Environmental Health Specialist

Job Location: This position will be located at 1903 Northwood Dr. Suite 4 Poplar Bluff, MO 63901 though consideration will be given to other SE Missouri locations such as Kennett, Sikeston, Cape Girardeau, Farmington, or south St. Louis for the right candidate.

Why you’ll love this position:

The Bureau of Environmental Health Services performs essential functions keeping people safe and healthy throughout Missouri, whether they are eating at a restaurant, staying at a motel, visiting a water park, or have children in daycare. Being a Public Health Environmental Specialist is challenging and rewarding professional inspection, technical assistance and consultative work in promoting environmental health programs. The blend of office and field work utilizes a broad array of skills and talents, keeps the work interesting and the days flying by as you move from one task to another making a positive difference in people’s lives.

• Promote uniformity and consistency in environmental health services, per established state guidelines, for several local jurisdictions in the Southeastern District.
• Serve as the primary liaison and representative between the Bureau, the local public health agencies (LPHAs), and other partners (ex. Department of Natural Resources) for select jurisdictions.
• Maintain awareness of local hotspots and challenges and keep your supervisor and Bureau management aware of such, preparing reports and interceding as needed.
• Present training courses, participate in District in-services, and when needed evaluate and assess local environmental health programs and activities.
• Maintain knowledge and proficiency in core environmental health functions (food, lodging, wastewater, etc.), conduct inspections in key areas, and provide enforcement for those jurisdictions working under state authority.
• Provide technical consultation and assistance to LPHA field staff, industry, and the public.
• Serve on workgroups and committees to promote statewide EH initiatives.

Serve on regional response teams to respond to outbreaks, disasters and emergencies impacting public health.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Education: Bachelor’s Degree- 30 hours in hard sciences, such as Biology, Chemistry, Ecology, Soils, Entomology, etc. preferred. Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Health or Master’s Degree in Environmental Sciences or Public Health extremely beneficial. (Substitutions allowed)
• Experience: 3-5 years of full time work in environmental health required in areas such as food, water, wastewater, lodging, childcare, foodborne outbreak response, etc. This experience can be through work at a private firm, for government, through laboratory work, or through a combination of such experiences. Work at a local public health agency/local health department extremely beneficial. Registered Environmental Health Specialist, Registered Sanitarian, or similar certification preferred.
• Skills and Abilities: Excellent people skills, ability to manage conflict, multi-task, solve problems, and take direction; ability to make difficult decisions based on public health principles; superior written and oral communication skills; proficient with Microsoft suite.
• Special Job Requirements: Background check required. Some overnight and out-of-state travel will be required to fulfill job requirements and attend meetings/conferences. Valid driver’s license required. During times of emergencies, overtime may be required, including a mandatory two week per year on-call rotation. Occasional moderate physical effort, such as driving vehicles, climbing stairs, negotiating outdoor terrain, and stooping and bending will be required to conduct routine inspections/surveys.

Lack of post-secondary education will not be used as the sole basis denying consideration to any applicant.

The State of Missouri offers an excellent benefits package that includes a defined pension plan, generous amounts of leave and holiday time, and eligibility for health insurance coverage. Your total compensation is more than the dollars you receive in your paycheck. To help demonstrate the value of working for the State of Missouri, we have created an interactive Total Compensation Calculator. This tool provides a comprehensive view of benefits and more that are offered to prospective employees. The Total Compensation Calculator and other applicant resources can be found here .

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• State of Missouri

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