IN-DOH-Wastewater Epidemiologist

• Collaborate and coordinate between IDOH IDEPD IDOH Laboratory and wastewater treatment facility staff academic partners and local health departments to maintain grow and manage wastewater surveillance program participation;
• Collaboratewith and participate in national initiatives related to wastewatersurveillance.

• Maintain current subject matter knowledge of the epidemiology and biology of diseases and public health topics particularly as it relates to wastewaterbased epidemiology;

• Provide epidemiologic consultation and technical assistance to local health departments health care providers the general public and other partners with respect to diseases and public health topics;

• Manage and analyze trends and correlations in data collected through routine surveillance and applied epidemiologic studies;

• Monitor data reporting and correct data quality control flags as identified by the CDC NWSS system and ensure data is uploaded regularly and correctly when issues occur or when required for specific program areas;

• Partner with data analysts in the Office of Data & Analytics to manage and update the wastewater dashboard and internal reports as needed;

• Prepare and disseminate written and oral reports and presentations that communicate necessary information to internal and external partners;

• Conduct educational presentations and/or trainings for a variety of audiences including local health departments health care providers utility operators and the general public;

• Engage directly with members of the public at health fairs and other outreach events;

• Participate in writing grants and other funding proposals;

• Conduct routine epidemiologic surveillance for disease and public health topics;

• Design and conduct applied epidemiologic studies of diseases or public health topics;

• Serve as an agency spokesperson at the invitation and direction of the IDOH Office of Public Affairs;

• Evaluate the impact of legislation or policy proposals at the invitation and direction of the IDOH Director of Legislative Affairs;

• Serve as a backup to other staff as needed;

• Perform related duties as assigned.

Job Requirements:

Amaster s degree in a relevant field (e.g. public health biological sciencesor social sciences) and 2 years relevant public health experience OR

Amaster s degree in a nonrelevant field and 4 years public healthexperience OR

Adoctorallevel degree in epidemiology or other relevant fields OR

Agraduate or professional degree in a healthrelated field (e.g. RN MD/DODDS/DMD DVM PhD RS) with specific epidemiology training (e.g. MPH degreeCDC Epidemic Intelligence Service or CSTE Applied Epidemiology Fellowship) OR

Abachelor s degree in a relevant field and 4 years relevant publichealth experience OR

A bachelor s degree in a nonrelevant field and 6 years public health experience.

Current employee promotion requirement:Internal candidate should be a highperforming Epidemiologist 1 or otherinternal role based on demonstrated ability competency attainment and/orperformance feedback.

Knowledge Skills and Abilities

Knowledgeof the epidemiology and biology of diseases and public health topics;

Knowledgeof state laws and regulations as well as federal public health guidancedocuments pertaining to diseases and public health topics;

Skillin identification of public health problems pertinent to Indiana residents;

Skillin conducting epidemiologic surveillance activities including selection anduse of appropriate field methods as well as use and evaluation of public healthsurveillance systems;

Skillin eliciting relevant information from patients in structured or unstructuredtelephone interviews;

Skillin conducting public health investigations of individual cases and/or outbreaksof diseases or public health topics

Skillin designing descriptive and analytical epidemiologic investigations includinghypothesis generation;

Skillin managing large datasets performing complex data analyses and identifying keyfindings;

Skill in recommending evidencebased interventions and controlmeasures in response to epidemiologic findings;

Skillin preparing written and oral reports presentations and educational materialsthat communicate necessary information to internal and external partners;

Skill in applying principles of informatics including datacollection processing and analysis in support of epidemiologic practice

Demonstratedskill in statistical analytical and/or geospatial software (e.g. EpiInfoSAS ArcGIS SQL SPSS R Python Stata etc.);

Abilityto identify appropriate laboratory resources and use them appropriately;

Abilityto provide prompt courteous and helpful customer service;

Abilityto collaborate with others inside and outside the agency to identify publichealth problems and form recommendations;

Abilityto communicate effectively both orally and in writing using principles ofrisk communication where appropriate;

Abilityto prioritize tasks efficiently to meet internal and external deadlines;

Abilityto appropriately document work activities and maintain organized records.

Supervisory Responsibilities/Direct Reports:

May be responsible for directingand coordinating the work of interns assigned to the program.

Difficulty of Work:

The employee must have or rapidly acquire expert knowledge of theepidemiology of diseases and public health topics. They must use this knowledgeand their critical thinking skills to ascertain the existence of public healththreats conduct public health investigations and identify appropriate interventions.The employee will routinely exercise independent judgment to identifyappropriate actions in complex situations that are not explicitly described instate regulations and public health guidance documents. The employee must routinelyreorganize their work activities to prioritize emergent public health threatsoften with little to no advance warning. They are expected to show initiativein independently identifying and executing process improvements and/or specialprojects that would benefit IDOH and Indiana residents. Failure of the employeeto properly execute their duties could have grave consequences for Indianaresidents.

Responsibility:

The employee is expected to support IDOHs vision comply with agencyadministrative and fiscal policies and practice cultural sensitivity in allwork activities. The employee must have knowledge of state and federal privacylaws and protect patient confidentiality at all times.The employee must identify possible ethical conflicts in work activities andrequest assistance from the supervisor in resolving them. The employee isexpected to independently identify opportunities for their professionaldevelopment that would benefit IDOH and Indiana residents.

The employee initially works under the close supervision oftheir supervisor but works more independently with acquired experience. Thesupervisor sets the overall objectives and determines what resources are available.The employee and the supervisor will work together to develop guidelinesprojects and work to be done. The employee plans directs monitors evaluatesand identifies needs and resolves most conflicts within assigned projects. The employeeinterprets and applies policies in terms of established goals objectives andaccepted practices. The employee is expected to bring controversial or complexissues to the attention of the supervisor for more detailed direction andguidance. The employee is expected to keep the supervisor informed of progressand potentially critical items. Completed work is reviewed for feasibilityconformance to program policy and practices and effectiveness in meetingspecific goals and objectives.

Personal Work Relationships:

The employee works closely with a variety of stakeholders which mayinclude the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the Water EnvironmentFederation the IDOH Laboratories wastewater utility operators health careproviders local health departments and other state agencies. The employee isexpected to maintain good working relationships with these entities as well asother internal and external partners.

Physical Effort:

The employee must be physically able totype on a computer to communicate via telephone and to sit and/or stand at aworkstation for a 7.5hour workday. If this position is field based the employeemust also be physically able to lift 1020 lb drive long distances walk long distances over uneven terrainsee arthropods under a stereo microscope and manipulate arthropods using toolsthat require fine motor control.

Working Conditions:

Work is performed in an indoor officesetting. Occasional field work and/or overnight travel may be required. Theemployee must be willing to receive immunizations for communicable diseaseswhen necessary and appropriate. If the position is field based the position mayrequire work to routinely be performed outdoors as well as in an indoor officesetting. There is seasonal variation in the volume of field work with a peakin summer. Field work may result in exposure to biting arthropods inclementweather and/or extreme temperatures. Field work may also require driving longdistances in inclement weather.