Epidemiologist

Job Title: Epidemiologist

Location: Indianapolis, IN

Duration: 6+ Months

Job Type: 1099 / Contract W2

Rate: $40/hr. on 1099 and $36.48/hr. on W2

Client: State of Indiana

Job Description:

Minimize morbidity and mortality associated withpan respiratory diseases among Indiana residents by conducting a broad andcomplex range of investigative and analytical epidemiologic activities, collaborate and perform surveillance of COVID-19.

EssentialDuties/Responsibilities:

• Collaborate and coordinate between IDOH IDEPD, IDOH Laboratory, prisons/jails, academic partners, and local health departments to maintain, grow, and manage COVID 19 surveillance. Meetings and work may need to be completed on site at headquarters or designated areas;
• Collaboratewith and participate in national initiatives related to pan respiratory/COVID19 surveillance;
• Maintain current subject matter knowledge of the epidemiology and biology of pan respiratory diseases and public health topics, particularly as it relates to COVID-19 epidemiology;
• 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;
• Manage and analyze trends and correlations in data collected through routine surveillance and applied epidemiologic studies;
• Monitor data reporting and associated dashboards;
• Partner with data analysts in the Office of Data & Analytics to manage and update and further develop dashboard and internal reports as needed;
• 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, utility operators, 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;
• Conduct routine epidemiologic surveillance for disease and public health topics;
• Design and conduct applied epidemiologic studies of diseases or public health topics;
• Serve as an agency spokesperson at the invitation and direction of the IDOH Office of Public Affairs;
• Evaluate the impact of legislation or policy proposals at the invitation and direction of the IDOH Director of Legislative Affairs;
• Serve as a backup to other staff, as needed;
• Perform related duties as assigned.

Job Requirements:

· A master’s degreein a relevant field (e.g., public health, biological sciences, or socialsciences) and ≥ 2 years’ relevant public health experience OR

· A master’s degreein a non-relevant field and ≥ 4 years’ public health experience OR

· A doctoral-leveldegree in epidemiology or other relevant fields OR

· A graduate orprofessional 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 EpidemicIntelligence Service, or CSTE Applied Epidemiology Fellowship) OR

· A bachelor’sdegree in a relevant field and ≥ 4 years’ relevant public healthexperience 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 otherinternal role based on demonstrated ability, competency attainment, and/orperformance feedback.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

· Knowledgeof the epidemiology and biology of diseases and public health topics;

· Knowledgeof state laws and regulations as well as federal public health guidancedocuments pertaining to diseases and public health topics;

· Skillin identification of public health problems pertinent to Indiana residents;

· Skillin conducting epidemiologic surveillance activities, including selection anduse of appropriate field methods as well as use and evaluation of public healthsurveillance systems;

· Skillin eliciting relevant information from patients in structured or unstructuredtelephone interviews;

· Skillin conducting public health investigations of individual cases and/or outbreaksof diseases or public health topics

· Skillin designing descriptive and analytical epidemiologic investigations, includinghypothesis generation;

· Skillin managing large datasets, performing complex data analyses, and identifyingkey findings;

· Skill in recommending evidence-based interventions and controlmeasures in response to epidemiologic findings;

· Skillin preparing written and oral reports, presentations, and educational materialsthat communicate necessary information to internal and external partners;

· Skill in applying principles of informatics, including datacollection, processing, and analysis, in support of epidemiologic practice

· Demonstratedskill in statistical, analytical, and/or geospatial software (e.g., EpiInfo,SAS, ArcGIS, SQL, SPSS, R, Python, Stata, etc.);

· Abilityto identify appropriate laboratory resources and use them appropriately;

· Abilityto provide prompt, courteous, and helpful customer service;

· Abilityto collaborate with others inside and outside the agency to identify publichealth problems and form recommendations;

· Abilityto communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, using principles ofrisk communication where appropriate;

· Abilityto prioritize tasks efficiently to meet internal and external deadlines;

· Abilityto appropriately document work activities and maintain organized records.

Supervisory Responsibilities/Direct Reports:

May be responsible for directingand coordinating the work of interns assigned to the program.

Difficulty of Work:

The employee must have or rapidly acquire expert knowledge of theepidemiology of COVID-19, pan respiratory diseases and public health topics.They must use this knowledge and their critical thinking skills to ascertainthe existence of public health threats, conduct public health investigations,and identify appropriate interventions. The employee will routinely exerciseindependent judgment to identify appropriate actions in complex situations thatare not explicitly described in state regulations and public health guidancedocuments. The employee must routinely reorganize their work activities toprioritize emergent public health threats, often with little to no advancewarning. They are expected to show initiative in independently identifying andexecuting process improvements and/or special projects that would benefit IDOH andIndiana residents. Failure of the employee to properly execute their dutiescould have grave consequences for Indiana residents.

Responsibility:

The employee is expected to support IDOH's vision, comply with agencyadministrative and fiscal policies, and practice cultural sensitivity in allwork activities. The employee must have knowledge of state and federal privacylaws and protect patient confidentiality at all times.The employee must identify possible ethical conflicts in work activities andrequest assistance from the supervisor in resolving them. The employee isexpected to independently identify opportunities for their professionaldevelopment that would benefit IDOH and Indiana residents.

The employee initially works under the close supervision oftheir supervisor, but works more independently with acquired experience. Thesupervisor sets the overall objectives and determines what resources areavailable. The employee and the supervisor will work together to developguidelines, projects, and work to be done. The employee plans, directs,monitors, evaluates and identifies needs and resolves most conflicts withinassigned projects. The employee interprets and applies policies in terms ofestablished goals, objectives, and accepted practices. The employee is expectedto bring controversial or complex issues to the attention of the supervisor formore detailed direction and guidance. The employee is expected to keep thesupervisor informed of progress and potentially critical items. Completed workis reviewed for feasibility, conformance to program policy and practices, andeffectiveness in meeting specific goals and objectives.

Personal Work Relationships:

The employee works closely with a variety of stakeholders, which mayinclude the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the IDOH Laboratories, healthcare providers, local health departments, and other state agencies. The employeeis expected to maintain good working relationships with these entities as wellas other internal and external partners.

Physical Effort:

The employee must be physically able totype on a computer, to communicate via telephone, and to sit and/or stand at aworkstation for a 7.5-hour workday

Working Conditions:

Work is performed in an indoor officesetting. Occasional field work and/or overnight travel may be required. Theemployee must be willing to receive immunizations for communicable diseaseswhen necessary and appropriate. Work may also require driving longdistances in inclement weather.

Job Types: Full-time, Contract

Salary: $28.06 - $40.00 per hour

Expected hours: 40 per week

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Flexible schedule
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift
• Day shift

Education:

• Bachelor's (Required)

Experience:

• public health, biological sciences, or social sciences: 2 years (Required)
• EpiInfo, SAS, ArcGIS, SQL, SPSS, R, Python, Stata,: 1 year (Required)

Work Location: In person