Public Health Educator - New Richmond - St. Croix County

Description

Job Description
POSITION SUMMARY:
The Public Health Educator, under the general direction of the Public Health Administrator, is a community-based professional who works directly with community members, students, community partners, and local decision-makers to improve population health. This position builds and sustains relationships through outreach, presentations, community events, and one-on-one engagement to advance public health priorities. The role focuses on strengthening community capacity and advancing policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) change by partner communication and collaboration, conducting assessments, supporting community health planning, and implementing evidence-based programs and policies. The Public Health Educator provides leadership and consultation to support community-wide prevention efforts and collaborates with partners to promote sustainable health improvements at both the individual and population levels.
This is a grant funded position that is secured through 2027, with the potential for annual extensions contingent on approval.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
The following duties are normal for this position. These are not to be construed as exclusive or all-inclusive. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each duty satisfactorily. Other duties may be required and assigned.
General Public Health Educator Functions:

• Analyzes public health education needs in the community and collaboratively designs, implements, and evaluates educational programs at the individual and community level supporting collaboration, providing consultation and leadership, and capacity building.
• Provides effective, efficient, and appropriate public health education communications for a variety of audiences and a variety of platforms including one on one, group presentations, mass media, press releases, county website, and social media.
• Applies appropriate learning theories, evidence-based practices, and culturally sensitive practices when working with individual clients and/or groups.
• Advocates for the needs of underserved and high-risk populations.
• Participates in community coalitions to support assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation related to health promotion/education.
• Supports the health department's strategic plan and aligns health education efforts to strategic priorities.
• Advances a health in all policies approach in department and community planning.
• Participates in grant writing efforts to support existing and new health education efforts that align with agency and community health priorities.
• Participates in strategic planning, the performance management system including quality improvement, workforce development, emergency preparedness, community health needs assessment, and community health improvement planning as assigned.
• Other duties as assigned.

Commercial Tobacco Prevention and Treatment Program (CTPTP) Duties:
St. Croix County is a grantee of the multi-county Wisconsin Department Health Services Division of Public Health Commercial Tobacco Prevention and Treatment Program (CTPTP) grant. Under this grant the Public Health Educator will perform the following duties:

• Will manage the duties of the CTPTP grant including contract communications, financial/programmatic reporting, and budget management listed in the grant's scope of work.
• Will work across the multi-county area of the grant and is expected to travel into the communities to build relationships, maintain partnerships, and represent public health in community settings.
• Will engage with decision-makers, community leaders, and the public through networking, outreach, and relationship-building to strengthen community involvement and support public health initiatives.
• Will meet the goals, activities, and deliverables for the coalition initiatives, local initiatives, statewide initiatives, Fact/Youth Engagement, and Wisconsin Wins sections of the CTPTP grant.
• As applicable, will meet any additional deliverables in addendums of the CTPTP grant.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES
This section details the essential competencies required to perform the job effectively, including a mix of technical knowledge, practical skills, and personal attributes.

• General knowledge of Public Health programs.
• General knowledge of community resources.
• Ability to work in multiple community settings across a multi-county area.
• Strong relationship-building and networking skills with community partners, coalitions, and decision-makers.
• Comfort and confidence with public speaking, outreach events, and one-on-one community engagement.
• Ability to represent the health department professionally in public settings and adapt communication style based on audience and setting.
• Ability to travel frequently throughout the service area and manage a flexible schedule to attend meetings, presentations, and community events, including occasional evening or non-traditional hours as needed.
• Ability to apply ethical judgment and maintain confidentiality regarding business-related files, reports, and conversations, within the provision of open record laws and other applicable State and Federal Statutes and regulations.
• Maintain knowledge with state and federal laws, regulations, and policies that pertain to the job, including Wisconsin Statutes and administrative codes.
• Technical proficiency in the use of relevant software applications, databases, or other technology tools used in the position (e.g., Microsoft Office, Outlook, SharePoint, etc.).
• Establish and maintain an effective working relationship with department heads, employees, the general public and other agency staff.
• Ability to read and understand County and State policies and procedures.
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team, collaborating with colleagues across departments to achieve common goals.
• Ability to adjust to changing priorities, policies, and work demands.
• Ability to work independently and exercise sound professional judgment.

LANGUAGE SKILLS
This section outlines the communication abilities necessary for effective performance. These skills reflect the need to interact with the public, colleagues, and other stakeholders in a clear, professional, and effective manner

• Ability to communicate effectively in English, both verbally and in writing, with a wide range of individuals, including the public, colleagues, and supervisors.
• Ability to read, interpret, and apply information from complex documents such as laws, regulations, policies, procedures, and reports.
• Ability to engage with the public, handle inquiries, resolve conflicts, and build positive relationships with a diverse population.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS

• Ability to perform mathematical calculations.
• Ability to collect, analyze, and interpret basic quantitative data (e.g., participation rates, survey results, outcome measures) to support program evaluation and reporting.
• Ability to track budgets and monitor grant-related expenditures.

REASONING ABILITY
This section outlines the cognitive skills required to perform the job effectively. This includes the ability to apply logic, make decisions, solve problems, and understand complex information.

• Ability to identify and define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.
• Ability to make decisions that are sound, well-informed, and timely, even in stressful situations.
• Ability to analyze situations, consider various perspectives, anticipate potential issues, and make recommendations or decisions based on logical reasoning.
• Ability to interpret complex information, recognize patterns, and understand the implications of actions or decisions.
• Ability to think conceptually and understand the relationships between ideas that are not immediately obvious.

PHYSICAL AND WORK ENVIRONMENT:
The physical and work environment characteristics described in this description are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions or as otherwise required by law. Employees needing reasonable accommodation should discuss the request with the employee's supervisor.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

• This work requires the occasional exertion of up to 25 pounds of force; work regularly requires sitting, frequently requires standing, using hands to handle, feel, and perform fine motor skills and repetitive motions, and occasionally requires walking, stooping, kneeling, crouching or crawling and reaching with hands and arms overhead or below the waist.
• Sufficient vision to perform tasks such as reading documents, operating vehicles, or working with detailed data.
• Vocal communication is required for expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word.
• Ability to hear and understand speech at normal levels for tasks such as communicating with the public, colleagues, or over the phone.
• Work requires preparing and analyzing written or computer data, using measuring devices, operating machines, operating equipment and observing general surroundings and activities.
• Ability to use standard office equipment (computer, phone, copier) and accurately type at a reasonable rate of speed.
• Work is generally in a moderately noisy location (e.g. business office, light traffic).

WORK ENVIRONMENT

• Work may vary from office to community setting.
• Work requires travel within and outside the county, including driving for extended periods of time.
• Ability to work the allocated hours of the position.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor's degree in health education, health science, human service, communications or related field; relevant experience preferred.
• OR a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field and at least two (2) to five (5) years of experience in health education, community-based programming or related area.

Expected Pay Range: $ $33.15/hour
Full Pay Range: $ $40.82/hour
Department: HHS - Public Health
FTE: 0.75