Summary
The Environmental Health Services Division, Food & Facilities Section is seeking two skilled, enthusiastic, and dedicated individuals to fill the position of Field Operations Team Lead (also known as Health & Environmental Investigator III or HEI III). The HEI III position is a key member of the Food & Facilities Section leadership team and work collaboratively with businesses, trade associations, agencies, staff and the public. Examples of responsibilities may include, but are not limited to: Staying up to date on emerging food processes and enterprises; training field investigators and new hires; supporting field staff in conducting inspections of challenging food and water recreational facilities; implementing the program's ongoing quality assurance and quality control needs; coordinating investigations for foodborne illness outbreaks and injuries/drowning accidents at water recreational facilities; coordinating inspections of temporary and farmer's market events; and developing and interpreting public health and environmental health codes, regulations and policies.
The Food & Facilities Section contributes to healthy, diverse communities by permitting, educating and inspecting over 1,800 water recreation facilities, 12,500 permanent food businesses, 45 farmers markets, 3,000 temporary food businesses, and issues over 50,000 food worker cards annually. The Food & Facilities Section strives to provide equitable service and applies an educational approach toward regulatory compliance.
The successful candidates will have a passion for environmental public health and creating heathier lives for all people in King County, enjoy developing people and teams, possess strong analytical and problem-solving skills and be effective collaborating with community partners, agency partners, and colleagues. The successful applicant will work with a collaborative team of colleagues across the Food & Facilities Section, including supervisors, plan reviewers, field investigators, and an educator specialist. The successful applicants will work with a team of supervisors and other team leads in the section and will directly lead a field operations team of 8-11 people.
About the Environmental Health Services Division:
Through the work of 165+ dedicated employees, EHS' mission is to identify and sustain environmental conditions that promote healthy people and healthy communities. Our vision is healthy, safe, and vibrant communities that are free of health disparities based on race, gender, or economic status. The Division’s core values include equity and social justice, integrity, community service, collaboration, a supportive work culture, and learning from each other and the communities we serve. We strive for fair and culturally competent service delivery, innovative, effective, and efficient application of resources, building a culture of performance and expanding opportunities to seek input, listen and respond to industry and residents.
To learn more, please visit https://www.kingcounty.gov/ehs.
Commitment To Equity and Social Justice
Named after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the most influential civil rights leaders in our nation's history, King County is a vibrant international community with residents that represent countries from around the world. It is a region with increasing diversity that cherishes the traditions of many cultures.
The county government has a deep commitment to equity and social justice and advancing practices, strategies, and policies that promote fairness, justice, and opportunity for all – in our workplaces and our communities. With this commitment, King County has adopted a pro-equity agenda to advance regional change and ensure that residents from all communities are incorporated into our emergency planning and public outreach efforts.
We recognize that structural racism consists of principles and practices that cause and justify an inequitable distribution of rights, opportunities, and experiences across racial groups. Since declaring Racism is a Public Health Crisis in June 2020, King County and Public Health committed to being intentionally anti-racist and accountable to Black, Indigenous and People of Color communities.
To learn more, please visit http://www.kingcounty.gov/elected/executive/equity-social-justice.aspx
Work Schedule These full-time, 1.0 FTE positions are subject to the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and is eligible for overtime. The regular workweek is 40 hours, Monday to Friday. Occasional evening, weekends, on-call work, and some travel are required.
Work Location
The work associated with this position will be performed predominately through a hybrid work schedule of onsite and remote work. Employees will have access to shared workspaces at Public Health worksites throughout the County (Downtown Seattle, Chinook Building, 401 5th Ave., Suite 1100, Seattle; Eastgate Public Health Center, 14350 SE Eastgate Way, Bellevue; North Creek office, Bothell; Kent Public Health Center, 25742 104th Ave SE) and may also utilize home deployment. There will be situations where the employee is required to report to a County worksite. The Environmental Health Division reserves the right to place staff at worksite locations or transfer staff to new worksite locations that best support the efficient delivery of services.
Some of the work associated with this position will be performed through teleworking, and will report to office location and to meetings as needed. Travel to other work locations may be necessary. Employees will have access to shared workspaces at various King County facilities. Employees must reside in Washington state and within a reasonable distance to their King County worksite to respond to workplace reporting requirements.
Employees will be provided with a County issued laptop and must maintain a workspace with an internet connection where they can reliably perform work and remain available and responsive during scheduled work hours. To support employees during this time King County has a robust collection of tools and resources to support working remotely. The individual selected for this opportunity will be joining an innovative and progressive team.
