COVID-19 Project
Center for Public Affairs
Reporting to the Equity and Social Justice Manager, the project Equity and Social Justice (ESJ) Consultant serves as an agency expert and lead member of the Community Engagement Task Force (CETF) activities as part of the COVID-19 response. These roles include direct community engagement and partnership building with communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19; cross-sector and cross-governmental collaboration and coordination to leverage outreach and engagement efforts; equity review of all major response decisions, guidance, resources, and materials; full-scale planning, dedicated leadership, and project management for CETF activities.
The ESJ Consultant will partner closely with other members of the CETF, staff across the Center for Public Affairs, other DOH staff involved in the COVID-19 response, local health jurisdictions, other state agencies, and community partners. This recruitment will be used to fill two (2) Management Analyst 5 positions. Both positions will focus on disproportionately impacted communities and barriers, but one position will have an intentional focus on ensuring access to information and services for communities with disabilities.
Based on available clinical data from this rapidly evolving pandemic and existing socio-demographic context, it is expected that COVID-19 will disproportionately affect individuals at higher risk because of:
- The virus’ health impact —older adults, people with underlying medical conditions, and pregnant people.
- Current and persistent systemic inequities—communities who have historically and currently experienced barriers to accessing critical health information and services due to race/ethnicity, language, culture, nationality, immigration status, or disability status.
- Increased risk of exposure, negative economic impact, or other unintended consequences of the response due to employment situation, which can include certain types of work where social distancing is not feasible, there is a limited availability of personal protective equipment, exposure risk is high, and employer policies do not support time off.
- Increased risk of exposure or unintended consequences of the response due to housing and family situation, which can include individuals experiencing homelessness, individuals living in shared or transitional housing, and domestic violence survivors.
- Increased risk of unintended health consequences of the response’s efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, due to stress on the healthcare system, closures, travel bans, social distancing, isolation, and quarantine. People who may experience unintended health consequences include, but are not limited to, pregnant people and new moms—especially Native American and Black women; people with unrelated acute, severe, or chronic health conditions; and individuals with disabilities.
The project ESJ Consultant is responsible for further developing and operationalizing a response-wide community engagement strategy to ensure equitable access to critical COVID-19 information and services for disproportionately impacted communities. This includes assessing current barriers to access, engaging communities and partners, identifying gaps and opportunities, and developing comprehensive and multi-faceted solutions to improve equity. These positions are expected to use systems thinking and identify needed policy, systems, and environmental changes throughout all activities. All efforts will require significant collaboration with other divisions, offices, programs, partners, agencies, stakeholders, and impacted communities. All efforts will require collaboration and alignment with enterprise-level efforts.
The Center for Public Affairs (C4PA) is an innovative approach to our foundational policy, communications, and partnership work. It is a place, both physical and virtual, where DOH staff and partners can engage to develop public health policy, explore new ways of communicating, find new partners, and build new relationships. Learn more about C4PA.
The duty station for this position is Tumwater, WA. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, telework (remote-work) is currently expected. When approved to return, the incumbent is expected to report to the duty station for work activities.
Note: Pursuant to the Governor’s Directive, 20-08, this position will be subject to one furlough day per month through November 30, 2020.
About the Department of Health
Washington State Department of Health (DOH) works with federal, state, tribal, and local partners to help people in Washington stay healthy and safe. Our programs and services help prevent illness and injury, promote healthy places to live and work, provide education to help people make good health decisions, and ensure our state is prepared for emergencies.
Benefits of Working for DOH
Washington is America’s Top State according to U.S. News (2019) and provides one of the most competitive benefits packages in the nation.
DOH offers:
- A healthy life/work balance by offering flexible schedules and telework options for many positions.
- Growth and development opportunities.
- A wellness program that offers education, access to healthy food, and fitness classes.
- Opportunities to serve your community through meaningful work.
- A commitment to diversity and inclusion by fostering an inclusive environment that encourages all employees to bring their authentic selves to work.
- An Infant at Work Program that is based on the long-term health values of breastfeeding newborns and infant-parent bonding.
- A modernized workplace.
