Closing Date: January 30, 2023

Montgomery County is located adjacent to Washington, DC and with over one million residents, is the most populous County in the State of Maryland. The County is also the most diverse County in the State and ranks among the top ten most diverse County’s in the nation.  Montgomery County contains many major U.S. government offices, scientific research and learning centers, and business campuses. The Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for delivery of the County’s public health and human services that meet the needs of our community’s most vulnerable children, adults and seniors.  

The Department provides services through more than 120 programs at more than 20 locations.  With 1,750 employees, the Department of Health and Human Services is the largest County Department. As a department, we believe health and wellness of the county can only be achieved by ensuring that every resident has fair opportunities to reach their fullest potential. This means access to quality housing, transportation, education, employment, health care, human services, safe neighborhoods and healthy food. HHS’ provides critical services for residents who face a variety of obstacles in achieving their full potential. HHS plays an essential role in building a healthy and strong community. If you are interested in working for the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, we invite qualified candidates to apply for our Planning Specialist II position.

About the Position:  

This position is located in the Department’s Office of Community Affairs. The Asian American Health Initiative, AAHI, is one of three minority programs in the department that support department-wide efforts to eliminate health and other disparities and achieve equity while continuing their population-targeted programs and services. AAHI along with its sister programs, the African American Health Program and the Latino Health Initiative, work together to build strong ties with racial/ethnic communities through outreach, health promotion, capacity building, technical assistance, and service delivery. The programs’ knowledge, expertise and experiences in the diverse communities helps informed department-wide program, policy and budget decisions. 

Role and Responsibilities:

• Asian American Data Collection, Monitoring, & Surveillance: Serve as an internal data resource for the Asian American Health Initiative and MCDHHS; Research local, state, and national Asian American data on demographics, health disparities, and social service needs; Provide program development recommendations and identify high needs populations based on data findings; Create graphic and visual representation of Asian American data; Remain updated on Asian American best practices and standards for data collection, monitoring, and surveillance; Conduct statistical analyses utilizing relevant software programs as needed
• Program Evaluation & Analysis: Oversee all of AAHI’s program evaluations; Develop a comprehensive evaluation infrastructure that connects program activities with performance measures and indicators, which are in turn linked to program outcomes, outputs, and impact; Create and refine evaluation tools as needed, in multiple languages; Analyze program data for trends, root causes, and needed improvements
• Reporting: Manage all of AAHI’s reporting efforts; Create reporting templates for contracts; Oversee development of AAHI annual reports; Monitor AAHI’s success rates, outputs, and outcomes
• Training: Develop and create a training center for Asian American community organizations; Manage, respond to, and fulfill training requests; Research and create new training curriculum as needed; Conduct trainings for community organizations, non-profit partners, and other MCG colleagues
• Technical Assistance: Provide technical assistance to Asian American community organizations around program evaluation and data collection; Support Asian American-serving community organizations in accessing local data for program use; Help community organizations strengthen their data collection and build their capacity to report on their outcomes and impact
• Special Projects: Represent the Office of Community Affairs (OCA) on Department-wide data initiatives and reporting efforts; Participate in activities from Planning, Analytics, and Customer Service (PACS) on behalf of the OCA and AAHI; Represent AAHI on data workgroups; Prepare communication materials for presentations, speaking points, and other activities 

Education:  Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor's Degree in planning, urban design, environmental studies, public administration, or related field.

Experience: Two (2) years of experience in planning and research related to land use, urban economics, human services, environmental issues, conservation or other work directly related to some municipalities planning and development work. 

Equivalency:  An equivalent combination of education or experience may be substituted. 

Licenses: Possession of a valid Class "C" (or equivalent) driver’s license from the applicant's state of residence when required for job-related duties. 

Work Environment: The work is mainly performed indoors in an office environment and sometimes outdoors under adverse weather conditions, which involves normal, everyday discomforts.  

 Physical Demands: Tasks may involve frequent walking over difficult terrain, lifting and carrying moderate weight (25 lbs.), and exposure to adverse weather conditions. Operation of survey equipment may be required. 

There is no Preferred Criteria. All applicants will be reviewed by OHR for minimum qualifications. Those applicants who meet minimum qualifications will be rated Qualified, placed on the Eligible List, and may be considered for an interview.

Preference for interviews will be given to applicants with experience in the following:

• A Master’s Degree in Public Health, Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Business Administration, Statistics, Data Science, or related disciplines is preferred.
• Extensive experience in program evaluation, epidemiology, biostatistics, data science, or analytics
• Experience with statistical analysis tools like SPSS, SAS, Tableau, or other tools
• Experience with data analytics and data visualization 
• Knowledge of Asian American data collection challenges and best practices