Epidemiologist

Only applicants who meet the Minimum Qualification Requirements and all selective requirements will be placed on the eligible list.      

Mission: Iowa HHS protects and improves the health and resiliency of individuals, families, and communities through services that support all Iowans.

Vision: A healthier, more vibrant Iowa where every person can thrive and live a safe, stable, and fulfilling life.

Join a team that’s passionate, energetic, and committed to making meaningful change across our state. At HHS, your work directly strengthens communities and helps save lives.

Ready to make an impact? We’re seeking a motivated, curious, and forward-thinking Epidemiologist to help shape Iowa’s overdose prevention and response strategies. As part of our OD2A-S surveillance team, you’ll transform data into powerful insights that support public health action statewide.

This role offers the chance to contribute to innovative projects, collaborate with dedicated partners, and engage in work that truly matters to the health and safety of Iowans.

• Explore overdose trends and identify emerging risks across Iowa
• Analyze fatal and nonfatal overdose data using SAS and advanced epidemiologic methods
• Support creative surveillance projects, including the rapid opioid death detection (RODD) initiative
• Produce engaging dashboards, fact sheets, briefs, and visualizations
• Provide technical assistance to SUDORS abstractors and DOSE reporting sites
• Conduct literature reviews to strengthen surveillance and inform public health actions
• Collaborate with the OD2A-S team, contractors, and statewide partners
• Present data clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences
• Participate in CDC grantee meetings, Iowa OD2A workgroups, and national collaborations
• Support Division-wide data quality standards and epidemiologic reviews
  • What Makes an Ideal Candidate?
  • We’re excited to find someone who is:
• Passionate about public health and energized by work that helps communities thrive
• Analytical, curious, and eager to dive into complex datasets
• Innovative and comfortable exploring new surveillance approaches
• A strong communicator who can make complex data understandable
• Collaborative, team-oriented, and enthusiastic about partnership work
• Organized and detail-focused with a commitment to accuracy
• Flexible, adaptable, and ready to respond to emerging trends
• Inspired by the mission to make Iowa healthier and safer for all

Benefits

Working for the State of Iowa comes with its perks. In addition to a competitive salary, you'll enjoy a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your well-being and professional growth:

• Health, Dental, and Vision Coverage: Health and dental insurance packages to keep you and your family healthy at a low cost with outstanding coverage!
• Paid Time Off: Take time to recharge with paid time off, including vacation (96 hours/year to begin, increasing with years of service), sick leave (144 hours/year), and paid holidays (9 days/year).
• Retirement Plans: Participate in retirement plans such as IPERS (employees contribute 6.29% and the State of Iowa contributes 9.44%) as well as our Retirement Investors Club (RIC), Employer Sponsored Retirement Plan (the State of Iowa matches dollar for dollar up to $75/month).
• Flexible Spending Accounts: Take advantage of flexible spending accounts for medical and dependent care expenses.
• Insurance Coverage: Benefit from life insurance and free long-term disability insurance for added peace of mind.
• Employee Assistance Program: Access resources and support through our Employee Assistance Program for personal and professional challenges.
• Employee Discount Programs: Enjoy discounts on a variety of goods and services through our employee discount programs. 

For additional information on benefits click here.

Click here to see how we compare with other employers or offers by using our Total Compensation Calculator.

Background Checks

Applicants will be required to complete a background check to be considered for this position. 

The State of Iowa is an EEO/AA Employer

HHS values those with “lived experience” and encourages adults who were fostered as youth, foster parents, and/or parents who were in the DHS system to apply. Minorities, women, persons with disabilities and veterans are encouraged to apply (Hearing and Speech Impaired – Relay Iowa 1-800-735-2942 TDD).

E-Verify and Right to Work

The State of Iowa participates in E-Verify, a federal program that helps employers confirm the employment eligibility of all newly hired employees. Within the required timeframe, new hires will be verified through the E-Verify system to ensure authorization to work in the United States. The State of Iowa also complies with the federal Right to Work laws, which protect employees’ rights to work without being required to join a labor organization. For more information, please visitwww.e-verify.gov.

All work performed on behalf of Iowa Health and Human Services must occur in the State of Iowa.

If you're excited about data, passionate about public health, and ready to make a real difference, join us!

We’d love to welcome you to our team and work together to improve the health and safety of Iowans.

Public Health 
6 months’ experience, 12 semester hours, or a combination of both related to improving, maintaining, and protecting the general condition of health within society, either on a personal, institutional, organizational, or community basis. Experience may be gained from direct provision of health care or from other ancillary programs and support mechanisms such as government public health departments. 

AND

Mental Health 
6 months’ experience in providing service, treatment or assessment to those affected by mental health challenges, either in a private setting, group homes, local assistance agencies, or state or privately-run treatment institutions. Application must demonstrate that applicant has received a general orientation to the symptoms and treatment protocols for mental illness or public policies, procedures, or applicable laws related to the topic, or assistance programs for those affected by mental illness. Experience may come from public, private or non-profit organizations. 

AND

Substance Abuse Programs   
6 months’ experience, 12 semester hours, or a combination of both in prevention programs, clinical substance abuse, or preventative abuse (counselors, treatment workers) that includes: • Applicants who develop and/or present programs designed to inform a population on the use, abuse, and dependency of alcohol or other drugs. • Initiation, design and/or review of education curriculums, which include alcohol/drug, related information (pharmacology, reasons for use, chemical dependency, etc.). • Presentations to professionals, community organizations, youth in school, on chemical dependency. • Preparation of media campaigns, including newspaper articles and public service announcements on prevention of substance abuse. • Training of youth, parents, and professionals in assertiveness training (“saying no” strategies), communication skills, assertive discipline, decision-making, peer helping, employee assistance programming, and/or student assistance programming. • Consultation with community organizations or other human service providers to develop prevention programming. • Provide OWI classes to first-time offenders. • Inform the public of the effects of chemical dependency on families. 

AND

185 Epidemiology:
6 months experience, 12 semester hours, or a combination of both in epidemiology, which involves:

• The surveillance for respiratory diseases, vector-born diseases, enteric diseases, antimicrobial-resistant agents, or other infectious or non-infectious diseases  
• The development of protocols and procedures for data collection and analysis, ongoing analysis of data using a variety of databases and statistical analysis programs  
• The development and dissemination of written reports, graphs, tables, etc.

• Developing research methodologies and data collection methods  
• Using statistical software such as SPSS and SAS  
• Calculating statistical data and analyzing and drawing conclusions from it  
• Compiling statistical data and writing books and reports

Applicants must meet at least one of the following minimum requirements to qualify for positions in this job classification:

1) Graduation from an accredited college or university with a graduate degree in public health with at least two courses related to the principles and practice of epidemiology. Attach an unofficial transcript for verification.


2) All of the following (a and b):
     a. Graduation from an accredited college or university with a non-public health graduate degree with at least two courses related to the principles and practice of epidemiology; (attach an unofficial transcript) and
     b. Three years of experience in applied epidemiology in an infectious, noninfectious, or chronic diseases; environmental poisonings or conditions; injury prevention; or a substance misuse related epidemiology program.

For additional information, please click on this link to view the job description.