Laboratory Director, State Public Health Laboratory - (2300005Z)
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences (BIDLS) is seeking an innovative and self-motivated leader who will serve as the Director of the Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory (MASPHL). The MASPHL Director provides vision and strategic leadership for the MASPHL and its 17 component laboratories by ensuring regulatory compliance to maintain the quality and timeliness of services and to champion a safe and operational laboratory in service of the Bureau’s and the Department’s public health mission.
The selected candidate will safeguard the integrity of the facility to assure the security and safety of employees; effective use of materials/equipment; supports recruitment, training, education, morale, and retention of employees; ensures the capacity and capability of the laboratory resources are appropriate to address both known and novel public health threats; and is responsible for the fiscal integrity of the programs. The MASPHL Director is directly responsible for ensuring high quality laboratory services across the seven divisions and seventeen laboratories that comprise he MASPHL program while addressing key issues related to quality improvement and quality assurance. The MASPHL Director also coordinates communications and strategic planning with BIDLS’s clinicians, epidemiologists, and public health program response leadership to ensure the work of the MASPHL supports the priorities and initiatives of the Bureau.
Please Note: As part of the pre-hire process, you will be required to submit transcript(s) for review for the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) verification process. If selected as the preferred candidate, you will be required to submit an official transcript from each accredited academic institution to verify the above.
Please note that we will be unable to move forward with your application for this position if you do not meet CLIA qualifications.
Duties and Responsibilities (these duties are a general summary and not all inclusive):
- Oversees staff and operations of the MASPHL to ensure that all services are relevant to public health, meet the highest quality standards, comply with state and federal regulations, serve customer and stakeholder needs, and are cost effective.
- Provides leadership to senior managers and supervisors responsible for staff in various scientific and support units of laboratory.
- Oversees and assumes ultimate responsibility for personnel management programs, including staff planning, recruitment, orientation, and training.
- Serves as the Laboratory Director in compliance with the federal Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA).
- Assures regulatory compliance by the Responsible Official according to the federal Select Agent Program regulations.
- Oversees the development, implementation and evaluation of laboratory policies, goals, and objectives. Assures compliance with state policies.
- Confirms appropriate testing, quality assurance, technology, legal chain of custody, billing, protection of sensitive patient information, customer service, and technical support are available to support public health programs.
- Provides leadership to plan, implement and evaluate new or modified procedures as necessary.
- Maintains federal certification in compliance with Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), College of American Pathologists (CAP), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Select Agent Program regulations, and all other applicable federal and state laws (e.g., regulations issued by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Health and Human Services (HHS), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
- Develops the laboratory budget in coordination with the Operations Director and the Bureau director.
- Advocates for the financial support the laboratory requires to meet its mission; partners directly with Grants and Development Office to maximize funding opportunities to support funding streams available to laboratories.
- Develops and maintains effective communications with a variety of state and federal agencies; represents MDPH both locally and nationally on public health laboratory issues.
- Identifies MASPHL needs and roles necessary to meet core public health objectives as a member of the Commissioner’s senior management team.
- Presents and discusses the role of the MASPHL with clinical partners, clinical and/or diagnostic medical professional organizations, community groups and other internal/external constituents.
- Advances technological and procedural innovations and contributes to the scientific literature on laboratory platforms and processes; contributes essential laboratory technical content to peer-reviewed science publications on public health investigations and their outcomes.
- Provides technical leadership support to the federally funded New England Pathogen Genomics Center of Excellence consortium for which MDPH is lead.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Demonstrated experience in quality improvement and quality assurance in laboratory sciences.
- Basic principles of management including strategic leadership, administration, budgeting, and cost-allocation.
- Familiarity with public health principles.
- Working knowledge of bacteriology, virology, serology, parasitology, mycology, and chemistry, and pathogen genomics as they relate to the functions of the public health laboratory, with comprehensive knowledge in at least one of these fields.
- Scientific skills to interpret a variety of standard test procedures.
- Thorough knowledge of research and investigative techniques with an ability to analyze scientific data to reach a conclusion.
- Understanding of analytical and statistical procedures as applied to laboratory testing procedures.
- Ability to organize data and to write detailed reports with recommendations.
- Capacity to work with various departmental program managers to attain agreed upon goals.
- Extensive interpersonal skills including the ability to reason with individuals and groups to lead them to appropriate conclusions or actions.
- Ability to approach problems in a logical and proactive manner.
- Proficient usage of Microsoft Office products including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams and Outlook.
