Job Description and Duties This position supports the California Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) mission and strategic plan by advancing health equity and strategic planning goals and objectives and to promote recognition and reduction of the burden of infection among California’s most vulnerable populations through changes in workplace culture and practice. The Health Program Specialist (HPS) I serves as the lead for the development and implementation of both state and federally funded trauma-informed and patient centered programs and special projects that focus on the health needs of vulnerable and underserved populations who have various intersecting social determinates of health needs. Acts as the lead project coordinator for state-funded programs that address the social determinants of health and aim to reduce health disparities by increasing racial health equity efforts. Works to eliminate health inequities that result in disproportionate disease burdens among marginalized demographic groups and aligns and mobilizes resources and community partners to achieve targets. The HPS I works closely with external and internal partners such as enrollment sites, enrollment workers, clinical providers, pharmacies, local health jurisdictions (LHJ), community-based organizations (CBO), and other branches within the Office of AIDS (OA), such as program staff in the ADAP and the ADAP and Care Evaluation and Informatics (ACEI) Branch. Responsible for coordinating and contributing significant content to federal grant applications and progress reports; coordinates guidance and other instructions for issuance to community partners; manages ad hoc analyses on a wide variety of policies, programs and issues; leads and/or participates on policy and planning committees and work groups; plans and coordinates meetings; leads and facilitates programmatic webinars, researches processes and procedures, and summarizes findings, policies, or organizational structures in order to develop and/or implement changes and provides consultative services to department administrators, partners, and external partners. The incumbent works under the direction of the Supervisor I, Chief of the Strategic Projects Unit (SPU). In July 2025, the State of California implemented the Personal Leave Program (PLP) 2025. This program temporarily reduces employees’ monthly base pay in exchange for paid leave credits. This position is subject to PLP 2025 and will have a monthly base pay reduction of 3% in exchange for 5 hours of leave credits through June 2027. The salary ranges shown on this job posting do not reflect the salary reduction. Please let us know how you heard about our position by taking this brief survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CDPHRecruitment You will find additional information about the job in the Duty Statement. Special Requirements For experience/education to qualify during the application screening process, and to ensure that minimum qualifications can be determined, applicants should include all employment history on the Employment Application (STD 678) and/or Resume, including detailed job descriptions, hours worked per week, and start/end dates (MM/DD/YYYY). Application packages without this information will experience delayed processing times and your eligibility for this position may be impacted. A completed State application (STD. 678) and any other relevant documents (e.g. unofficial transcript, copy of degree, resume, etc.) should be submitted electronically via your CalCareers Account. Please reference Job Control # (537496) and indicate the basis of your eligibility in the Examination(s) or Job Title(s) section. SROA and surplus candidates should submit a copy of their letter with their application. Please remove any confidential information (i.e. social security number, date of birth) from your documents prior to submission. Complete Application Packages (including your Examination/Employment Application (STD 678) and applicable or required documents) must be submitted to apply for this Job Posting. Application Packages may be submitted electronically through your CalCareers Account at www.CalCareers.ca.gov. Submitting an electronic application through your CalCareers account is strongly recommended since electronic applications will be received/processed faster than other methods of filing. Please submit only one application. If you are unable to submit your application electronically through your CalCareers account, please email apply@cdph.ca.gov for assistance and a CDPH Human Resources Division staff member will contact you to assist with the online application process or, a hard copy application package may be submitted through an alternative method as explained in the How to Apply section below. When submitting your application in hard copy, a completed copy of the Application Package listing must be included. Desirable Qualifications In addition to evaluating each candidate's relative ability, as demonstrated by quality and breadth of experience, the following factors will provide the basis for competitively evaluating each candidate: • Commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and climate/economic justice in all aspects of program planning and delivery. • Strong project management skills • Expertise in advancing health equity and reducing health disparities, particularly through community engagement, outreach, and collaboration with diverse partners. • Experience developing and delivering technical assistance and capacity-building initiatives for local health jurisdictions, healthcare agencies, and community-based organizations. • Excellent written and verbal communication skills. • Knowledge of Health and Safety Code and relevant regulations governing program development, implementation, and reporting. Statement of Qualifications Responses must be in Arial font and no smaller than font size 11. Not to exceed TWO pages. 1) Health program administration refers to the practice of managing and overseeing the operations of healthcare or public health programs to ensure efficient delivery of health services within a specific healthcare setting. Significant health programs include, but are not limited to: Mental Health Services, Physician Services, Medical Records, Pharmacy, Medical Appeals, Dietary, Nursing Services, Diagnostic (X-Ray, Lab), and Dental. Describe in detail your health program administration experience including the duties performed, the length of time, with the start and end dates (month and year) of each job. 2) Describe your experience aligning program or project plans with programmatic authority. What steps do you take to ensure that programs or projects are planned and developed as intended by the applicable statute, grant, and/or other program authority? 3) Provide an example of a time you assessed data, trends, reports, governmental data sources, and/or existing research to develop evidence-informed approaches to health programs or other projects. What was the data? How did you use it to inform the approaches? What was the outcome? PLEASE NOTE: Resumes, letters, Supplemental Questionnaire, transcripts, degrees, your state application, cover letters and other materials will not take the place of the Statement of Qualifications. Simply copying and pasting your resumé will also not be accepted.