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HHS Information Technology Fellowship

HHS Office and LocationA research opportunity is currently available with the Bureau of Primary Health Care/Office of Strategic Business Operations within the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) located in Rockville, Maryland. This appointment is telework-eligible in accordance with agency policy.  

Research Project: The Health Resources and Services Administration is the primary federal agency for improving access to health care services for people who are uninsured, isolated or medically vulnerable. HRSA provides leadership and financial support to health care providers in every state and U.S. territory.

The Bureau of Primary Health Care provides overall leadership, direction, coordination, and planning in support of the Nation's underserved communities and vulnerable populations by assuring access to comprehensive, culturally competent, quality primary health care services.
The ORISE appointments are located in the BPHC Office of Strategic Business Operations (OSBO). OSBO’s purpose is to optimize the use of data, technology, and communications to advance operational excellence, enable data-driven decisions that maximize efficiency and impact, and support a shared understanding of the value of the Health Center Program. OSBO collaborates closely with internal stakeholders, including BPHC leadership and staff, key partners within HRSA, as well as grantees and other external stakeholders in order to:

  • Leverage the use of data analytics to inform decisions and provide meaningful insights and improvements across the organization
  • Facilitate the strategic use of effective tools and technologies across the Bureau that advance organizational excellence
  • Enable access to information and technology that empowers health centers to carry out the mission of the Health Center Program effectively
  • Deploy strategic communications that showcase and demonstrate the impact of the Health Center Program so that it is well understood by stakeholders

The proposed project involves program coordination for two related initiatives that are critical to the Bureau of Primary Health Care: the BPHC Data Lakehouse and Uniform Data System Patient-Level Submission (UDS+). These are new IT system development projects. The former involves the building of a new, modern data analytic environment for reporting and predictive modeling that will enable a "single source of truth" for Bureau data. The latter involves the building of a new system to ingest patient-level data from health centers as part of their annual reports, known as the Uniform Data System. Both projects are critical to the Bureau's and agency's mission as they will enable data-driven decision making and deeper insights into clinical quality measures and the social determinants of health.

Under the guidance of a mentor, the ORISE fellow will contribute to the implementation of the new IT system development projects, such as helping to develop and maintain project plans; supporting project-related internal communications management; preparing various critical system management documentation; and tracking project status. Given the interrelated nature of the two projects, the fellow will play a key role in ensuring ongoing coordination and alignment between both initiatives and will collaborate closely with the respective project teams.

Learning ObjectivesLearning Goals and Objectives for this placement are:

  • 1. Learn about development of new, cutting-edge IT systems, particularly in a government context
  • 2. Learn about the relationships and interactions between government staff and contractors
  • 3. Gain experience in project management and Agile methodology
  • 4. Gain first-hand exposure to, and understanding of, the successful implementation of two of an agency’s highest-priority, most challenging initiatives
  • 5. Gain experience in interacting with federal staff and managers ranging from junior-level to the Senior Executive Service

Mentor(s)The mentor(s) for this opportunity are Kim Hill (khill2@hrsa.gov) and David Spett (dspett@hrsa.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research please contact the mentor(s).

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: November 7, 2022. Start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.

Appointment LengthThe appointment will initially be for one year, but may be renewed upon recommendation of HHS and is contingent on the availability of funds.

Level of ParticipationThe appointment is full-time.

Participant StipendThe participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience. Fellows will be provided a health insurance allowance and will have access to agency-provided training.

Citizenship RequirementsThis opportunity is available to U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR).

ORISE InformationThis program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and HHS. Participants do not become employees of HHS, DOE or the program administrator, and there are no employment-related benefits. Proof of health insurance is required for participation in this program. Health insurance can be obtained through ORISE.

The successful applicant(s) will be required to comply with Environmental, Safety and Health (ES&H) requirements of the hosting facility, including but not limited to, COVID-19 requirements (e.g. facial covering, physical distancing, testing, vaccination).

Questions: Please visit our Program Website. After reading, if you have additional questions about the application process please email HHSrpp@orau.org and include the reference code for this opportunity.
Qualifications

The qualified candidate should have received a master's or doctoral degree in one of the relevant fields (e.g. Data Science). Degree must have been received within the past five years.

Preferred Skills:

  • One or more years of experience in:
  • Planning and coordinating complex projects with numerous interdependencies, including identifying project tasks and tracking and documenting progress.
  • Identifying risks to successful project completion and potential mitigation strategies.
  • Producing, cataloging, and updating project artifacts and IT system documentation.
  • Providing written and/or verbal updates and presentations to project leaders and senior management on working group deliverables, as well as providing other routine reports.
  • Strong oral and written communication skills; ability to communicate technical and non-technical information clearly and concisely.
  • Strong interpersonal skills; comfortable working collaboratively with other team members
  • Ability to prioritize work and coordinate activities with a project team and external counterparts.
  • Understanding of Agile methodology, Scrum theory, IT systems development, cloud architecture, data repositories (lakes, warehouses, etc.), data management, and development of business requirements for IT systems