The Illinois Department of Public Health is seeking a highly motivated individual to serve as a Regional Program Supervisor. Performs highly technical work as a licensed environmental health practitioner in planning, directing and coordinating several multiphase environmental health programs in the regional office. Supervises professional staff in the regional office.
Job Responsibilities
1. Serves as Regional Program Supervisor.
Plans, directs and supervises the technical and programmatic aspects of assigned regional environmental health programs, such as dairy, manufactured food, body art, tanning, swimming pools, water well construction and well pump installation, non-community public water supplies, private sewage disposal, manufactured housing, youth camps, recreation areas, migrant labor camps, environmental toxicology, pesticides, vector control, product safety, hospital sanitation and institutional sanitation.
Travels to oversee, direct and implement the assigned statewide environmental health programs for the Region; Responsible for re-inspections and the interpretation and enforcement of pertinent laws, rules and regulations.
2. Serves as working supervisor:
Assigns and reviews work
Provides guidance and training to assigned staff
Counsels staff regarding work performance
Reassigns staff to meet day-to-day operating needs
Establishes annual goals and objectives
Approves time off
Prepares and signs performance evaluations
3. Reviews plans and specifications provided to ensure compliance with all applicable federal, state and local environmental health laws and regulations.
Provide comments and recommendations to the central office Division staff concerning facilities regulated by the Department’s regulations.
Provides organizational interface between regional and central office program staff.
4. Directs and assists in the preparation of legal cases including evidence preparation for formal hearings and court proceedings. Makes recommendations to senior regional environmental supervisor for appropriate enforcement based on review of investigation findings.
5. Directs and participates in food-borne illness epidemiological investigations. Directs a sampling program for laboratory testing for food and dairy products.
6. Provide environmental health expertise, technical and administrative assistance and explanation of State and federal laws and regulations as they relate to environmental public health programs. • Provide assistance and guidance to local health departments, the regulated industry and the public on environmental public health programs.
7. Performs other duties as required or assigned, which are reasonably within the scope of the duties enumerated above.
Minimum Qualifications
Requires knowledge, skill, and mental development equivalent to completion of four years of college with a minimum of 30 semester hours in the physical and/or biological sciences.
Requires prior experience equivalent to three years of progressively responsible administrative experience related to environmental health investigation and administration of environmental public health programs.
Requires professional certification as a Licensed Environmental Health Practitioner (LEHP).
Preferred Qualifications
Thorough knowledge of local, state and federal environmental health and public health laws and regulations.
Ability to communicate effectively both verbally and written.
Two years’ experience preparing and/or reviewing evidence for court proceedings and providing testimony.
Two years’ experience conducting or directing training courses in regards to environmental health activities covered by Department laws and regulations.
Two years’ experience with state Laws and Department rules and regulations, policies and procedures as they relate to environmental health programs to the general public, public officials, local health departments and other local groups.
Two years’ experience supervising employees, including experience in hiring, discipline, performance improvement, and performance evaluations.
At least one year of experience in environmental field sampling equipment and testing techniques.
Conditions of Employment
Requires the ability to travel extensively within the state.
In Illinois, if you have eaten at a restaurant ... required hospital or nursing home care ... vacationed at a campground or swam at a public beach or pool ... drank a glass of milk ... got married or divorced ... had a baby, the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has touched your life in some important way.
Assuring the quality of our food, setting the standards for hospital and nursing home care, checking the safety of recreation areas, overseeing the inspection of milk producing farms and processing plants, maintaining the state's vital records and screening newborns for genetic diseases are just some of the duties of IDPH.
In fact, IDPH has 200 different programs that benefit each state resident and visitor, although its daily activities of maintaining the public's health are rarely noticed unless a breakdown in the system occurs. With the assistance of local public health agencies, these essential programs and services make up Illinois' public health system, a system that forms a frontline defense against disease through preventive measures and education. Public health has provided the foundation for remarkable gains in saving lives and reducing suffering. Today, lif...e expectancy is 80 years for women and 74 years for men compared with fewer than 50 years at the at the beginning of the 20th century.
In the past, IDPH directed state efforts to control smallpox, cholera and typhoid, virtually eliminated polio, reduced dental decay through fluoridation of community water supplies, and corrected sanitary conditions that threatened water and food supplies.
Today, IDPH has programs to deal with persistent problems that require continued vigilance – infectious diseases, such as AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and meningococcal disease; foodborne and communicable diseases, such as E. coli 0157: H7, monkeypox, salmonella and West Nile virus; vaccine preventable diseases; lead poisoning; lack of health care in rural areas; health disparities among racial groups, breast, cervical and prostate cancer; Alzheimer's disease; and other health threats -- sexually transmitted diseases, tobacco use, violence, and other conditions associated with high-risk behaviors. In addition, IDPH has been charged with handling the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the threat of bioterrorism.
IDPH, which is one of the state's oldest agencies, was first organized in 1877 with a staff of three and a two-year budget of $5,000. IDPH, now has an annual budget of $2.9 billion in state and federal funds, headquarters in Springfield and Chicago, seven regional offices located around the state, three laboratories, and 1,200 employees.
IDPH is organized into 12 offices, each of which addresses a distinct area of public health. Each office operates and supports numerous ongoing programs and is prepared to respond to extraordinary situations as they arise.