What we’re looking for
Our ideal candidate is an innovative and thoughtful social justice professional who views public health through a lens of equity, diversity, inclusion, and social justice. Someone who has personal courage, tenacity, and humility to hold themselves and all others responsible for embodying our purpose and values. Successful candidates must be comfortable leading and participating in conversations related to inequity, institutional racism, oppression, and privilege.
The successful candidate is a team player, defined as having a driving passion for the work, bringing humility to their job and people interactions, and understanding how their words and actions impact others. They must be able to think about issues and projects holistically, with a focus on addressing the root causes through changes to the policies, systems, and environments that perpetuate them.
Required Qualifications
OR
Option 2: Four (4) or more years of experience leading, developing, or coordinating projects or programs that focus on diversity and inclusion, equity, addressing health disparities, advancing social justice, cultural humility, community engagement, and/or working with historically marginalized groups.
AND
- Demonstrated experience in and commitment to the following:
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- Planning health programs and projects including experience with assessment, planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.
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- Leading and managing multiple, complex projects at the same time.
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- Addressing root causes of systemic inequities and social determinants of health.
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- Integrating community voice, feedback, needs, and preferences into program plans, projects, and initiatives.
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- Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others.
- Excellent organizational and communication (verbal, written, and interpersonal) skills.
- Ability to exercise a high level of emotional intelligence, critical thinking, and judgment during challenging or ambiguous situations.
Additional qualifications for the position focusing on communities with disabilities:
- Extensive experience ensuring services and information are accessible for individuals with disabilities.
- Commitment to applying an intersectional lens to equity and disability justice work.
- Knowledge of provisions of Titles I, II, and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Desired Qualifications
- Demonstrated experience in the following:
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- Building new systems and processes to improve collaboration, coordination, quality improvement, and/or equity.
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- Advanced level or higher proficiency in a language other than English.
Application Process
Intrigued? We’d love to hear from you. Click “Apply” to submit your detailed application profile along with the following:
- A letter of interest, describing how you meet the specific required and desired qualifications for this position
- A current resume.
- Three (3) or more professional references, to be included in your profile. Please include at least one supervisor, peer, and (if you have supervised staff) a subordinate.
Important Note: Do not attach documents that contain private information (social security number, date of birth, transcripts, etc.) or documents that are password protected. These documents will not be reviewed and may cause errors within your application when downloaded. Veterans, please feel free to attach a copy of your redacted DD214.
The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) is an equal opportunity employer. DOH strives to create a working environment that is inclusive and respectful. It is our policy to prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, veteran status, political affiliation, genetics, or disability in the recruitment, selection, and hiring of our workforce.
This is a position covered by a bargaining unit for which the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE) is the exclusive representative.
Conditions of Employment/Working Conditions
With or without accommodation, I am willing and able to:
- The duty station for this position is Tumwater, WA. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, telework (mobile-work) is currently expected. When approved to return, the incumbents are expected to report to the duty station for work activities.
- Incumbent is expected to schedule their time within a typical 40-hour workweek. However, this position is expected to adjust the schedule and work additional hours as needed to meet business requirements, demands, and deadlines.
- Occasionally travel in or out of state based on the business needs.
- Interact and work with customers (some of whom may be frustrated or distressed) in a positive, friendly, and supportive manner that meets the needs and standards of the office and the agency.
- Participate as part of the DOH emergency response team during health emergencies and training events.
If you have questions, need alternative formats or other assistance please contact Linda.Riggle@doh.wa.gov, (360) 236-4226, or TDD Relay at 1-800-833-6384 or 711 (Washington Relay). Technical support is provided by NEOGOV, 855-524-5627 (can’t log in, password or email issues, error messages).
Supplemental Information
Only applicants who follow the directions and complete the Application Process in-full will have their responses reviewed for consideration.
Education and experience selected, listed and/or detailed in the Supplemental Questions must be verifiable on the detailed applicant profile submitted.
This recruitment may be used to fill other positions of the same job classification across the agency. Once all the position(s) from the recruitment announcement are filled, the recruitment may only be used to fill additional open positions for the next sixty (60) days.