OPS BIOLOGICAL SCIENTIST IV - 64906042

State of Florida • Fort Lauderdale, FL

3d • Onsite

About The Position

The Drug Overdose Surveillance Epidemiologist leads overdose morbidity and mortality surveillance activities for the Broward County Health Department. The role maintains REDCap abstraction workflows and develops and updates dashboards tracking EMS and hospital encounters. It monitors ESSENCE-FL and Biospatial daily, responds to spike alerts, prepares analytic summaries, and supports statewide and CDC reporting requirements.

The position creates and revises REDCap data collection instruments; manages and validates surveillance datasets; conducts case abstraction; produces visualizations and reports in response to alerts; exports ESSENCE-FL queries and imports Biospatial EMS encounter data into REDCap; and maintains dashboards for EMS encounters, hospital encounters, and spike activity. It also produces weekly and monthly abstraction performance metrics and develops presentations for internal and external partners, including CDC meetings.

This is a full-time, in-office OPS position requiring on-site work at a Broward County facility. OPS positions do not offer paid time off. Health benefits are offered for full-time employment, and OPS employees may participate in a deferred compensation plan. The position may require emergency duty before, during, or beyond normal work hours or days.

Requirements

• Master's degree in biostatistics, statistics, data science or analytics, public health with a quantitative concentration, or a closely related field with advanced statistical coursework.
• Experience performing data analysis using R, Python, SAS, SQL, Tableau, or Power BI.
• Experience managing datasets, including data cleaning and validation.
• Experience developing dashboards or visual data displays.
• Experience presenting data findings to internal or external audiences.
• Experience preparing written analytic reports, summaries, or briefs.
• Experience creating or revising data collection instruments.
• Ability to learn and communicate effectively in English, orally and in writing.
• Must complete a security background check and/or drug screening and participate in direct deposit.
• Emergency duty may be required before, during, and/or beyond normal work hours or days.

Nice To Haves

• Experience using ArcGIS.
• Experience using REDCap for data entry or data management.
• Experience using ESSENCE-FL and/or Biospatial.
• Experience conducting overdose, injury, substance use, or syndromic surveillance activities.
• Experience monitoring, investigating, or responding to public health alerts or outbreak-related events.

Responsibilities

• Lead overdose morbidity and mortality surveillance activities.
• Maintain REDCap abstraction workflows and create or revise data collection instruments for hospital and EMS abstraction.
• Manage, validate, and conduct quality assurance on surveillance datasets to ensure accuracy and completeness.
• Monitor ESSENCE-FL and Biospatial daily for alerts, investigate opioid-related complaints and spikes, and respond with case abstraction, visualizations, reports, and appropriate notifications.
• Export ESSENCE-FL queries and import Biospatial EMS encounter data into REDCap.
• Maintain and update dashboards for EMS encounters, hospital encounters, and spike activity, including active Tableau dashboards.
• Produce weekly and monthly abstraction performance metrics and analytic summaries.
• Lead OD2A data reporting and provide technical assistance to participating hospitals and emergency departments.
• Develop GIS mapping from surveillance data to support epidemiological analysis and serve as the lead ESSENCE and GIS user for the epidemiology section.
• Prepare and deliver presentations and written reports for internal and external partners, including CDC meetings.
• Participate in teleconferences, EpiCom, and other meetings to share local, regional, and state information.
• Support effective health information management across hospitals, protect medical-record privacy and security, and maintain medical-record catalogs as required.
• Collaborate with community healthcare providers to support compliance with communicable disease reporting requirements.
• Conduct or support case investigations for reported diseases, including field investigations and appropriate notifications.

Benefits

• State of Florida 401(a) FICA Alternative Plan (mandatory).
• Participation in state group insurance upon meeting eligibility requirements; health benefits are offered for full-time OPS employment.
• Workers’ Compensation (mandatory, if needed).
• Reemployment Assistance (Unemployment Compensation) (mandatory, if needed).
• Deferred Compensation (voluntary).
• Employee Assistance Program (voluntary).
• No paid time off is offered for OPS positions.

What This Job Offers

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