Department Information
This position is only open to Colorado state residents.
We are committed to increasing the diversity of our staff and providing culturally responsive programs and services. Therefore, we encourage responses from people of diverse backgrounds and abilities.
Be BOLD and make a real difference . . .
Do you desire a career that provides you with opportunities to improve the world around you? The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) is seeking diverse individuals from all backgrounds to apply for a career position that makes a direct impact on improving the lives of Colorado residents. Our mission is to advance Colorado's health and protect the places we live, work, learn, and play. Our vision is to create a healthy and sustainable Colorado where current and future generations thrive.
If your goal is to build a career that makes a difference, consider joining the dedicated people of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Our tobacco-free campus offers free parking and is conveniently located near RTD bus lines, Glendale City Set, and the Cherry Creek bike path. In addition to a great location and rewarding, meaningful work, we offer:
Employee wellness programs and facilities
Extensive internal professional development opportunities on a wide variety of subjects
Bike to work programs, including access to storage lockers and bike racks
Distinctive career advancement opportunities throughout the State system
Strong, yet flexible retirement benefits including a choice of the PERA Defined Benefit Plan or the PERA Defined Contribution Plan, plus optional 401K and 457 plans
Medical and dental health plans
Paid life insurance
Short- and long-term disability coverage
11 paid holidays per year plus generous personal time off
Mentoring program with opportunities for mentors and mentees
Tuition assistance for college-level courses including Masters degree programs
Excellent work-life programs, such as flexible schedules, and
A variety of employee resource groups
We are committed to increasing the diversity of our staff and providing culturally responsive programs and services. Therefore, we encourage responses from people of diverse backgrounds and abilities.
(This posting may be used to fill multiple vacancies and may be extended.)
Some positions may qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. For more information, go to: https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/pslfFlow.action#!/pslf/launch
Description of Job
The Work Unit
At the Prevention Services Division (PSD), we are guided by a core belief: that ordinary people working together can change history. Our organizational goal is to inspire people to take action, empower them to change their world for the better, and connect them so they can achieve more together than they can alone.
PSD consists of roughly 283 employees who partner with public and private partners across Colorado to improve the health of all Coloradans. Our team of professionals develop, review, implement, and evaluate public health interventions proven to promote healthy living, prevent chronic disease, protect against injury, and ensure access to health care and opportunities for a healthy lifestyle. The Division is committed to the professional development, collaborative effort and sustained wellness of its workforce. We believe that all people – no matter their race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, education level, age, language, religion, ability or geographic location – should have the opportunity to live healthy lives and thrive in their natural environment.
The Epidemiology and Evaluation Branch provides epidemiological, surveillance, and evaluation support to the Violence and Injury Prevention-Mental Health Promotion (VIP-MHP) Branch, the Office of Suicide Prevention, and the Office of Gun Violence Prevention in the Prevention Services Division (PSD). The evaluation and epidemiology teams collaboratively make data useable and accessible with programs and communities to make decisions to advance social justice and equity through public health work, understand risk and protective factors that influence multiple outcomes, and ultimately improve health. The branch informs and improves the prevention and intervention efforts of programs that fund the Branch, resulting in data-driven decisions. The Branch accomplishes this purpose by conducting epidemiologic studies, such as population-level analyses of observational data; program evaluation, such as process and outcome evaluation; and managing the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey used for epidemiologic studies and program evaluation. The Branch works closely with other programs in the Prevention Services Division, yet provides independent assessments and evaluations that inform decision making for program implementation.
The Position
Serves as the prescription drug epidemiologist and delegated Staff Authority with a focus on analyzing data from Colorado’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) for describing prescribing patterns at the population level and evaluating efforts to prevent prescription drug overdose and monitor buprenorphine prescribing to treat opioid use disorder. The prescription drug epidemiologist collaborates with the Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention and community task forces to improve surveillance of Colorado’s prescription drug overdose and to disseminate population-level PDMP results to inform prevention and intervention efforts.
Works independently to:
- Conducts assessments of data quality and completeness of PDMP data;
- Develops and applies methodologies to analyze PDMP and other prescription drug-related data for program planning, monitoring and evaluation.
- Analyzes prescription drug-related data to determine demographic trends and identifies persistent and emerging prescription drug trends and proposes strategies to reduce fatal and non-fatal prescription overdoses. Analysis methods include calculating descriptive statistics; applying inferential statistical methods and weighting or age-, sex-, and race-adjustment for confounding, and conducting logistic and linear regression modeling;
- Implements strategies that improves accuracy of identifying multiple prescriptions for the same person;
- Links PDMP data to health outcome data, including data on emergency department visits, hospitalizations, maternal mortality and drug overdose deaths;
- Uses PDMP data to identify common characteristics of high-risk groups for prescription drug overdose;
- Identifies high-burden communities for prescription drug overdose across the state;
- Analyzes and disseminates county-level PDMP results to facilitate local communities selecting strategies to prevent prescription drug overdose or increase treatment of opioid use disorder; and
- Interprets PDMP results for public health actions and disseminates to state and local partners.
