Surveillance Epidemiologist

About Harris County Public Health

Harris County Public Health (HCPH) includes a network of more than 1,100 public health professionals working together to improve health outcomes for the third most populous county in the United States. HCPH provides a multitude of services such as medical and dental services, community programming, and health education for the approximately 2.3 million people in unincorporated Harris County. Through its core values of innovation, engagement, and health equity, HCPH strives to bring meaningful solutions to public health issues while keeping Harris County healthy and vibrant.

Under the supervision of the Communicable and Emerging Disease Manager and Supervisor, the Epidemiologist applies principles of Epidemiology to disease control activities within the jurisdiction of HCPH. Of particular focus is the surveillance, investigation, prevention and control of emerging and re-emerging diseases and other notifiable conditions; the proper surveillance and reporting of normal disease occurrence and outbreak situations; and contribution to the identification, analysis and report writing of disease conditions.

• Conduct epidemiology surveillance investigations for emerging and re-emerging disease conditions and public health significance, including outbreaks, targeted active surveillance, and public health emergencies. Provide consultation and make recommendations for control measures and prevention based on public health guidelines.
• Provide 24/7 disease surveillance coverage on a rotating basis with other epidemiologists.
• Participate in research activities that may include the design, preparation, and review of reports from analyses of surveillance data, literature reviews, and other information. Produce or contribute to special reports and statistical analysis of epidemiological investigations to ensure readiness for responding to emerging and communicable diseases, bioterrorism, outbreaks of infectious diseases, and other public health threats and emergencies.
• Establish and maintain relationships with hospital infection control preventionists, school health care coordinators, and nurses to promote reporting of Texas notifiable conditions. Initiate active surveillance in daycares, schools, and long-term care facilities when an outbreak occurs.
• Provide educational presentations based on surveillance data and other information tailored to diverse audiences and community partners, such as schools.
• Other duties as assigned, including special tasks involved with responding to emergency events.

• Master’s degree from an accredited college or university in Public Health disciplines such as Epidemiology, biomedical sciences, statistics, or related science degree.

• At least one (1) year of experience working in a public health-related area, such as local health department disease investigation, college or university public health project, clinical or public health laboratory, disease surveillance, or statistical project.

• Valid Driver’s License (Texas upon hire) along with a good driving record for regular local travel when needed to attend other local health departments or State, Regional Health department meetings and trainings.

• Proficient in MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook).
• Proficient with statistical analysis software (SPSS, STATA, SAS, R, or Epi Info).
• Excellent communication skills (verbal & written).
• Ability to write reports and technical papers.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships and foster teamwork in a diverse environment.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality when dealing with sensitive information.
• Ability to work well with public and staff members.
• Use your personal mobile device for our Multifactor Authentication process.

Harris County Public Health is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We encourage applications from qualified candidates from diverse backgrounds and all content qualified for consideration is provided on the application. Employees may receive compensation, benefits and services in accordance with…