Job Duties
A key expectation for this position is to implement program activities and priorities outlined by the King County Equity and Social Justice Ordinance, the King County Strategic Plan, and the Environmental Health Division Strategic Plan.
Field Operations Team Leadership:
- Contribute to a collaborative and empowered work team and work environment.
- Effectively and efficiently lead teams and manage resources including staff, project resources, and work plans; ensure consistency with Department and Division policies.
- Conduct and facilitate staff trainings. Coach, mentor and train current and new HEI I and II field investigators and other HEI IIIs.
- Perform quality assurance/quality control activities. Review inspection reports of food and water recreational facilities, provide constructive feedback to investigators and evaluate and support ongoing training needs.
- Anticipate and participate in solving conflicts between colleagues and other agencies/work groups.
- Provide coordination and response for field investigations of foodborne outbreak illnesses and injuries and drownings and incidents at water recreational facilities.
- Stay up-to-date on new and cutting-edge food policies, practices and processes to enable the program to be responsive to the changing food and environmental health climate.
- Participate in the implementation and monitoring of the food safety rating system, including training staff and conducting on-going quality assurance and control.
- Coordinate and conduct plan reviews and field investigations of temporary and farmer’s market events.
- Provide backup and support to other seniors and supervisors as needed, and other duties as assigned by program supervisors and managers.
Program and Project Management- Prepare new or amended Food Program and Water Recreation Program policies, procedures, and rules and regulations for consideration by program supervisors, managers and the King County Board of Health (BOH).
- Provide culturally competent education, technical assistance, and regulatory compliance decision-making to architects, designers, food industry and facility representatives and the general public. In collaboration with businesses, trade associations, agencies, staff and the public, participate in the development of environmental-best management practices, regulations and initiatives.
- Participate in the development, implementation and evaluation of long- and short-range plans for overall program and quality assurance efforts. Assist with program development initiatives, quality assurance efforts and program evaluations such as participation in the Food and Drug Administration Voluntary Standards Program.
Experience, Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills
Our ideal candidate will demonstrate the following (Minimum):
- A Bachelor’s degree meeting the minimum requirements for obtaining a valid certificate as Registered Environmental Health Specialist (REHS) from the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) or as a Registered Sanitarian (RS) from the Washington State Board of Registered Sanitarians (WSBRS).
- Demonstrated cultural competence working with diverse populations including race, ethnicity, gender, ability, age, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status. Demonstrated ability applying principles of equity and social justice in local government programs.
- Demonstrated ability to lead teams and create a climate in which people want to do their best and an ability to motivate and enable co-workers to grow and succeed through constructive feedback, instruction, and encouragement.
- Demonstrated ability to facilitate meetings and provide presentations to a wide range and size of audiences.
- Demonstrated ability to work effectively with the public, program staff and other agencies; and to participate effectively on committees and work groups to collaboratively discuss and resolve issues and develop recommendations for long term program evaluation and planning.
- Demonstrated knowledge of food safety and water recreation facility statutes, rules and regulations.
- Demonstrated ability to research and draft program policies, procedures, correspondence and technical reports.
- Demonstrated proficiency with computer systems, Microsoft Office suite and with database or planning/design software.
- Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively in oral and written formats.
The most competitive applicants will have the following experiences and qualifications (Desired): - Experience working in a highly collaborative government program or coalition.
- Established effective working relationships with food program partner agencies (such as other local health jurisdictions, Washington State Department of Health, Food & Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control).
- Certificate as Registered Environmental Health Specialist (REHS) from the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) or as a Registered Sanitarian (RS) from the Washington State Board of Registered Sanitarians (WSBRS). [BA1]
- Bilingual in one of most common non-English languages in King County (such as Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Ukrainian, Russian, Hindi, Punjabi, Amharic, Somali).
- Experience performing quality assurance/quality control activities.
Working Conditions and Physical Requirements: This position requires the ability to perform work duties both indoors and outdoors in office environments, including places such as food establishments, schools, water recreation facilities and other field locations in a variety physical and weather conditions that may include:
- Walking on wet and greasy floors, uneven terrain, up and down stairs and working around heavy machinery, strong odors, dusts, animals, and various types of chemical products and wastes.
- Carrying, using, and maintaining in the field portable computers, environmental sampling equipment, and educational and enforcement documents.
- Due to nature of regulatory oversight, there may at times be interaction with individuals from the public who are upset, angry, agitated, and sometimes hostile; these interactions require the use of conflict management and de-escalation skills.
- This position may require strength enough to lift, carry, push, or pull equipment and other objects such as refrigerator and freezer doors weighing up to 40 pounds.
