Assistant Commissioner of Brooklyn Neighborhood Health

The Center for Health Equity & Community Wellness (CHECW) seeks to eliminate racial and other inequities resulting in premature mortality. With an unwavering grounding in history and structural analysis, CHECW works to increase visibility of the harm perpetuated by centuries of racist, socially unjust policy while pushing towards redress for the most impacted NYC communities. CHECW addresses inequity across community and healthcare systems in partnership with community, faith-based, and health care organizations. CHECW’s work focuses on social determinants of health, including environmental and commercial determinants, and addresses both upstream and downstream factors to improve health and well-being of New Yorkers. CHECW is comprised of the Bureau of Bronx Neighborhood Health, the Bureau of Brooklyn Neighborhood Health, the Bureau of Harlem Neighborhood Health, the Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention, the Bureau of Health Equity Capacity Building, the Bureau of Equitable Health Systems and the Bureau of Finance, Administration, and Services. The division’s Deputy Commissioner also serves as the Agency’s Chief Equity Officer and oversees Race to Justice, the Agency’s internal reform effort to help our staff learn what they can do to better address racial health gaps and improve health outcomes for all New Yorkers. CHECW sits under the Agency’s Chief Medical Officer.

JOB DESCRIPTION:

NYCDOHMH is seeking an exceptional candidate to lead the Bureau of Brooklyn Neighborhood Health. This bureau supports programming, planning, and recovery work to address racial and other social inequities resulting in premature mortality for neighborhoods disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 due to histories of systemic and structural inequities driven by racism and oppression. Reporting to the Deputy Commissioner, the Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau of Brooklyn Neighborhood Health will be responsible for playing a major leadership role in overseeing and managing the successful development, implementation, and evaluation of community-level and systems-level strategies in North and Central Brooklyn that aim to address health inequities. This role will support alignment of evidence-based and community-informed strategies with deepening of community relationships and application of the Agency’s Community Engagement Framework to address inequities, including those exacerbated by COVID-19, in priority neighborhoods. The Assistant Commissioner will also be responsible for operationalizing actions following the NYCDOHMH declaration of racism as a public health crisis and applying anti-racist frameworks to programming and policy.

Duties include but are not limited to the following:

- Supporting the overall vision, values and mission of the agency; provide leadership support for the agency’s key strategic areas.

- Providing oversight of planning, program development, research, evaluation and reporting for bureau activities including initiatives to expand and strengthen existing programs and develop new program; oversight of the Brownsville Action Center and locations in Bed-Stuy and Bushwick; and alignment of the bureau’s work with Agency and division priorities.

- Creating strategies to strengthen collaboration and partnership between the community and clinical settings to reinforce health, with a specific focus on marginalized populations.

- Operationalizing actions following DOHMH’s declaration of racism as a public health crisis and applying anti-racist frameworks to programming and policy.

- Managing the operations of the Bureau, including direct and indirect oversight of more than 55 staff members (plus interns and volunteers), and providing clinical, scientific, and epidemiological guidance to staff while fostering staff skills in application of anti-racist approaches to public health.

- Partnering closely with other bureaus within CHECW and other agency divisions to increase neighborhood investments by using data-driven strategy, program optimization and augmenting current available services.

- Representing CHECW, the Bureau, and the Agency, as needed, in internal and external meetings, committees, and events, including through presentations to the public.

- Serving in an emergency activation role in the agency’s Incident Command System and support other emergency operations as needed.

In the event of a public health emergency as deemed by the agency (public health outbreak, natural disaster, etc.), employees may be mandated to assume an emergency response role. In these rare instances and when notified, staff will be re-assigned from their regular day-to-day duties as noted in this job description to take on another role considered necessary by the agency. When this occurs, all staff are required to comply with the change in assignment and must be prepared to be called upon promptly.

PREFERRED SKILLS:
Clinical training (e.g., D.O., M.D., P.A.) and/or public health related training (Master's/Ph.D/DrPH);
Experience in public health practice, including management experience;
Prior experience supervising and guiding the work of other staff
Experience applying racial equity frameworks and principles to affect systems change;
Ability to handle multiple high-priority projects and assignments simultaneously, to shift fluidly among them, and to work independently, when necessary, towards creative problem solving; and
Excellent analytical and reasoning skills; strong written and oral communication skills; superior interpersonal skills; broad medical knowledge and ability to communicate clinical concepts to non-clinical staff.
Proficiency in languages other than English a plus.

Why you should work for us:

- Loan Forgiveness: As a prospective employee of the City of New York, you may be eligible for federal/state loan forgiveness and repayment assistance programs that lessen your payments or even fully forgive your full balance. For more information, please visit the U.S. Department of Education’s website (https://studentaid.gov/pslf/)
- Benefits: City employees are entitled to unmatched benefits such as:
o a premium-free health insurance plan that saves employees over $10K annually, per a 2024 assessment.
o additional health, fitness, and financial benefits may be available based on the position’s associated union/benefit fund.
o a public sector defined benefit pension plan with steady monthly payments in retirement.
o a tax-deferred savings program and
o a robust Worksite Wellness Program that offers resources and opportunities to keep you healthy while serving New Yorkers.
- Work From Home Policy: Depending on your position, you may be able to work up to two days during the week from home.
- Job Security - you could enjoy more job security compared to private sector employment and be able to contribute to making NYC a healthy place to live and work.

Established in 1805, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC Health Department) is the oldest and largest health department in the U.S., dedicated to protecting and improving the health of NYC. Our mission is to safeguard the health of every resident and cultivate a city where everyone, regardless of age, background, or location, can achieve their optimal health. We provide a wide array of programs and services focused on food and nutrition, anti-tobacco support, chronic disease prevention, HIV/AIDS treatment, family and child health, environmental health, mental health, and social justice initiatives. As the primary population health strategist and policy authority for NYC, with a rich history of public health initiatives and scientific advancements, from addressing the 1822 yellow fever outbreak to the COVID-19 pandemic, we serve as a global leader in public health innovation and expertise.

Come join us and help to continue our efforts in making a difference in the lives of all New Yorkers!

The NYC Health Department is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to providing access and reasonable accommodation to all individuals. To request reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, contact Sye-Eun Ahn, Director of the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity, at [email protected] or 347-396-6549.

1. A master's degree in social work, psychology, public health or related field, from an accredited graduate school and five (5) years of satisfactory, full-time paid experience in social work, psychology, public health or related field; one (1) year of the experience shall have been in a responsible administrative or consultative capacity directly concerned with mental health; or
2. A satisfactory equivalent. However, all candidates must have the one (1) year specialized experience as described above.

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.