Established in 1805, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (the NYC Health Department) is the oldest and largest health department in the country. Our mission is to protect and improve the health of all New Yorkers, in service of a vision of a city in which all New Yorkers can realize their full health potential, regardless of who they are, how old they are, where they are from, or where they live.

As a world-renowned public health agency with a history of building transformative public health programming and infrastructure, innovating in science and scholarship to advance public health knowledge, and responding to urgent public health crises from New York City’s yellow fever outbreak in 1822, to the COVID-19 pandemic we are a hub for public health innovation, expertise, and programs, and services. We serve as the population health strategist, and policy, and planning authority for the City of New York, while also having a vast impact on national and international public policy, including programs and services focused on food and nutrition, anti-tobacco support, chronic disease prevention, HIV/AIDS treatment, family and child health, environmental health, mental health, and racial and social justice work, among others.

Our Agency’s five strategic priorities, building off a recently-completed strategic planning process emerging from the COVID-19 emergency, are:
1) To re-envision how the Health Department prepares for and responds to health emergencies, with a focus on building a “response-ready” organization, with faster decision-making, transparent public communications, and stronger surveillance and bridges to healthcare systems 2) Address and prevent chronic and diet-related disease, including addressing rising rates of childhood obesity and the impact of diabetes, and transforming our food systems to improve nutrition and enhance access to healthy foods
3) Address the second pandemic of mental illness including: reducing overdose deaths, strengthening our youth mental health systems, and supporting people with serious mental illness
4) Reduce black maternal mortality and make New York a model city for women’s health
5) Mobilize against and combat the health impacts of climate change

Our 7,000-plus team members bring extraordinary diversity to the work of public health. True to our value of equity as a foundational element of all of our work, and a critical foundation to achieving population health impact in New York City, the NYC Health Department has been a leader in recognizing and dismantling racism’s impacts on the health of New Yorkers and beyond. In 2021, the NYC Board of Health declared racism as a public health crisis. With commitment to advance anti-racist public health practices that dismantle systems that perpetuate inequitable power, opportunity and access, the NYC Health Department continues to work in and with communities and community organizations to increase their access to health services and decrease avoidable health outcomes.

PROGRAM AND JOB DESCRIPTION:

The Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response (OEPR) promotes the Health Department's and NYC's ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from health emergencies through the coordination of agency-wide emergency preparedness planning, training, and exercises and through regular engagement with communities as well as city, state and federal partners. OEPR envisions a healthy, resilient city in which all New Yorkers are able to achieve and maintain optimal and equitable health outcomes before, during, and after emergencies. OEPR's work recognizes the social inequities that can negatively impact our efforts to maintain and improve the health of New Yorkers during and after a disaster. OEPR works to improve its application of a social justice and racial equity lens to its emergency preparedness and response work to ensure the most equitable post-disaster public health outcomes possible.

You are invited to view our project impact stories and videos at: Emergency Prep: What We Do - NYC Health - https://www.nyc.gov/site/doh/health/emergency-preparedness/what-we-do.page

DUTIES WILL INCLUDE BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO:

- Policy and Strategic Initiatives:
Oversee cross-cutting strategic initiatives for the Division, including the annual divisional goals process.

Emergency preparedness and response policy development, such as the crisis standard of care framework.

Education of local/state/federal stakeholders and policy makers on the importance of public health preparedness.

- Healthcare System Readiness:
Oversee NYC's healthcare system readiness programming and the NYC Healthcare Coalition to ensure hospitals, long term care, dialysis, and other healthcare facilities are planning for emergencies and coordinating across sectors and with NYC agencies during emergency responses.

For preparedness, this includes programmatic oversight of the federal Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) Cooperative Agreement, including managing contracts with healthcare facilities/providers and developing plans to meet federal grant requirements and jurisdictional planning needs.

In alignment with healthcare system readiness, the Assistant Commissioner will also oversee the Medical Director who provides clinical expertise and coordinates infectious disease planning within the Health Department and with partner agencies.

Oversee Program Evaluation to develop robust mechanisms to ensure continuous improvement across the program.

Development of the agency's Incident Command System (ICS) Healthcare System Support Branch (HSSB) emergency response group that is activated during public health emergencies.

Technology, Data and Partner Communication:
Oversee technology support for the division, including the expansion of agencywide emergency preparedness and response software solutions to enhance partner engagement and situational awareness, as well as communications and event management support for 500+ healthcare and community partners.

This includes the development and conduct of risk assessment and data analytics for both planning and response operations and the dissemination of emergency preparedness and response resources for health care facilities and providers on the Health Department website at Emergency Prep: Hospitals - NYC Health.

Community Engagement and Response:
Oversee collaboration with NYC community organizations as well as service providers to build more resilient communities that are prepared to withstand and recover from public health emergencies.

This includes the Community Preparedness Program (CPP), a formal partnership with trusted leaders in the Faith-Based Organization and Human Services Sectors.

Incident Command System (ICS):
Respond to public health emergencies in a leadership role within the Incident Command System (ICS).

1. A master’s degree from an accredited college in emergency management, public health, disaster management, emergency preparedness / administration, public administration, or a related field and three (3) years of satisfactory full-time professional experience in one or a combination of the following area(s): emergency preparedness planning / management, emergency medical services, fire safety, law enforcement, homeland security, public health, environmental / occupational health and safety or a related specialized area; including eighteen (18) months of experience in a managerial, consultative, administrative or supervisory capacity. Supervision must include supervising professional staff in one of the areas described above; or

2. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and four (4) years of satisfactory full-time professional experience in one of the areas described in “1” above, including eighteen (18) months of experience in a managerial, consultative, administrative or supervisory capacity. Supervision must include supervising professional staff in one of the areas described in “1” above; or

3. A satisfactory equivalent combination of education and experience as described in “1” or “2” above. However, all candidates must have a baccalaureate degree and eighteen (18) months of experience in a managerial, consultative, administrative or supervisory capacity. Supervision must include supervising professional staff in one of the areas described in “1” above.

- A minimum of 5 years of work experience in public health and/or healthcare emergency preparedness and response, or related experience, preferably in a hospital environment and/or leadership capacity. - Clinical experience, nursing, or medical degree, is desirable but not required. - A minimum of 7 years of supervisory experience, including the ability to the ability to delegate effectively. - Exceptional organizational, time & project management, problem-solving, and decision-making skills. - Exceptional communication skills (both written and verbal) including the ability to work with individuals at various levels, including executives.

A person serving in a mayoral agency in any of the following civil service titles shall be a resident of the city on the date that he or she assumes such title or shall establish City Residence within ninety days after such date and shall thereafter maintain City residency for as long as he or she serves in such title: agency heads, including but not limited to Commissioner, First Deputy Commissioner, Executive Deputy Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, General Counsel, Assistant Deputy Commissioner, Associate Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner.

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.