- Performance of job duties requires driving on a regular basis and a valid Washington State Driver's license.
- This position may require the incumbent to occasionally access or travel by ferry or boat.
LICENSING/CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:Within six months of hire, Registered Environmental Health Specialist/Registered Sanitarian (REHS/RS) from the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) or from the Washington State Board of Registered Sanitarians (WSBRS). Both NEHA and WSBRS provide applications for REHS/RS credentialing by examination or via reciprocity.
REHS/RS credentialing information is available from NEHA at:
www.neha.org/professional-development/credentials/rehsrs-credential REHS/RS credentialing information is available from WSBRS at:
www.wsbrs.org Valid Washington State driver's license.
All required licenses and certifications must be maintained in active status without suspension or revocation throughout employment.
Supplemental Information
Forbes named King County as one of Washington State's best employers.
Together, with leadership and our employees, we're changing the way government delivers service and winning national recognition as a model of excellence. Are you ready to make a difference? Come join the team dedicated to serving one of the nation's best places to live, work and play.
Guided by our "True North", we are making King County a welcoming community where every person can thrive. We value diversity, inclusion and belonging in our workplace and workforce. To reach this goal we are committed to workforce equity. Equitable recruiting, support, and retention is how we will obtain the highest quality workforce in our region; a workforce that shares and will help advance our guiding principles - we are one team; we solve problems; we focus on the customer; we drive for results; we are racially just; we respect all people; we lead the way; and we are responsible stewards. We encourage people of all backgrounds and identities to apply, including Native American and people of color, immigrants, refugees, women, LGBTQ+, people living with disabilities, and veterans.
King County is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer
No person is unlawfully excluded from employment opportunities based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation and pregnancy), age, genetic information, disability, veteran status, or other protected class. Our EEO policy applies to all employment actions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, selection for training, promotion, transfer, demotion, layoff, termination, rates of pay or other forms of compensation.
To Apply
If you are interested in pursuing this position, please follow the application instructions carefully. If you need this announcement in an alternate language or format, would like to request accommodation or assistance in the application or assessment process or if you have questions please contact the recruiter listed on this job announcement.
Application ProcessIf you are interested in pursuing this position, please follow the application instructions carefully. If you need this announcement in an alternate language or format, would like to request accommodation or assistance in the application or assessment process or if you have questions please contact the recruiter listed on this job announcement.
The following items are required to be considered for this vacancy:
- NeoGov Job Application (The responses on your job application should be thorough and complete and will be used in the screening process)
- Supplemental Questions (The responses to the supplemental questions should be thorough and complete and will be used in the screening process)
Your application may be rejected as incomplete if you do not include the relevant information in the application. Cover letters and/or resumes are not accepted in lieu of a completed application. Applications and/or Supplemental Questionnaires that state "see my resume" or "see my personnel file" are considered incomplete and will not be accepted.
Who May Apply;This position is open to all qualified candidates. We are committed to equity and social justice in principle, in practice, and by policy. We value diverse perspectives and life experiences in our workforce and are committed to building a culturally diverse and inclusive environment. We encourage people of all backgrounds to apply, including people of color, immigrants, refugees, women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, and veterans. This selected candidate will integrate the County's Equity and Social Justice values and principles into the daily functions of this position.
Necessary Special Requirements:You must completely fill out the application with your relevant education and work experience.
- The selected candidate must be able to pass a thorough background investigation. Records are not automatically disqualifying.
- The selected candidate is required to pass a pre-employment physical exam.
- For more information on our selection process, please refer to www.kingcounty.gov/depts/health/jobs/hiring. For tips on interviewing, please visit https://www.kingcounty.gov/~/media/audience/employees/learning-and-development/Interview_Tips.ashx?la=en.
- Employees are required to protect the privacy and security of protected health information as defined in State and Federal Law.
- Public Health relies on office automation (Microsoft Office) and web-based enabled tools, therefore candidates must be proficient and comfortable with computer use to perform functions associated with on-going work.
- Employees are required to adhere to OSHA/WISHA guidelines including but not limited to completing their mandatory trainings on time and obtaining required immunizations.
- Regular and reliable attendance, effective communication skills, and development of effective working relationships are requirements of all Public Health positions.
- Staff may be required to play an active role in the event of a public health emergency, which may include changes in responsibilities and working hours.
- If you need a disability accommodation in the application or testing process, please call the contact number listed on the job announcement.
Union Membership PROTEC17 represented
ContactFor questions about the application process, contact Catherine Fitzpatrick, Sr. HR Analyst, at
Catherine.fitzpatrick@kingcounty.gov.