The successful candidate’s starting pay will fall within the pay ranges listed below. Base salary is localized according to an employee’s work location. Ranges are market-dependent and may be modified in the future.

 

For candidates living in Boston, MA, Denver, CO, New York, NY, Los Angeles, CA, Sacramento, CA, San Diego, CA, and Washington, DC, the pay range is $69,300 - $80,550.

 

For candidates living in the United States, besides Boston, MA, Denver, CO, New York, NY, Los Angeles, CA, Sacramento, CA, San Diego, CA, and Washington, DC, the pay range is $58,700 - $68,250.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a US-based role that requires the employee to reside within the 48 contiguous states.

 

PLEASE NOTE: APHL is only considering internal APHL applicants for this job opening. External candidates are encouraged to browse and apply for other open job postings on the APHL Job Listings web page.

 

The Specialist, Environmental Health, provides programmatic support for APHL’s US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-funded work to expand nationwide waterborne outbreak response coordination and engagement to protect public health.

 

Environmental microbiology testing is critical for rapid and effective waterborne outbreak response. However, in many locations across the United States and globally, environmental testing for waterborne pathogens and other water quality parameters for outbreak response is not available. State and local public health and environmental laboratories are uniquely positioned to conduct this testing considering their access and authority to sampling locations during an outbreak, pathogen detection expertise, and connection with associated epidemiological and clinical data to interpret environmental data and develop mitigation, remediation, and outbreak prevention measures.

 

To continue increasing waterborne outbreak response across the US, the incumbent of this position will help build state and local laboratory capability and capacity through a nationwide community of practice, training and resource development, and execution of a real-world demonstration and evaluation of the EPA-CDC virtual reality training for large volume water sampling and processing for high-consequence pathogens in drinking water.

 

This work is funded by and done cooperatively with the CDC Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases Environmental Microbiology and Engineering Laboratory and the Global Water Sanitation and Hygiene Laboratory. The incumbent of this position works with the Environmental Health Senior Manager, Environmental Health Senior Director, and other team members to implement project activities. The position can either be based remotely within the continental US, or in a hybrid setting working remotely and in APHL’s Bethesda, MD office.

 

The Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) works to strengthen laboratory systems serving the public’s health in the U.S. and globally. APHL’s member laboratories protect the public’s health by monitoring and detecting infectious and foodborne diseases, environmental contaminants, terrorist agents, genetic disorders in newborns and other diverse health threats.

• Provides project management, strategic thinking, coordination, and administrative support to implement environmental microbiology project activities.
• Organizes, coordinates and completes the following activities:
  • Plan and coordinate a real-world demonstration and evaluation of the EPA-CDC virtual reality training for large volume water sampling and processing for high-consequence pathogens in drinking water.
  • Facilitate a nationwide community of practice for state and local laboratories.
  • Develop and share materials that help support the community, including low-resource environmental microbiology laboratories, to build their programs.
  • Build community workforce capacity by supporting training curriculum development, train the trainer approaches, and hosting the curriculum online.
  • Collaborate with the APHL Global Health team on relevant environmental microbiology project activities.
  • Communicate program activities and cooperative agreement reporting requirements with CDC Project Officers and other.
  • Track financial activities and reports and writes corresponding reports for assigned.
  • Connect this environmental microbiology outbreak response work to APHL’s national Environmental Laboratory Science Committee and all state and local environmental laboratories through monthly calls and relevant activities.
  • Work on Environmental Laboratory Science Committee projects as needed.
  • Collaborate with environmental health staff on inter-department projects.
  • Other duties as assigned.
• TRAVEL: Periodic travel to conferences and meetings will be necessary to fulfill the job requirements.

• Incumbents at this level typically have a specialty gained through a college degree, two to five years of relevant on-the-job experience or advanced technical training or experience. An advanced degree may be substituted for work experience. A master’s degree in a relevant field is preferred.
• The Specialist is responsible for providing professional support for programs or internal functional activities and typically performs analysis, research, writing, and project coordination, usually under the direction of a Senior Manager or Senior Director.
• Work at this level requires that the Specialist understand the concepts, practices and procedures of the area of specialization and can apply them to work that may be difficult in nature.
• Specialists work under supervision and have limited latitude and decision-making authority; but they have sufficient knowledge and experience to carry out projects fairly independently once a plan is in place.
• A Specialist may have frequent contact with outside organizations or internal customers that may involve project coordination, information sharing, or resolution of problems.

Knowledge

 

Knowledge of environmental microbiology, public health systems, laboratory processes, project management, group facilitation and management, and Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook).

 

Skills

 

Skilled in the use of Microsoft Office Suite including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook email systems, as well as an adaptive nature to new computer programs and other digital tools. Excellent project management, organizational, verbal and written communication skills.

 

Abilities

 

Ability to establish working relationships with diverse groups, work independently and switch between a variety of projects and organize work projects and complete tasks within assigned timeframes.

APHL Week is a Conference/Convention that is held at the APHL Home Office Bethesda, MD. This event is mandatory for all employees to attend. Travel and lodging will be reimbursed by APHL.

Please Note: Reimbursement for travel and lodging may not be possible for employees that are local to the APHL Home Office.

The duties and responsibilities listed in this job description are illustrative ones anticipated for this position. Other duties and responsibilities may be assigned as required. Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) reserves the right to amend or change this job description to meet the needs of its programs. This job description and any attachments do not constitute or represent a contract.

Work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations will be made for known physical or mental limitations to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the role.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by a colleague to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations will be made for known physical or mental limitations to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the role.
During the job, the colleague may need to sit for extended periods, use a computer keyboard to type, read information visually, and communicate orally through a computer monitor.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, protected veteran status, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin or any other characteristics protected by applicable law.