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Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
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POSITION DESCRIPTION FOR JOB POSTING |
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Position Number: 00307761 |
Description Activated On: 8/7/2026 9:18:08 AM |
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, Division of Environmental Health Epidemiology (DEHE), supports the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s (DOH) mission of protecting the public’s health through its responsibility for collecting, manipulating, ensuring quality of data, and improving the usefulness and dissemination of data related to environmental hazards in order to mitigate adverse health outcomes resulting from harmful environmental exposures. This position is funded through the Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) Program. |
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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. Lead DEHE’s collection and analysis of environmental health concerns affecting Pennsylvanians and coordinate the division’s responses by managing internal activities and collaborating with other state agencies and local governments as appropriate. Work with other EPHT staff on data-related activities by analyzing environmental health data to provide accurate, complete, and timely information for public dissemination. Topic areas include Nationally Consistent Data Measures (NCDM) such as environmental health-related hospitalization admissions, radon, lead, drinking water quality, etc. Demonstrate proficiency in data visualization techniques using GIS and/or PowerBI to effectively communicate environmental, demographic and public health data to support critical outreach efforts promoting environmental public health, including improving the Pennsylvania Environmental Health Indicators (EHI) map. Conduct routine descriptive analysis of EPHT tracking data to evaluate the quality and completeness of the data, examine state environmental public health issues and relevant health disparities, and/or generate information for other state and local programs and the public. Use tracking data and the environmental health concerns data to identify priority environmental health threats in Pennsylvania and to guide outreach efforts and interventions. Design and conduct population level assessments on exposure and health effects and analyze tracking data using advanced statistical procedures using statistical software (SAS, R, etc.) in order to generate reports and/or public education materials to meet the general program requirements (e.g., baseline health assessment for diseases in terms of crude rates, age adjusted rates, standard incidence rates, etc.). Also demonstrates proficiency in GIS in order to provide technical expertise to improve the Pennsylvania Environmental Health Indicators (EHI) map. Demonstrate an understanding of and proficiency in applying the principles of epidemiology and biostatistics to environmental/occupational health data, including the assessment of environmental health risks and outcomes, and the application to environmental public health practice. Design and conduct investigations under the direction of the Principal Investigator (PI), in collaboration with epidemiology staff and toxicologists; analyze data and maintain surveillance on illnesses that may relate to environmental factors, including air, water, soil, chemical, biological or other hazards. Work with other division staff in modelling environmental data to assist with health assessments. Develop protocols to assist with environmental investigations, conduct data analysis and create comprehensive reports on environmentally and/or occupationally linked diseases including those associated with emerging contaminants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and other environmental exposures proposed under the reportable disease rule. Use analytical and statistical applications to gain more insights into available surveillance data (e.g., syndromic surveillance data, poison control center call data). Develop and present information via webinars, written publications, and presentations. Present, publish, and report epidemiologic findings and professional experiences via professional journals, national and regional conferences, and other means as appropriate, to disseminate information and advance scientific knowledge. Maintain existing and newly adopted NCDM requirements, including the maintenance, submission, and dissemination of data via the Enterprise Data Dissemination Informatics Exchange (EDDIE) web tool. Implement procedures to access and ensure timely submission of EPHT data to CDC’s National Tracking Network/Data Explorer. Provide technical inputs to health education and community outreach materials developed by staff, as needed. Participate in community events as needed. Provide expert consultation to Department field staff, county/municipal health departments, and healthcare providers and facilities via phone or email to guide prevention and control of environmentally/occupationally linked diseases/conditions. Meet with the Environmental Health Advisory Group members and other partners to learn about environmental health data needs across the commonwealth and work to meet those needs. Synthesize available literature and data to develop and publish technical guidance documents on environmental health threats; write reviews and recommendations where published guidance does not exist, such as reviewing and commenting on environmental legislation, to create policy and guidance at the state level for mitigation and control of environmental health threats. In collaboration with other team members, prepare EPHT grant-required metrics and progress reports by presenting statistical data, position descriptions, budget information, project description narratives, work plans, and accomplishments per funding opportunity announcements to optimize CDC program funding. Participate in local and national EPHT workgroups to advance best practices and share knowledge gained for tracking environmental health indicators. Demonstrate awareness of the vulnerable populations the organization serves by identifying, providing, and advocating for resources, services, communication methods, and policies that would help those populations achieve health equity and environmental justice. Work requires occasional statewide travel and may require irregular/flexible work hours including overnights, weekends and holidays in accordance with policy to attend out-of-state conferences. Employee may travel using public transportation, private transportation or carpooling with other epidemiology investigation team members as assigned. 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 period of time – ranging from a few hours to several weeks, depending upon the nature of the circumstance. 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. Perform other duties as assigned. |
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. Leadership role in organization: This position is responsible for providing technical leadership for tracking-related data activities. The position is also assigned direct supervision which includes completing performance evaluations, approving/disapproving leave, effecting discipline, and making hiring decisions for direct reports. Decision making in work processes: Decision making is made based on standards defined by supervisor or the proper professional/technical discipline. In some situations, decision making occurs following careful interpretation and analysis; employee may be responsible for finding information to develop solutions or approaches. Employee is responsible for informing supervisor when a request is outside of the PHI or DOH guidelines or outside of the purview of the Bureau of Epidemiology. Supervisor’s input to decision making: Supervisor reviews ongoing work products after completion or if there is a problem or exception. Employee has authority to change internal procedures or approaches as needed within the accepted professional work. Communication authority: Position advises outside its 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. N/A 5. N/A 6. N/A |
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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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