Field Epidemiologist

Date Posted: Apr 17, 2024

Requisition ID: 442298

Location:

Evansville, IN, US, 47701

Begin a fulfilling career with the State of Indiana by joining one of the largest employers in the state, offering a diverse range of opportunities across 60+ agencies. At the state, you'll find competitive compensation, a robust benefits package and a commitment to work-life balance. Most importantly, you'll have the chance to make a real and measurable impact on the lives of Hoosiers across Indiana.

At the State of Indiana, we don’t just talk about diversity and inclusion—we make it our goal to create a welcoming, accessible, and equitable workplace with a workforce that is representative of Indiana's population. As a proud equal opportunity employer, reasonable accommodations may be available to enable individuals with disabilities to complete the application and interview process as well as perform the essential functions of a role.

About the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH):

The Indiana Department of Health’s mission is to promote, protect, and improve the health and safety of all Hoosiers so that they can reach their optimal health regardless of where they live, learn, work, or play.

Role Overview:

In this position you will prepare, implement, analyze, and report on infectious disease epidemiologic investigations through the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Prevention Division (IDEPD). This position is stationed within Public Health Preparedness District 10 to assist public health professionals within that district. This position provides field support across District 10, which is comprised of Knox, Daviess, Martin, Gibson, Pike, Dubois, Crawford, Posey, Vanderburgh, Warrick, Spencer, and Perry counties. The position is on-call 24/7/365. This Field Epidemiologist may reside in either of the mentioned counties.

Salary Statement:

The salary for this position traditionally starts at $67,314.00 but may be commensurate with education or work experience.

A Day in the Life:

The essential functions of this role are as follows:

• Maintain current subject matter knowledge of the epidemiology and biology of diseases and public health topics.

• Provide epidemiologic consultation and technical assistance to local health departments, health care providers, the general public, and other partners with respect to diseases and public health topics.

• Conduct routine epidemiologic surveillance for disease and public health topics.

• Lead or coordinate epidemiologic investigations of individual cases and/or outbreaks of diseases or public health topics.

• Design and conduct applied epidemiologic studies of diseases or public health topics.

• Manage and analyze data collected through routine surveillance, public health investigations, and applied epidemiologic studies.

• Prepare and disseminate written and oral reports and presentations that communicate necessary information to internal and external partners.

• Conduct educational presentations and/or trainings for a variety of audiences, including local health departments, health care providers, veterinarians, and the general public.

• Engage directly with members of the public at health fairs and other outreach events.

• Participate in writing grants and other funding proposals.

• Serve as a backup to other staff, as needed.

• If applicable for program area, serve as the epidemiologist on call after business hours for approximately two to three weeks per year.

• Recruit, select, onboard, and train employees to ensure role responsibilities and expectations are clearly understood while providing opportunities to continue professional development.

• Set expectations, measure progress, provide ongoing feedback, and evaluate the performance of employees. Ensure work adheres to quality standards, deadlines, and proper procedures.

The job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Other duties, responsibilities and activities may change or be assigned at any time with or without notice.

What You'll Need for Success:

You must meet the following requirement to be considered for employment:

• A master’s degree in a relevant field (e.g., public health, biological sciences, or social sciences) and ≥ 2 years’ relevant public health experience OR

• A master’s degree in a non-relevant field and ≥ 4 years’ public health experience OR

• A doctoral-level degree in epidemiology or other relevant fields OR

• A graduate or professional degree in a health-related field (e.g., RN, MD/DO, DDS/DMD, DVM, PhD, RS) with specific epidemiology training (e.g., MPH degree, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service, or CSTE Applied Epidemiology Fellowship) OR

• A bachelor’s degree in a relevant field and ≥ 4 years’ relevant public health experience OR

• A bachelor’s degree in a non-relevant field and ≥ 6 years’ public health experience.

• Current employee promotion requirement: Internal candidate should be a high-performing Epidemiologist 1 or other internal role based on demonstrated ability, competency attainment, and/or performance feedback.

• Knowledge of the epidemiology and biology of diseases and public health topics.

• Knowledge of state laws and regulations as well as federal public health guidance documents pertaining to diseases and public health topics.

• Skill in identification of public health problems pertinent to Indiana residents.

• Skill in conducting epidemiologic surveillance activities, including selection and use of appropriate field methods as well as use and evaluation of public health surveillance systems.

• Skill in eliciting relevant information from patients in structured or unstructured telephone interviews.

• Skill in conducting public health investigations of individual cases and/or outbreaks of diseases or public health topics.

• Skill in designing descriptive and analytical epidemiologic investigations, including hypothesis generation.

• Skill in managing large datasets, performing complex data analyses, and identifying key findings.

• Skill in recommending evidence-based interventions and control measures in response to epidemiologic findings.

• Skill in preparing written and oral reports, presentations, and educational materials that communicate necessary information to internal and external partners.

• Skill in applying principles of informatics, including data collection, processing, and analysis, in support of epidemiologic practice.

• Demonstrated skill in statistical, analytical, and/or geospatial software (e.g., EpiInfo, SAS, ArcGIS, SQL, SPSS, R, Python, Stata, etc.).

• Ability to identify appropriate laboratory resources and use them appropriately.

• Ability to provide prompt, courteous, and helpful customer service.

• Ability to collaborate with others inside and outside the agency to identify public health problems and form recommendations.

• Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, using principles of risk communication where appropriate.

• Ability to prioritize tasks efficiently to meet internal and external deadlines.

• Ability to appropriately document work activities and maintain organized records.

Supervisory Responsibilities/Direct Reports:

This role may serve as a team lead for an assigned work group.

Benefits of Employment with the State of Indiana:

The State of Indiana offers a comprehensive benefit package for full-time employees which includes:

• Three (3) medical plan options (including RX coverage) as well as vision and dental plans

• Wellness Rewards Program: Complete wellness activities to earn gift card rewards

• Health savings account, which includes bi-weekly state contribution

• Flexible work scheduling options, including the potential for hybrid remote work for employees whose work may be performed outside state facilities

• Deferred compensation 457B account (similar to 401k plan) with employer match

• Two (2) fully-funded pension plan options

• A robust, comprehensive program of leave policies covering a variety of employee needs, including but not limited to:

• 150 hours of paid new parent leave

• Up to 15 hours of paid community service leave

• Combined 180 hours of paid vacation, personal, and sick leave time off

• 12 paid holidays, 14 on election years

• Education Reimbursement Program

• Group life insurance

• Referral Bonus program

• Employee assistance program that allows for covered behavioral health visits

• Qualified employer for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program

• Free Parking for most positions

• Free LinkedIn Learning access

  Equal Employment Opportunity:

  The State of Indiana is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to recruiting, selecting, developing, and promoting employees based on individual ability and job performance. Our policy is to provide equal employment opportunity to all people in all aspects of employer-employee relations without discrimination because of race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental disability, or veteran status. We will comply with the spirit as well as the letter of all applicable state and federal laws.

  If you are a qualified individual with a disability and require reasonable accommodations to complete this application, you can request assistance by contacting the Indiana State Personnel Department at [email protected] .

  The State of Indiana has established a culture that welcomes equity, inclusion, and opportunity for all employees and applicants. We encourage you to apply if you feel you have the transferrable skills to be successful in this position and we look forward to reviewing your application.

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