Strategic Initiatives Coordinator

Company Overview

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH) is one of the largest public health agencies in the world, serving 8 million New Yorkers. We're tackling a broad range of public health issues with innovative policies and programs and getting exceptional results, but our work is never finished. The breadth of our innovative programs provides the widest range of choices for every member of our team.

The selected candidate will be an employee of Public Health Solutions, a nonprofit organization which is the fiscal and administrative manager of the grant but will be supervised by DOHMH. This is a temporary grant-funded position ending June 30, 2025.

Division Overview

The Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response (OEPR) promotes DOHMH’s and NYC’s ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from health emergencies through the coordination of agency-wide emergency preparedness planning, training and exercises and through regular engagement with communities as well as city, state and federal partners. OEPR is responsible for ensuring DOHMH is in a constant state of readiness as well as preparing NYC’s healthcare system to respond to any type of emergency.

Bureau Overview

OEPR’s Bureau of Healthcare and Community Readiness (BHCR) streamlines external partner engagement to launch a synchronized approach to building local capacity to respond and recover from disasters through community engagement; healthcare coalition planning, technical assistance programming, and operations, to best align our efforts across sectors while strengthening situational awareness and information-sharing. This Bureau also works to coordinate across NYC and with NYS partners to develop a crisis standards of care framework, continuing to work on infectious disease preparedness and medical surge planning, and developing robust mechanisms for program evaluation for continuous improvement. Leveraging technology, data and partner communications this bureau will support healthcare and community programs using preparedness and response applications, providing operational support for event coordination across 500 healthcare and community partners.

DOHMH, as the recipient of an annual Health and Human Services (HHS) Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) grant award, partners and contracts with various health care sectors to increase the preparedness level of the overall healthcare system, including but not limited to: all NYC hospitals nursing homes and adult care facility associations, geographic based coalitions, and a number of subject matter expert coalitions such as the Pediatric Disaster Coalition. The program also works to enhance systems level readiness by addressing jurisdictional planning and response gaps with healthcare partners and sister agencies at the city and state level.

The Bureau of Healthcare and Community Readiness (BHCR) builds local capacity to respond and recover from disasters through engaging healthcare and community partners and applying science to inform research and policy that impacts the communities we serve. The Strategic Initiatives Unit within BHCR develops and refines strategic direction for OEPR, manages the annual goal-setting process, and coordinates national workgroups to support collaboration in preparedness across jurisdictions.

Summary of Position

DOHMH has an opening for a Strategic Initiatives Coordinator in the Bureau of Healthcare and Community Readiness Strategic Initiatives Unit. The Strategic Initiatives Coordinator will be instrumental in developing and implementing the strategic direction for division-wide workforce and operational initiatives for the Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response.

Duties:

• Responsible for a portfolio of initiatives to operationalize programs and policies, including planning events, delivering training, project management, and provide technical assistance for the Bureau of Healthcare and Community Readiness.
• Lead management of partnerships with public health emergency preparedness jurisdictions and federal partners through coordination of monthly meetings, identification of follow-ups, tracking completion of related actions items, and organizing the creation of communications and educational policy documents.
• Lead the coordination of a divisional workgroup and related initiatives to bolster the resiliency and recovery of OEPR responder staff before, during, and after emergencies, including meeting management, progress tracking, and development of materials and procedures. Includes researching best practices for public health responder staff resiliency and recovery, develop staff survey tools and assessments, and identify and execute future vision for strategic implementation based on findings.
• Assist in emergency response planning for various Emergency Response Groups, including research, coordination of stakeholders, collecting feedback, and development of plans, protocols, and procedures.
• Execute special projects as assigned by senior and leadership staff, including development of comprehensive action plans, tracking project timelines, and proactively identifying and resolving challenges related to these special projects.

Qualifications:

• Bachelors Degree
• Previous experience working in fields related to public health, emergency preparedness and response or related field for 1 year.
• Salary: $70,000 - $70,000

Additional Desired Qualities

• Experience with stakeholder engagement and project management.
• Excellent communication (verbal & written) and interpersonal skills.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to manage and report complex information.
• Capacity and willingness to learn [insert specific skills/software].
• Desire to grow professionally, develop new skills and willingness to work outside of comfort zone.
• Experience working with the public health sector and coordinating projects involving multiple stakeholders.
• Ability to prioritize and work in fast-paced environment with hard deadlines.
• Fluency in Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint.

Benefit:

• Hybrid Work Schedule.
• Generous Paid Time Off and Holidays.
• An attractive and comprehensive benefits package including Medical, Dental and Vision.
• Flexible Spending Accounts and Commuter Benefits.
• Company Paid Life Insurance and Disability Coverage.
• 403(b) employer matching and discretionary company contributions.
• College Savings Plan.
• Ongoing trainings and continuous opportunities for professional growth and development.

Additional Information:

• This is a temporary grant-funded position ending June 30, 2025.
• This individual must reside in the tri-state area (NY, NJ, CT) by their confirmed start date.
• Preference may be given to individuals residing in New York City (5 boroughs) or surrounding New York State counties.
• This individual will be expected to work non-business hours during emergencies.

At PHS, we place immense value on diversity within our teams, understanding that varied backgrounds and experiences significantly enhance our community and propel us toward our goals. If you find you don’t have experience in all the areas listed above, we still encourage you to apply and share your background and experiences in your application. We are eager to discover how your unique perspective can bring positive transformations to our team and help advance our mission of creating healthier, more equitable communities.

We look forward to learning more about you! 

PHS is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from women, people of color, persons with disabilities, LGBTQIA individuals, and veterans.