communities and working collaboratively across sectors. To contribute to this mission, the Henrico Epidemiologist position will carry out disease and outbreak investigations and surveillance duties under the direction of the Henrico Epidemiologist Senior. The position is based in the Henrico Health District headquarters and will work primarily at 8600 Dixon Powers Drive.

Requirements

Basic knowledge of the cause, transmission, treatment, and prevention of communicable diseases and other conditions of public health importance.
Basic knowledge of methods of public health surveillance and disease outbreak investigations.
Working knowledge of biostatistics, computer data analysis, data quality assurance, and data management techniques.
Strong oral and written communication skills.
Strong customer service skills.
Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships.
Demonstrated ability to collect, analyze, and present statistical data.
Some experience in epidemiology, public health, or a related area.

Nice To Haves

Training/experience in public health, epidemiology or biostatistics.
Some knowledge of federal and state laws, regulations, and policies regarding the reporting and control of disease.
Working knowledge of statistical software packages.
Experience with database management systems, especially those used to manage population-based disease data.

Responsibilities

Carrying out a range of investigative and analytical epidemiologic activities related to the surveillance, detection, and/or prevention of public health events in an assigned district or within a statewide program area.
Consulting on scientific and technical issues.
Conducting routine epidemiologic investigations.
Data collection/analysis.
Providing health education and disease control recommendations.
Carrying out disease and outbreak investigations and surveillance duties under the direction of the Henrico Epidemiologist Senior.