COMMISSIONER OF HEALTH
Recruitment #2301-5866-001
| List Type | Exempt |
|---|---|
| Requesting Department | HEALTH DEPARTMENT |
| Open Date | 1/23/2023 2:45:00 PM |
| Filing Deadline | 3/3/2023 5:00:00 PM |
| HR Analyst | Kristin Urban |
Introduction
As a member of the Mayor's Cabinet, the Commissioner of Health is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the Mayor; the appointment of the Commissioner of Health requires confirmation by the Common Council.
Purpose
The Position
The City of Milwaukee is seeking an energetic, proactive public
health leader to set the strategic direction of the Milwaukee Health Department
(MHD) and to provide outcome-based, highly accountable leadership. The
Commissioner of Health must be accessible to stakeholders in public health,
including staff and policy makers, and must thrive in an environment in which
building strong partnerships within the community in support of public health
initiatives and services is a priority.
The Commissioner has overall responsibility for public health
assessment, policy development and quality control activities associated with
the preservation of the public health in the City of Milwaukee. Specifically,
the Commissioner of Health provides strategic leadership and direction to address root causes
of poor health and health disparities, prevent and control communicable and chronic diseases, promote reproductive health, healthy child
development and school readiness, reduce illness and injury related to the
home environment and promoting healthy behaviors and access to health services.
The MHD
Since 1867, the City of Milwaukee Health Department has served the
residents of the City of Milwaukee, seeking to improve and protect the health
of all who live, work and play within the City. One hundred and fifty years
later, the MHD remains steadfast in this mission. As the largest local health
department in the state of Wisconsin, the MHD now serves nearly 600,000 residents through direct services, evidence-based programs, partnerships, and
policy development. The MHD’s work focuses upon the foundational activities of
public health – those actions that local health departments are required to
perform - such as communicable disease control, environmental public health
inspections and community health assessment and planning.
An annual budget of approximately $14M from the tax levy (a total of $50M when including grants and other funding sources), a multidisciplinary team of over 300 public health employees and strong partnerships with private providers, community agencies and educational institutions create an effective framework to monitor, identify and prevent community health hazards, to educate the public about emerging health issues and to enforce laws and regulations to protect health and to ensure safety.
MHD Vision, Mission and Values
VISION
~Living your best life, Milwaukee~
MISSION
~Advance the health and equity of Milwaukeeans through science,
innovation, and leadership.~
VALUES
Innovation: We believe in nurturing creativity and
new ideas that challenge us to do our everyday work better.
Equity: We acknowledge historic and current injustices
in our community and strive to cultivate an environment where everyone in our
community has equal opportunity to be healthy.
Collaboration: We convene community
members, partners, and elected officials to meet the needs of our community.
Courage: We take strategic risk and bold
initiative to advocate for and prioritize the needs of our community.
Accountability: We act with transparency
and integrity to advance the health of Milwaukee.
Quality: We continuously improve and adapt to
create sustainable and positive health outcomes.
Recent Initiatives
Recent successes in the Milwaukee Health Department (MHD)
include the first strategic plan in ten years with a focus on recovery and
based on becoming an anti-racist organization, American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)
investment in the childhood lead program, Covid-19 response and violence
prevention, completion of the community health assessment, revitalization of
MKE Elevate and a significant investment in workforce development.
Priority-based budgeting, a clinical operations assessment and a lab assessment
have created a road map for a strategic leader to implement recommendations, realign
public health priorities and strengthen strategic community partnerships to
improve health outcomes and meaningfully the impact of racial disparity upon
community health.
Further information about the MHD can be found on the departmental website: https://city.milwaukee.gov/Health/.
Essential Functions
Standards and Strategic Leadership: Provide leadership and establish and enforce accountability mechanisms for all divisions in the MHD, including Family and Community Health Services, Disease Control and Environmental Health, Consumer Environmental Health and Laboratory Services, as well as for Nursing Practice and Public Health Planning and Policy. Lead the MHD in organizational strategic planning and monitor progress and informatics toward strategic goals; ensure that MHD leadership participates in and facilitates ongoing community health assessment and planning in partnership with other community stakeholders. Direct the pursuit of funding from public and private sources to address health priorities identified through organizational strategic planning and community health assessments. Direct organizational efforts to achieve and maintain local health department accreditation from the Public Health Accreditation Board. Lead strategic planning efforts related to assessing public health needs, developing public health policy, ensuring that the public, non-profit and private sector collaborate to advance initiatives and providing direct services.
Public Health Emergency Response: Oversee tactical incident command and crisis communication related to public health emergencies. Ensure responses are research based, addressed quickly and efficiently and communicated in a timely and effective manner to the public. Work collaboratively with staff, the community and academic and governmental partners to prevent further occurrences and/or to anticipate and respond appropriately to threats to community health.
