Housing and Homeless Services Epidemiologist
The Housing and Homeless Services Epidemiologist will work collaboratively with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (BSAS) to perform data analysis, present data, and advise on the design and planning of housing and homeless services for people with substance use disorders using a data informed approach. The selected applicant will be assigned to MDPH full-time to support data quality improvement initiatives, data analysis and report generation specific to housing and homeless services using relevant data. The ideal candidate will have knowledge of public health surveillance and epidemiological data, housing and homeless services and be comfortable working in a dynamic team setting.
Responsibilities
- Support all data management functions related to existing BSAS-funded housing and homeless services program and support any future programs with data collection activities as they are initiated.
- Coordinate and collaborate with data custodians of relevant housing and homeless services data systems managed at DPH and/or other sister agencies.
- Coordinate Institutional Review Board (IRB)-related activities and act as liaison with DPH’s IRB committee.
- Research, gather and investigate data into the prevalence and incidence of homelessness/housing instability among people with substance use disorder and provide statistical analysis and dissemination of results.
- Respond to internal and external inquiries for data requests.
- Utilize multi-source data in collaboration with contractors and state staff, develop methodologies and data frameworks to identify disparities in access to services.
- Prepare metrics and reports from findings for the agency/Bureau and professional publications.
- Participate in data improvement initiatives for continuous quality improvements; recommend opportunities to enhance data collection, processing, and analysis.
- Assist DPH in carrying out responsibilities related to federal grant-based projects.
- Leverage performance data as basis to support outcome analysis and to advise senior staff on program design.
- Maintain personal/professional growth and proficiency by reading professional journals, health bulletins and other publication sources and stay informed of current trends and new data in the field of substance use and homelessness.
- Act as intermediary or representative for housing and homeless services within the BSAS Office of Statistics and Evaluation and the department.
- Participate in interdepartmental and intradepartmental activities related to housing and homeless services.
- Provide data-related guidance and technical assistance to DPH housing and homeless services provide.
- Other duties as assigned.
Qualifications
- Master’s degree in public health or related field with a focus in Epidemiology and/or Biostatistics.
- General knowledge of the principles and practices of epidemiology, biostatistics and public health.
- Competence in utilizing statistical analysis tools commonly used with health care data, experience specifically with SAS (Statistical Analysis System) preferred and experience with SQL desired.
- Aptitude in statistical methodology, process improvement and project management.
- Record of working with databases, particularly combining datasets in multiple formats.
- Skilled in presenting complex information in an understandable and compelling manner.
- Ability to explain data analysis to non-technical audiences.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to determine the applicability of epidemiological data, to draw conclusions and make effective recommendations and changes.
- Ability to work well in a fast-paced environment and managing competing deadlines.
- Proficient usage of Microsoft Office products including Word, Excel, and Outlook.
- Strong organizational skills, ability to manage a complex workload, to work independently and pro-actively with minimal supervision, and to participate in team-based project work.
- Comfortable working with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures, as well as with multi-disciplinary teams.
- Excellent written and verbal English language skills.
Preferred Qualifications
- Familiarity with the Massachusetts Health and Human Services Virtual Gateway.
- Experience performing data analysis using SAS.
- Experience working with GIS Mapping software.
- Previous experience working in the housing and homeless services field.
Salary commensurate with experience.