Epidemiology Unit Director, Bureau of Health Promotion for Justice-Impacted Populations (HPJIP)

Job Description

The Bureau of Health Promotion for Justice-Impacted Populations (HPJIP) aims to reduce the negative social and health consequences of justice system involvement through innovative policy and practice change. By centering community, addressing racial inequities, honoring lived experience, and elevating trauma-and-resilience-informed-approaches, we promote evidence-based best practices to address the needs of those disproportionately impacted by the criminal legal system.

The Epidemiology Unit is responsible for providing support to HPJIP programmatic initiatives, conducting public health surveillance, and generating new knowledge about the health of justice-impacted New Yorkers by publishing relevant data and research and ensuring the Bureau’s work is rooted in scientific evidence.

New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Division of Mental Hygiene seeks one (1) full-time Director of the Epidemiology Unit for the Bureau of Health Promotion for Justice-Impacted Populations. The Director of the Epidemiology Unit, reporting to the Assistant Commissioner of HPJIP and leading a team dedicated to promoting the health of justice-impacted populations, will be responsible for:

Leading research and evaluation activities:

- Directing and overseeing all HPJIP public health surveillance, program monitoring, evaluation and research activities.
- Leading a team of eight research and evaluation staff members in the Epidemiology Unit.
- Providing expert input on research questions, analytical guidance, research instruments, and publications; this includes supporting staff in the development and dissemination of internal and external publications, including agency data briefs, reports, and peer-reviewed publications.
- Collaborating with internal and external partners to identify, integrate, and analyze available health data to incorporate into public health surveillance, program monitoring, and evaluation activities.
- Leading the incorporation of criminal legal system measures on DOHMH surveys and subsequent analyses, as well as advocating for and guiding opportunities to expand the research and evaluation activities of the Epidemiology Unit.
- Preparing written documents, including grant proposals, study protocols and IRB applications, manuscripts, memos, reports, and presentations.
- Participating in special studies and activities as assigned and other duties as deemed necessary by the Assistant Commissioner of HPJIP, or their designee.
- Other duties or tasks may be assigned on an as-needed basis.
Centering equity and lived experience:
- Demonstrating an unwavering commitment to health equity and dedication to addressing both historical and contemporary injustices across social positions and social identities, with a specific focus and understanding of how the criminal legal system cuts across these factors.
- Centering lived experience to reduce the scope and negative impact of the criminal legal system in New York City.
- Overseeing the characterization of the behavioral and physical health of individuals and communities who have interacted with and are impacted by the criminal legal system.
Contributing to bureau leadership
- Communicating and liaising regularly with the Assistant Commissioner and bureau leadership and representing the Epidemiology Unit/HPJIP at Division- and Agency-wide meetings. This includes participating in ongoing discussions across bureaus and divisions to share insight and ideas on content related to the behavioral and physical health of individuals and communities impacted by the criminal legal system and relevant methodologic approaches.
- Fostering collaborations across HPJIP units, including but not limited to the Policy Unit to ensure that data activities are driven by actionable and relevant policy factors, and that policy recommendations are rooted in evidence.

Preferred Skills:
- Minimum two years of strong senior-level team supervisory experience, such as leading and advising multiple staff involved in various projects.
- Demonstrated expertise in epidemiological data analysis and health services research, as well as quantitative and qualitative research design and program evaluation methodologies, especially as applied to the areas of behavioral health.
- Experience using a racial equity lens to develop research plans and ideas as well as to manage and conceptualize data.
- Experience developing strategic working documents, such as research agendas and analytic plans, grant funding and IRB applications and managing submission procedures.
- Experience with scientific writing as demonstrated through a strong track record of publishing in peer-reviewed journals.
- Strong analytic and statistical skills, with experience manipulating and analyzing data using statistical software (such as SAS, Stata, SPSS, R) and geograp