Compliance
and Accountability: Ensure that public health programs are administered in
a manner consistent with public health laws and regulations and that public
health laws are enforced fairly and consistently. Ensure complaints and
concerns are addressed in a timely manner and that staff meets regularly with
the community to obtain feedback about how to improve regulatory policies and
decision-making.
Management
of Leadership Team: Coach, support and assess managers to help them achieve
organizational and professional improvement goals; identify and implement
measures of success and accountability. Continuously monitor
organizational climate to ensure accountability of staff to the organizational mission and vision and to
processes and outcomes.
Community
Engagement and Collaboration: Communicate regularly and
responsively with managers, staff, policy makers, and other stakeholders to ensure access and accountability for MHD functions and services. Cultivate and maintain partnerships with public sector, private sector,
not-for-profit and academic stakeholders to build and promote public health
initiatives. Ensure that the MHD has mechanisms and strategies for
obtaining feedback and input from persons with diverse backgrounds and ensure
the consideration of the role of cultural, social and behavioral factors in the
accessibility, availability, acceptability and delivery of public health services.
Serve as the primary spokesperson for the MHD on public health issues or
identify other subject matter experts for that role within the organization,
based upon the topic.
We welcome qualified individuals with
disabilities who are interested in employment and will make reasonable
accommodations during the hiring process in accordance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, as amended by the Americans with Disabilities
Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) of 2008.
Conditions of Employment
Please be advised that new employees are required to have received either both doses of the Moderna or Pfizer or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine prior to their employment start date or have an approved religious or medical accommodation prior to their employment start date. You can find further information relative to the City’s Covid-19 Vaccination Policy here.
- The incumbent must be willing and able to work outside standard business hours to respond to emergencies and to represent the department.
Minimum Requirements
A. The minimum
requirements for a Level III local health officer are established by Wis. Stat.
§ 251.06 (1) (c). Chapter 17-02 of the Milwaukee Code of Ordinances
confers the duties of health officer upon the Commissioner of Health.
Accordingly, qualified candidates must possess one the following (i.e. 1, 2 or
3+a, b or c).
1. A
master’s degree in public health, public administration, health administration or,
as defined in rules promulgated by the department, a similar field and three
years of experience in a full−time administrative position in either a public
health agency or public health work.
2. A
bachelor’s degree and 16 graduate semester credits towards a master’s degree in
public health, public administration, health administration or, as defined in
rules promulgated by the department, a similar field and five years of
experience in a full−time administrative position in either a public health
agency or public health work.
3. A license
to practice medicine and surgery under ch. 448 and at least one of the
following:
a. Three years of experience in a full−time administrative position in either a public health agency or public health work.
b. Eligibility for certification by the American board of preventive medicine in public health or general preventive medicine.
c. A master’s degree in public health, public administration, health administration or, as defined in rules promulgated by the department, a similar field.
4. A valid driver’s license at the time of appointment and throughout employment.d. Notwithstanding pars. (a) to (c), relevant education, training, instruction, or other experience that an applicant obtained in connection with military service, as defined in s. 111.32 (12g), counts toward satisfying the requirements for education, training, instruction, or other experience to qualify as a public health officer if the applicant demonstrates to the satisfaction of the department that the education, training, instruction, or other experience that the applicant obtained in connection with his or her military service is substantially equivalent to the education, training, instruction, or other experience that is required to qualify as a public health officer.
IMPORTANT NOTE: College transcripts are required and must
be emailed as an attachment to nnelson@milwaukee.gov by the application
closing date and time. Student/unofficial copies are acceptable; however, your
transcript must be legible and include your college/university name, your name,
the degree completed and the date completed.
Knowledge, Skills, Abilities & Other Characteristics
Technical
§ Thorough
knowledge of prevention-focused public health practice and of applicable federal,
state, and local regulations.
§ Demonstrated
knowledge of trends and best practices in public health and healthcare delivery
systems.
§ Knowledge
of the principles and practices of public health administration.
§ Ability
to read and understand documents such as laws, policies and technical
publications.
§ Ability
to make decisions and recommendations to further the public health of the
community that are based upon research and known mitigation strategies.
§ Ability
to identify and interpret emerging trends in public health and to provide
information, analysis and interpretation to stakeholders and community
partners.
Leadership
§ Ability
to articulate and promote a vision for public health and for the organization.
§ Ability
to create a sense of mission by articulating and modeling professional values
and ethics via an equity perspective.
§ Ability
to develop policies and processes that translate the mission and vision into
action; this includes upholding the 2019 Declaration of Racism as a Public
Health Crisis.
§ Ability to
facilitate and encourage the application of systems thinking.
§ Ability
to develop and implement performance management strategies and measures and to
facilitate assessment and planning.