About the Department of Public Health:
The mission of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) is to prevent illness, injury, and premature death, to assure access to high quality public health and health care services, and to promote wellness and health equity for all people in the Commonwealth. We envision a Commonwealth in which all people enjoy optimal health. Massachusetts ranks among the healthiest of states according to comparative analyses, but we face numerous challenges, including chronic and infectious disease, substance abuse, violence, preventable hospitalizations, and health disparities.
DPH coordinates programs and policies to address specific diseases and conditions and offer services to address the needs of vulnerable populations. We also develop, implement, promote, and enforce regulations and policies to assure that the conditions under which people live are most conducive to health and enable people to make healthy choices for themselves and their families. We license health professionals, healthcare facilities and a variety of businesses that impact public health. We operate the state laboratory and four public health hospitals. We monitor health status and manage vital records including births, marriages and deaths. We educate people about public health issues and work closely with local boards of health and community partners to identify and solve public health problems.
More information can be found at: MA Department of Public Health
About the Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences (BIDLS):
The DPH Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences (BIDLS), predominantly located in Jamaica Plain, provides public health response to infectious disease. These services include programmatic and epidemiologic response, as well as laboratory testing through the State Public Health Laboratory (SPHL).
Infectious disease response services address concerns of the general public as well as those disproportionately affected by infectious disease through a variety of risk factors. BIDLS administers ongoing disease reporting for over 90 reportable diseases in the state. Disease reporting review and follow-up with clinical providers and local boards of health is a central function of the bureau. Surveillance activity is complemented by an extensive contracted service system. These services are funded through state and federal resources and include prevention education, community outreach screening for infectious disease, immunization services, health service navigation, medical case management, insurance enrollment, housing assistance, and referral and linkage to infectious disease treatment.
The SPHL provides scientific expertise and capacity to identify infectious agents, chemical agents, and other toxins that cause human disease. The SPHL is an active partner in joint activities with other bureaus/agencies such as environmental health, food and drug, agriculture, disease prevention and health promotion programs, and public safety. The SPHL is a reference laboratory of the national Laboratory Response Network (LRN) and is a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Select Agent laboratory. SPHL staff work closely with laboratory and disease prevention programs at the CDC, and partners with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Learn more about our important work: https://www.mass.gov/state-public-health-laboratory-services
Pre-Offer Process:
A criminal and tax & background check will be completed on the recommended candidate as required by the regulations set forth by the Human Resources Division prior to the candidate being hired.
Education, licensure, and certifications will be verified in accordance with the Human Resources Division’s Hiring Guidelines.
Education and license/certification information provided by the selected candidate(s) is subject to the Massachusetts Public Records Law and may be published on the Commonwealth’s website.
If you require assistance with the application/interview process and would like to request an ADA accommodation, please click on the link and complete the Reasonable Accommodation Online Request Form
For questions regarding this requisition, please contact the Executive Office of Health and Human Services Human Resources at 1-800- 510-4122 Ext. #2.
Qualifications
MINIMUM ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS:
Applicants must have at least (A) seven (7) years of full-time or, equivalent part-time, professional, administrative, supervisory, or managerial experience in a particular specialty (i.e. scientific, professional, or technical) and must possess current license and/or registration requirements established for the performance of the position, of which (B) at least three (3) years must have been in a managerial capacity.
Comprehensive Benefits
When you embark on a career with the Commonwealth, you are offered an outstanding suite of employee benefits that add to the overall value of your compensation package. We take pride in providing a work experience that supports you, your loved ones, and your future.
Executive Order #595: As a condition of employment, successful applicants will be required to have received COVID-19 vaccination or an approved exemption as of their start date. Details relating to demonstrating compliance with this requirement will be provided to applicants selected for employment. Applicants who receive an offer of employment who can provide documentation that the vaccine is medically contraindicated or who object to vaccination due to a sincerely held religious belief may make a request for exemption.
An Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer. Females, minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.
The Commonwealth is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, national origin, veteran status, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. Research suggests that qualified women, Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color (BIPOC) may self-select out of opportunities if they don't meet 100% of the job requirements. We encourage individuals who believe they have the skills necessary to thrive to apply for this role.
Official Title: Program Manager Specialist IX
Primary Location: United States-Massachusetts-Boston-305 South Street
Job: Laboratory Services
Agency: Department of Public Health
Schedule: Full-time
Shift: Day
Job Posting: Jan 27, 2023, 3:28:16 PM
Number of Openings: 1
Salary: 105,143.66 - 162,811.86 Yearly
If you have Diversity, Affirmative Action or Equal Employment Opportunity questions or need a Reasonable Accommodation, please contact Diversity Officer / ADA Coordinator: Sandra Semedo Sandra.C.Semedo@mass.gov - 6173524250
Bargaining Unit: M99-Managers (EXE)
Confidential: No
Hybrid Work Eligible: Yes