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 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's (NYC DOHMH) Bureau of Communicable Disease (BCD) oversees surveillance and outbreak investigations for >70 reportable diseases, including COVID-19, influenza, foodborne, waterborne, vector-borne, and zoonotic diseases, as well as diseases that are emerging or are of urgent public health significance.

We are seeking an Informatics Data Lead to work in BCD's Surveillance, Informatics and Analysis Unit to lead data modernization initiatives, such as electronic case reporting and outbreak response and preparedness. This position will also support the informatics and analytic needs of the expanding Antibiotic Resistance Unit (ARU).

DUTIES WILL INCLUDE BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO:

Lead data modernization initiatives, such as electronic case reporting (eCR) and Health Information Echange (HIE) messaging, to improve BCD's surveillance system for routine and outbreak related work.

Increase BCD's informatics capacity with trainings and mentoring.

Provide guidance and support to the BCD Maven Team with development of new functionality, changes to the application, troubleshooting end user management.

Assist with management of CDC reporting modernization initiative.

Liaise with disease subject matter experts to understand and collect requirements for CDC's reporting data modernization initiative.

Oversee efforts to improve AR surveillance data quality and conduct aggregate/trend reporting, including the development of an internal dynamic "dashboard" and for external distribution, an annual AR surveillance report and annual antibiograms of high-priority organisms.

Liaise with and advise the AR Unit's tam on their efforts to expand mandated reporting of CRE to any carbapenem resistant organism (CRO) and their systems for managing CRO data.

Guide ARU's new infection Prevention & Control and One Health teams on data informatics components of their work including implementation.

Supervise direct and indirect staff as requested.

Participate in the Incident Command System surveillance and epidemiology data unit to support emergency response data needs as requested.

Contribute to NYC DOHMH efforts to promote health equity and racial justice.

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.

Experience with public health informatics including data base management and data exchange. Experience using SAS, SQL and/or R. Experience in infectious disease surveillance, outbreak investigation or other applied public health work. Experience with project management. Experience with Maven a plus, but not required. Experience with electronic health record data a plus, but not required. Excellent writing and speaking ability, strong interpersonal communication and time management skills, and attention to detail. Proficiency in navigating computer systems ability to learn new data systems quickly and to comply with data integrity and security to safeguard all personal identifiable information. Ability to demonstrate a professional, positive attitude and work ethic.

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.