Director of Public Health Strategy & Innovation

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Public Health Surveillance & Crisis Response Monitor patient and community health data to identify emerging and ongoing public health issues, including chronic disease, maternal and infant health, behavioral health and overdose, infectious disease, and environmental threats such as extreme heat. Integrate community data such as Census/American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, the California Healthy Places Index, and data from county public health departments to map conditions across our service areas.

Produce timely reports showing the scope of a public health issue, the populations most affected, and where it is concentrated; advise leadership and help coordinate organizational responses during emerging public health threats and emergencies. Analyze health outcomes by race, ethnicity, language, age, and neighborhood as well as other demographic and socioeconomic characteristics to identify and track disparities.

Community Health Strategy & Innovation Identify significant unmet or emerging community health needs, gaps in services and access, and areas where systems are failing the community – and identify where St. John's is positioned to respond. Monitor public health initiatives and safety-net policy developments to inform organizational planning and emerging program opportunities.

Partner with St. John's leadership to translate population health findings into feasible program designs, pilots, and targeted interventions aligned with organizational priorities. Develop evidence-based analyses and briefs on community health needs, service gaps, and proposed health and social policies to inform organizational strategy, public education, policy discussions, and advocacy.

Program Evaluation Lead evaluation of existing and proposed programs, including reach, implementation, effectiveness, health outcomes, and equity; use findings to provide recommendations to program, clinical and organizational leaders. Establish evaluation frameworks for priority initiatives, including logic models, measurable objectives, baselines, benchmarks, data collection plans, and process and outcome indicators.

Community Reach Identify neighborhoods and residents with unmet health and social needs who are not yet connected to St. John's. Guide outreach and partnership priorities based on community need. Compile and analyze community health needs assessments of potential new service areas or populations with public health and community partners.

Reporting & Communication Partner with IT and other departments to develop population health and equity reports and dashboards with clearly defined indicators and reliable reporting methods. Communicate findings in plain language for diverse audiences, including community members and policymakers. Responsibility to Team – actively support assigned team/department by participating in and supporting all team/departmental initiatives, proactively communicating with supervision, meeting assigned goals and objectives, and committing to embracing process improvement initiatives.

Responsibility to Organization – actively support SJCH by consistently meeting St. John’s Mission, Vision, and Values; modeling positive interactions with patients, staff, and community; keeping informed of internal (e.g., policies and procedures) and external (e.g., legal or political matters) which may affect business.

Additional Duties – as assigned. St. John’s Community Health is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer QUALIFICATIONS To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Minimum Qualifications

Education

Master's Degree in Public Health, Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Health Services Research, Health Administration, or a closely related field required; doctoral degree (PhD or DrPH) preferred. Experience: 5+ years in public health practice, epidemiology, or public health research, including experience leading projects or programs.

Experience in program evaluation, policy analysis, or community-engaged research. Experience analyzing social needs screening data. Methods: Applied epidemiologic and statistical methods, including trend analysis, forecasting, and community-level data analysis. Demonstrated commitment to and experience working in partnership with historically underserved and highly marginalized communities, with a strong orientation toward dignity, cultural humility, trust-building, and health equity.

Preferred Qualifications

Knowledge of Los Angeles County and Inland Empire public health systems and community partners. Experience with EHR and population health data, Excel, data visualization/business intelligence tools, and statistical analysis; familiarity with SQL, GIS, or similar analytical tools is desirable. Published or presented public health research.

Core Competencies: Community-centered purpose: Demonstrated commitment to engaging patients and community members respectfully, incorporating their perspectives into decisions, and addressing inequities in health and access to care. Analytical rigor: High standards for methods, data quality, and honest reporting. Action orientation: Turns findings into decisions and follows through until outcomes change.

Plain-language communication: Explains complex data plainly to any audience, from the Board to community members. Collaboration: Builds effective working relationships across clinical, quality improvement, operations, care management, development, data/IT, and community partner teams. Builder mindset: Thrives in an entrepreneurial environment, building systems from the ground up.

Additional Requirements: Valid driver's license and reliable transportation. Ability to be covered by car insurance as required. Ability to drive and travel by car as needed. Flexibility to travel between Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties as needed.