Minimum Qualifications, Substitutions, Conditions of Employment & Appeal Rights
Must meet one of the following or any combination of experience/education to meet the qualifications:
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Seven (7) years of professional experience in leading and conducting epidemiologic or public health analyses, program evaluation using large data sets, research, or inferential statistics, that provided a thorough knowledge of data collection, analysis, and interpretation. This experience should include conducting analyses using common statistical software, such as SAS, R, SPSS, or Stata.
OR-
Graduation from an accredited college or university in public health, epidemiology, pharmacoepidemiology, biostatistics, applied mathematics, data science, or a closely-related field.
AND
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Three (3) years of professional experience in leading and conducting epidemiologic or public health analyses, program evaluation using large data sets, research, or inferential statistics, that provided a thorough knowledge of data collection, analysis, and interpretation. This experience should include conducting analyses using common statistical software, such as SAS, R, SPSS, or Stata.
Substitutions:
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A master's or doctorate degree in public health, epidemiology, pharmacoepidemiology, biostatistics, applied mathematics, data science, or a closely-related field may substitute for the required experience on a year-for-year basis.
Preferred Qualifications and Essential Competencies
The preferred experience, competencies and abilities are highly desirable for this position and will be considered in selecting the successful candidate:-
Experience designing and implementing epidemiologic studies or public health analysis projects
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Knowledge of drug epidemiology or pharmacoepidemiology
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Ability to articulate the components and complexities of data analysis and interpretation of results to a variety of audiences with less statistical expertise or different levels of data competency (from middle school level to professional conference and peer-reviewed literature)
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Skills in statistical software, such as SAS or R, and visualization software, such as Tableau or R-Shiny
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Experience in integrating inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility principles in a data project from planning, analysis, and interpretation to communication of results.
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Skills for creating algorithms that change the unit of analysis (for example, from prescriptions to patients) or that have a complicated lookback period to calculate new variables in large data sets with millions of records
Conditions of Employment:
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Pursuant to CDPHE policy, a background check is required for all positions at CDPHE.
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Hybrid work schedule, in-office and remote.
APPEAL RIGHTS:
If you receive notice that you have been eliminated from consideration for this position, you may file an appeal with the State Personnel Board or request a review by the State Personnel Director.
An appeal or review must be submitted on the official appeal form, signed by you or your representative. This form must be delivered to the State Personnel Board by email (dpa_state.personnelboard@state.co.us), postmarked in US Mail or hand delivered (1525 Sherman Street, 4th Floor, Denver CO 80203), or faxed (303.866.5038) within ten (10) calendar days from your receipt of notice or acknowledgment of the department’s action.
For more information about the appeals process, the official appeal form, and how to deliver it to the State Personnel Board; go to spb.colorado.gov; contact the State Personnel Board for assistance at (303) 866-3300; or refer to 4 Colorado Code of Regulations (CCR) 801-1, State Personnel Board Rules and Personnel Director's Administrative Procedures, Chapter 8, Resolution of Appeals and Disputes, at spb.colorado.gov under Rules.
Supplemental Information
A complete application packet must include:
A completed State of Colorado application.
Unofficial transcripts if using to verify educational requirement
If you are a veteran, a copy of your DD214 attached to your colorado.gov/jobs application.
The Selection Process
All applications that are received by the closing of this announcement will be reviewed against the Minimum Qualifications in this announcement. Candidates who meet the minimum qualifications proceed to the next step.
Colorado Revised Statutes require that state employees are hired and promoted based on merit and fitness through a comparative analysis process. Part of, or all of, the comparative analysis for this position may be a structured application review, which involves a review of the information you submit in your application materials by Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) against the preferred qualifications.
A top group, of up to six candidates, will be invited to schedule an interview with the hiring manager.
E-Verify: CDPHE uses e-Verify, an Internet-based system, to confirm the eligibility of all newly hired employees to work in the United States. Learn more about E-Verify, including your rights and responsibilities.
You must be legally eligible to work in the United States to be appointed to this position. CDPHE does not sponsor non-residents of the United States.
ADAAA Accommodations:
The State of Colorado believes that equity, diversity, and inclusion drive our success, and we encourage candidates from all identities, backgrounds, and abilities to apply. The State of Colorado is an equal opportunity employer committed to building inclusive, innovative work environments with employees who reflect our communities and enthusiastically serve them. Therefore, in all aspects of the employment process, we provide employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, medical condition related to pregnancy, creed, ancestry, national origin, marital status, genetic information, or military status (with preference given to military veterans), or any other protected status in accordance with applicable law. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, our agency will assist individuals who have a disability with any reasonable accommodation requests related to employment, including completing the application process, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, participating in the employee selection process, and/or to perform essential job functions where the requested accommodation does not impose an undue hardship. If you have a disability and require reasonable accommodation to ensure you have a positive experience applying or interviewing for this position, please direct your inquiries to our ADAAA Coordinator, Dan McKenna, at daniel.mckenna@state.co.us or call 303-692-2060, option 5.