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Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
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POSITION DESCRIPTION FOR JOB POSTING |
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Position Number: 00214305 |
Description Activated On: 4/23/2026 2:24:16 PM |
Position Purpose: Describe the primary purpose of this position and how it contributes to the organization’s objectives. Example: Provides clerical and office support within the Division to ensure its operations are conducted efficiently and effectively. This position, in the Bureau of Epidemiology will conduct work on behalf of the Division of Tuberculosis and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (TB/STD) in the Bureau of Communicable Diseases, supporting the organization’s mission of protecting the public health through its responsibility for supporting and enhancing surveillance systems used by the Division of TB/STD, and improving usage and dissemination of surveillance data, to help strengthen primary and secondary disease prevention activities. |
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Description of Duties: Describe in detail the duties and responsibilities assigned to this position. Descriptions should include the major end result of the task. Example: Types correspondence, reports, and other various documents from handwritten drafts for review and signature of the supervisor. Serves as an Epidemiology Research Associate providing advanced data analytic support, conducting data quality assurance, and completing complex reports using data gathered through the Pennsylvania National Electronic Data Surveillance System (PA-NEDSS). Works collaboratively with TB/STD Program Surveillance Coordinators and Program Managers to oversee data obtained through PA-NEDSS and is responsible for developing, distributing, and maintaining reports and dashboards created using surveillance data; supports programmatic aspects of electronic laboratory reporting (ELR) onboarding and management; and provides direction for the case notification process from the Pennsylvania Department of Health to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for the Division of TB/STD as directed by division program managers and surveillance coordinators. Supports cross-program epidemiologic analyses by integrating TB/STD data with other communicable disease or public health datasets. Develops a deep working knowledge of the Department’s multiple public health surveillance systems, including PA-NEDSS, electronic laboratory reports (ELR), electronic case reports (eCR), syndromic surveillance, and the surveillance datasets in the Enterprise Data Warehouse. Collaborates with Information Technology personnel and the Bureau of Epidemiology’s informatics team, communicating epidemiologic surveillance and outbreak management needs, participating in requirements sessions and working groups, assisting with troubleshooting, and providing feedback on how systems are functioning, to enhance public health surveillance, reporting, and outcomes. Explains relevance and limitations of available data and its proper application to potential health impacts. Initiates corrective actions when data problems are identified to improve the accuracy and reliability of surveillance data. Schedule regular meetings with TB/STD Program Managers to ensure program needs are being addressed. Provides surveillance support and technical advisement to Program Management in the Division of TB/STD. Provides infectious disease epidemiology and public health consultative services to the Division of TB/STD and its stakeholders, such as providing guidance on querying datasets, applying case definitions, troubleshooting reporting problems, and other surveillance and informatics-related issues. Collaborates with TB/STD Program Surveillance Coordinators and Program Managers to provide responses to data requests from other entities, complying with Department data release guidelines so that data are shared in an accurate and ethical manner. Assists with the review and development of general surveillance policies and procedures. Collaborates in the implementation of Pennsylvania's Disease Reporting Act by participating in the development, implementation, use, oversight and evaluation of disease surveillance systems. Conducts descriptive and analytic data analyses, develops new reports and data summaries using analytic and statistical applications such as SAS, R, and ArcGIS. Develops and maintains data visualizations including real-time data dashboards using Power BI or similar software, to track disease trends, identify anomalies that may indicate outbreaks, evaluate data quality and completeness, and assess impact on demographic subgroups. Develops automated data pipelines, scripts, and workflows to improve efficiency and reproducibility of surveillance reporting and analysis. Reviews the content of ELR messages sent to the Department, using knowledge of infectious disease epidemiology and informatics (including standard coding schemes, HL7 messaging structure, and database management) to ensure that messages are accurate, complete, and capture the data elements needed for epidemiologic and public health action. Ensures that information received is meaningful and usable from a public health and epidemiologic standpoint. Continues development of tools to facilitate provider onboarding to surveillance systems. Shares reports with appropriate stakeholders on a timely basis and assists with interpretation of findings. Prepares articles for lay publications and peer-reviewed journals, and scientific presentations and educational materials for a variety of audiences, to maintain and increase the public health epidemiology evidence base and to provide the public health community with information on Pennsylvania’s Division of TB/STD epidemiologic activities and results. Assists with transmission of TB/STD surveillance data to CDC. Applies data governance, privacy, and security principles, ensuring compliance with HIPAA, state data protection regulations, and Department data-sharing policies. Participates in statewide, interstate and/or national surveillance and epidemiological activities as directed by his/her supervisor, in collaboration with other partners. Represents the Division of TB/STD in the Department’s Data Modernization Workgroup contributing to any changes that would benefit the work of the Division. Produces grant-required metrics and progress reports as needed. Participates in grant writing as requested. Perform other duties as assigned. Work may require occasional statewide and out-of-state travel and irregular/flexible work hours including overnights, weekends and holidays in accordance with policy. Employee may travel using public transportation, private transportation or carpooling with other team members as assigned. Public Health Emergency Response This position may be assigned to an emergency assignment to support the public health emergency response mission of the Department of Health. Emergency assignments could at times be received with little or no advance notice and may continue for any length of time. The emergency assignments may at times be performed under adverse conditions and may require travel to another site other than the employee’s assigned headquarters for periods of time. |
Decision Making: Describe the types of decisions made by the incumbent of this position and the types of decisions referred to others. Identify the problems or issues that can be resolved at the level of this position, versus those that must be referred to the supervisor. Example: In response to a customer inquiry, this work involves researching the status of an activity and preparing a formal response for the supervisor’s signature. Decision making in work processes: Decision making is made based on standards defined by supervisor or the proper professional/technical discipline. Decision making occurs following careful interpretation, analysis and diagnosis. Employee may be responsible for finding information to develop solutions or approaches. Supervisor reviews on-going work progress and products. Employee has authority to change approaches as needed with supervisor approval. Communication authority: Interacts professionally and conscientiously with colleagues and stakeholders throughout the Commonwealth. Position provides technical and professional services, coordinates activities, and may advise others beyond the immediate work unit. |
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Requirements Profile: Identify any specific experience or requirements, such as a licensure, registration, or certification, which may be necessary to perform the functions of the position. Position-specific requirements should be consistent with a Special Requirement or other criteria identified in the classification specification covering this position. Example: Experience using Java; Professional Engineer License Experience: Licenses, registrations, or certifications: 1. N/A 2. N/A 3. N/A 4. 5. 6. |
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Essential Functions: Provide a list of essential functions for this position. Example: Transports boxes weighing up to 60 pounds.
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