Senior Epidemiologist

Boston Public Health Commission•Boston, MA

About The Position

This grant-funded Senior Epidemiologist position will provide epidemiologic coordination of core HIV and STI surveillance activities, including field activities, and coordinate the Department’s planning, monitoring, managing, and responding to citywide HIV clusters/outbreaks and related comorbidities. It will also evaluate the efficacy of HIV/STI response activities and lead modernization of HIV/STI data systems through innovative analytic and data infrastructure advancements. This role provides advanced methodological oversight and strategic analytic guidance across HIV/STI surveillance, evaluation, and response activities, including review and approval of analytic plans and high-priority deliverables. These activities supplement the monitoring of HIV and STI disease progression and evaluation of service program utilization outcomes. The position collaborates with staff across the Commission in implementing state-of-the-art surveillance, epidemiology, evaluation, and public health programs to identify, investigate, control, and prevent dangerous infectious disease outbreaks in Boston. It also collaborates closely with agencies at the Massachusetts Department of Health (MDPH) to streamline communications and monitor data shared by MDPH. The position sits within the Center for Public Health Science and Innovation at BPHC and reports to designated Director(s) in the Infectious Disease Bureau (IDB). In consultation with IDB Directors and program leadership, the candidate will engage community organizations, lead and mentor junior staff, apply advanced methods in assessment and evaluation, draft professional quality reports, lead strengthening of HIV data infrastructure through data innovations, leverage technological tools to improve data gathering, and connect data to real-life impact. The candidate is expected to be committed to learning and being part of a collaborative, caring team and network of city and community partners.

Requirements

Masters Degree in Public Health with concentration in epidemiology / biostatistics or equivalent terminal degree.
Minimum of 4 years progressive experience leading advanced epidemiology, public health research, or applied public health analytics.
Experience with HIV/STI surveillance data and program data.
Minimum of 2 years of supervisory or team leadership experience.
Demonstrated experience mentoring staff and reviewing analytic work.
Proven ability to manage multiple projects and coordinate across interdisciplinary teams.
Strong collaboration skills across diverse stakeholders and community partners.
Experience with public speaking including making formal and informal presentations, presenting at community meetings, testifying at public hearings and others.
Advanced knowledge of epidemiologic methods, biostatistics, program evaluation, and relevant public health surveillance systems.
Demonstrated experience applying advanced quantitative and qualitative analytic methods (e.g. outbreak monitoring, anomaly detection, longitudinal analyses, threshold development, cluster analyses, forecasting, small area estimation, complex survey methods, care continuum evaluation, transmission dynamics modeling, survival analyses, causal inference methods, and interpretation of metagenomic sequencing data).
Experience preparing IRB applications, 24A requests, data use agreements, or similar regulatory documentation.
Extensive experience analyzing complex datasets and public health data systems (e.g., MAVEN, syndromic surveillance, MIIS, vital records, wastewater surveillance, EMR data).
Advanced proficiency coding in R or R studio.
Strong written and oral communication skills, including rigorous report and manuscript writing.
Ability to travel out of state for grant-related meetings.
Ability to provide occasional off-hours coverage such as outbreak responses, emergency response duties, and presentations.
A Criminal Offenders Records Information request must be completed for this position.

Nice To Haves

Doctoral degree (PhD, DrPH, MD, or equivalent) in epidemiology, biostatistics, or related field.
Strong proficiency in quantitative and qualitative statistical software, data visualization programs, and database systems like ETO, REDCap, Epi Info, Power BI, ATLAS.ti, tableau, and GIS.
Experience working with community groups and knowledge of Boston neighborhoods.
Ability to work with diverse groups of internal and external stakeholders collaboratively.
Knowledge of or willingness to learn about the role of public health in addressing racism, the social determinants of health, and inequities in health outcomes as well as strategies to advance racial justice and health equity.
Commitment to health equity and racial/social justice issues.

Responsibilities

Independently leads complex analytic and sentinel surveillance projects to detect emerging trends and public health threats, conduct ongoing disease surveillance, assess intervention impact, inform resource allocation and policy development, and identify disparities across populations and geographies.
Conducts advanced analyses for high-priority, complex projects, particularly those with policy or programmatic implications, and provides oversight and expertise on rigorous analytic approaches.
Reviews, refines, and approves analytic plans, statistical methods, analytic code, and outputs developed by junior epidemiology staff to ensure methodological rigor.
Interprets epidemiologic findings in the context of peer-reviewed literature and public health practice to inform data driven policy and public health response.
Maintains awareness of emerging best practices and methods in epidemiology and analytic methods related to the units work.
Independently oversees and supports regulatory and data access processes, including IRB applications, 24A requests, data use agreements, and related documentation.
Ensures compliance with data governance, confidentiality, and ethical standards for protected health data.
Advises on appropriate use, limitations, and interpretation of sensitive public health datasets including: MAVEN (Massachusetts Virtual Epidemiologic Network), vital statistics, MIIS (Massachusetts Immunization Information System), syndromic surveillance, and federated EMR networks.
Leads modernization of surveillance data systems and analytic infrastructure.
Ensures data quality, completeness, and integrity across related datasets in collaboration with providers and partners.
Provides technical guidance, supervision, mentorship, and skill building for epidemiologists, analysts, and research staff.
Reviews code, analytic outputs, reports, and deliverables for methodological rigor, clarity, and alignment with equity principles.
Manages hiring processes with the approval of the director, including development of interview questions, review of candidates, technical assessments, and onboarding.
Coordinates analytic deliverables across multiple teams and stakeholders.
Leads innovative grant proposal development, including analytic design and evaluation frameworks.
Independently manages grant budgets and resources; leads analytic procurement processes (e.g., RFRs), including scope development and vendor selection; and supervises contractors to ensure timely, high-quality deliverables and compliance with program and regulatory requirements.
Collaborates with bureau leadership, stakeholders, and community organizations to provide strategic input on analytic priorities, surveillance approaches, study design, and cross-bureau initiatives.
Partners with Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH), the Center of Health Information and Analytics (CHIA), the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME), the Health Policy Commission (HPC), and other agencies to improve data sharing and coordination.
Provides technical assistance to community programs on data reporting and grant-related deliverables.
Participates in cross-bureau and interagency initiatives addressing infectious disease surveillance and response.
Represents BPHC on relevant local, state, and national technical work groups, boards, communities of practice etc.
Serves as primary reviewer for reports, briefs, dashboards, manuscripts, and presentations to ensure clarity, accuracy, and appropriate framing.
Authors and leads development of high-profile scientific manuscripts, briefs, grant deliverables, and public health reports.
Translates analytic findings into actionable insights and data-to-action recommendations for program planning, resource allocation, policy development, and public health decision making.
Presents findings to technical and non-technical audiences, including community stakeholders and briefings to commission and city leadership.
Works to help BPHC advance as an antiracist organization by meeting or exceeding the standards set by the BPHC Anti-Racism Policy
Performs other duties as assigned.