§ Ability
to facilitate and promote individual staff accomplishments toward
organizational objectives, including shared responsibility, teamwork and
acceptance of change.
§ Ability
to develop and implement strategic public health policies through effective delegation,
persuasion and negotiating skills.
§ Ability
to translate policy decisions into organizational and community programs and
services.
§ Ability
to guide and mediate the investigation and resolution of conflict within the
organization and with other governmental agencies and community stakeholders.
§ Honesty,
integrity, the ability to maintain confidentiality and responsible stewardship
of City resources.
Organizational
Skills/Strategic Management
§ Ability
to thrive in a fast-paced, robust organization.
§ Ability
to effectively plan, organize and manage competing priorities and challenges
under pressure.
§ Skill in
short and long-term strategic planning.
§ Strong
fiscal management and organizational skills as well as the ability to advocate
for increased funding for public health through a variety of funding mechanisms
(e.g. tax levy, grants, contracts).
§ Ability
to assess the organizational assets, resources and opportunities and to develop
new organizational structures, systems and metrics that support accountability
and efficiency in the delivery of public health services and in public health
education and advocacy.
Communication
§ Very
strong communication, public speaking, and presentation skills.
§ Expert in
media communications and ability to translate technical information into lay
terms for diverse audiences.
§ Written
communications skills to craft policies and procedures, reports and
correspondence.
§ Ability
to direct the utilization of media advocacy to communicate the public health
mission to stakeholders, including the effective use of social media.
§ Ability
to employ professional discernment in messaging to staff, community,
sector/industry leaders, and politicians at all levels.
Relationship
Building
§ Ability
to prioritize community engagement by “meeting the community where they are at”
as well as understanding the anthropology of Milwaukee’s communities of color
and the impact on current health and quality of life.
§ Ability
to establish and maintain collaborative partnerships with private providers,
community partners, and federal, state and local officials.
§ Ability
to establish and maintain effective working relationships with coworkers,
elected officials, representatives of City departments, community organizations
and other stakeholders in public health, including citizens.
§ Ability
to guide the community and organization in seeking policy change and action
related to public health issues.
§ Ability
to engage key stakeholders in collaborative ventures, to develop partnering
strategies and to develop strategic plans that involve the input and engagement
of stakeholders.
§ Ability
to ensure that the MHD has mechanisms for obtaining feedback and input from
persons with diverse backgrounds and to ensure the consideration of the role of
cultural, social and behavioral factors and in the accessibility, availability,
acceptability and delivery of public health services.
Current Salary
The
current salary range (Pay Range 1PX)
is $122,746-$171,838 annually, and the resident
incentive salary range for City of Milwaukee residents is $126,428-$176,993 annually. Appointment above the minimum is possible based upon level of
experience and other qualifications and is subject to approval.
BENEFITS:
The City of Milwaukee
provides a comprehensive benefit program that includes the following:
§ Defined
Benefit Pension Plan
§ 457
Deferred Compensation Plan
§ Health and Dental Insurance
§ Paid Parental Leave
§ Comprehensive
Wellness Program
§ Onsite
Clinic Services
§ Onsite
Employee Assistance Program
§ Alternative
Work Schedules
§ Long Term
Disability Insurance
§ Group
Life Insurance
§ Tuition
Benefits
§ Paid
Vacation
§ 12 Paid
Holidays
§ Paid Sick
Leave and other paid leaves
§ Flexible
Spending Arrangement
§ Commuter
Value Pass
For full details of the benefits offered by the City of Milwaukee,
please visit: https://city.milwaukee.gov/der/benefits
Selection Process
Screening for this
position will be based on an evaluation of each applicant’s education,
experience, and professional accomplishments, which should be detailed in
a resume and cover letter.
§ Please
submit a resume and cover letter via email before 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 3, 2023 to nnelson@milwaukee.gov. Please
indicate “Commissioner of Health” in the subject line.
§ Questions relative to the selection process may be directed to Nola Nelson at 414.286.5066 or via email at nnelson@milwaukee.gov.
. The City
of Milwaukee reserves the right to invite only the most qualified applicants to
participate in the selection process.
INITIAL FILING DATE: The
selection process will be conducted as soon as practical after Friday, March 3, 2023.
Receipt of application materials may be discontinued at any time after this
date without prior notice. However, recruitment may continue until the needs of
the City have been met. The applicant is responsible for attending all phases
of the job selection process at the time and place designated by the City of
Milwaukee.
Additional Information
§ Further
information may be accessed by visiting, http://city.milwaukee.gov/jobs.
§ If you
would like additional assistance, please contact the Department of Employee
Relations at (414) 286-3751 or staffinginfo@milwaukee.gov.
§ The
Department of Employee Relations is located at City Hall, 200 E. Wells St.,
Room 706, Milwaukee, WI 53202.
