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 Description:

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH) Public Health is a public health leader serving over 8.4 million New York City residents from diverse ethnic, cultural, and economic backgrounds. The New York City (NYC) Public Health Laboratory (PHL) is one of the largest local public health laboratories in the United States offering a dynamic and innovative work environment where employees contribute to the health and safety of NYC residents by providing clinical and environmental laboratory testing services. With more than 100 years of leadership in public health, a team of over 200 scientific and support staff are committed to its mission to safeguard the health of all NYC residents by providing quality laboratory testing services that support the priorities of the NYC DOHMH and its community partners to prevent and respond to clinical and environmental public health concerns. The NYC DOHMH, Bureau of Public Health Laboratories seeks a qualified candidate to serve as the Biothreat Response Unit Supervisor. The position will be responsible for laboratory testing and administrative activities in the Biothreat Response Unit, including but not limited to oversight of laboratory personnel, technical troubleshooting, data analysis, project development and implementation, as well as maintain and support quality assurance activities. This is an excellent opportunity to join our multidisciplinary team and collaborate with local, state, national, and academic partners.

DUTIES WILL INCLUDE BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO:

- Serve as the primary supervisor that manages the technical, operational, and administrative work in the Biothreat Unit.

- Supervise, train, assign work, and evaluate work performance of staff to ensure compliance with laboratory policies and procedures.

- Perform molecular and microbiological-based testing to identify biothreat agents or other emerging pathogens of public health concern.

- Serve as a laboratory subject matter expert for biothreat agents and quality assurance activities, including specimen tracking, analytical processes, and results reporting and notifications.

- Coordinate laboratory and emergency preparedness activities and investigations with agency partners as well as external local and federal partners.

- Ensure lab complies with regulatory agencies that include but are not limited to NYS Clinical Laboratory Evaluation Program (CLEP), CDC, NYC ELAP, and Select Agent Program.

- Implement and monitors laboratory quality and health and safety policies and procedures.

- Participate in the quality management program and is actively engaged in maintaining quality assurance practices within the laboratory, including advising staff on appropriate methods and techniques for identifying and resolving non-compliances through root cause analysis and implementation of appropriate corrective action plans.

- Advise staff on appropriate laboratory methods and techniques.

- Evaluate data, prepare reports, and maintain records.

- Perform or oversee the design and maintenance of charts, logs, and other records, and prepare complex reports.

- Maintain readiness and ensures quality laboratory testing and informatics capacity for data entry, querying, and reporting.

- Develop, verify/validate, and implement new laboratory tests and workflows using existing and new technologies/methodologies.

1. For Assignment Level I (only physical, biological and environmental sciences and public health) A master's degree from an accredited college or university with a specialization in an appropriate field of physical, biological or environmental science or in public health.
To be appointed to Assignment Level II and above, candidates must have:
1. A doctorate degree from an accredited college or university with specialization in an appropriate field of physical, biological, environmental or social science and one year of full-time experience in a responsible supervisory, administrative or research capacity in the appropriate field of specialization; or
2. A master's degree from an accredited college or university with specialization in an appropriate field of physical, biological, environmental or social science and three years of responsible full-time research experience in the appropriate field of specialization; or
3. Education and/or experience which is equivalent to "1" or "2" above. However, all candidates must have at least a master's degree in an appropriate field of specialization and at least two years of experience described in "2" above. Two years as a City Research Scientist Level I can be substituted for the experience required in "1" and "2" above.

NOTE:
Probationary Period
Appointments to this position are subject to a minimum probationary period of one year.

- Possession of (or eligibility for) a valid NYS technologist license. - It is desired that the candidate has a MS or PhD degree in microbiology or infectious diseases or related field with extensive experience in the technical and administrative operations of a clinical or public health laboratory. - It is desired that the candidate has at least one year of experience performing bacterial cultures and at least one year of experience performing molecular techniques for infectious diseases. - It is also desired that the candidate has experience with laboratory regulation and working within a BSL-3 environment.

New York City residency is generally required within 90 days of appointment. However, City Employees in certain titles who have worked for the City for 2 continuous years may also be eligible to reside in Nassau, Suffolk, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, or Orange County. To determine if the residency requirement applies to you, please discuss with the agency representative at the time of interview.

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.