Introduction
THIS IS A CONTINUOUS EXAMINATION
The examination consists of an on-going review of candidates' applications and supplemental questionnaires to verify possession of minimum qualifications. Those candidates who possess the minimum qualifications for the class will be placed on the eligible list based on an evaluation of education, training, and experience. The eligible list resulting from this recruitment and selection process may be used to fill future vacancies which may arise within the next year. This examination will cancel any existing list and may last approximately one year but can be extended. This examination may be reopened as necessary and the names of additional candidates merged onto the existing list according to examination score.
Supplemental Questionnaire
A properly completed Supplemental Questionnaire must be submitted with each application. Applications and Supplemental Questionnaires must be in the possession of the Human Resource Services Department by 5:00 p.m. on the Last Day for Filing. Failure to submit the Supplemental Questionnaire will result in disqualification. Applications and Supplemental Questionnaires will only be accepted online. Qualified bilingual persons who speak English and are also fluent in Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, Korean, Mien, Tagalog, Amharic, Farsi, Dari, Tigrigna, Russian, Romanian, or Sign Languages are especially encouraged to apply. There is an additional biweekly compensation for persons in positions designated bilingual. Qualified candidates may be tested to demonstrate language proficiency.
DESCRIPTION
THE COUNTY
Alameda County, located on the east side of San Francisco Bay, is Californias seventh-largest county. The County employs 9,700 full-time employees and operates on an annual budget of $3.4 billion. Oakland, the County seat, is Californias eighth-largest city. One and a half million people call Alameda County home and live in a variety of incorporated cities, unincorporated communities, and rural areas. As a major urban county, Alameda provides a full range of services to its citizens. The County is a blend of culturally and ethnically diverse communities and its mixture of cosmopolitan and suburban areas provides the perfect environment for families and their active lifestyles. The County offers extensive cultural resources, countless recreational opportunities, and an array of fine public and private colleges and universities.
ALAMEDA COUNTY HEALTH
Alameda County Health is the local government agency that promotes and protects the health and well-being of all who live, work, learn, and play in Alameda County. We coordinate services and cultivate partnerships with community organizations and providers to help ensure access, organize, and deliver health care and services to people with Medi-Cal and without insurance. We focus on health equity by developing programs and systemic solutions that reduce disparities for the people and communities we serve. Alameda County Health's departments and programs focus on services and support that provide care for the whole person.
Behavioral Health Department: Provides mental health and substance use services for people with Medi-Cal and without insurance and supports people along their path to wellness, recovery, and resilience.
Environmental Health Department: Works to keep our air, water, and food safe. It regulates, protects, and promotes the health of everyone in Alameda County by enforcing environmental health codes to reduce exposure to toxins and diseases.
Public Health Department: Focuses on community and population-level health, preventing and addressing root causes of health inequity across a range of communicable and chronic diseases.
Alameda County Health also provides services through Housing and Homelessness Services, Emergency Medical Services Agency, HealthPAC, and Healthy Schools and Communities.
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
Environmental Protection Division (EP): As part of Alameda County Health, the Environmental Health Department protects and enhances people's health and quality of life by ensuring food and recreational safety, reducing exposure to toxins and diseases, and protecting the quality of our water, air, and environment.
For more information about the Department of Environmental Health, please visit www.acgov.org/aceh.
Hazardous Materials Division: Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA)
Incumbents assigned to the Hazardous Materials Division are responsible for conducting inspections, permitting, training, outreach, and enforcement investigating incidents related to hazardous materials, waste, tire, or pollution of the waters of Alameda County, lending technical assistance during emergency response, providing regulatory oversight, and ensuring compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
Local Oversight Program (LOP): Incumbents assigned to the LOP Division are responsible for providing regulatory and technical oversight for the routine or frequently seen leaking Underground Storage Tanks and other contamination sites. They provide review and analysis of technical data and evaluate the effectiveness of corrective actions at contaminated sites, conducting environmental oversight surveys, investigating potential community health hazards, evaluating sites based on current and future use, ensuring compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and local ordinances.
Household Hazardous Waste Program (HHW): Incumbents assigned to the HHW Division will be responsible for employee safety, efficiency, and compliance with applicable requirements during operations and service to the public and businesses, including during handling, accumulation, transport, and disposal of hazardous waste and materials collected at a Permanent HHW Facility, and for oversight of all activities at temporary events.
Duties include training and supervising Senior Hazardous Materials Specialists, Environmental Health Technicians, Environmental Health Maintenance Workers, Clerks, and administrative staff, and contractor employees to provide good communication and service to the public, material handling, packing, and shipping, record-keeping, and reporting, compliant with all relevant requirements, arranging for the purchase of all needed equipment, supplies, services, determining and implementing preventative measures to reduce risk of incident, injury, or disruption of service to the public, coordinating on-call response to monitoringsystem activation, and taking a leading role in response to any incident or emergency.
Food & Recreational Health Program: Incumbents within the Food and Recreational Health Program are responsible for conducting complex inspections of retail food facilities, temporary food events, swimming pools, spas, recreational water facilities, and other regulated establishments, reviewing and processing plan review submittals for food and recreational facilities, evaluating compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and ordinances, providing guidance and technical assistance to operators regarding safe food handling, sanitation, and recreational watersafety requirements, investigating foodborne illness complaints and suspected outbreaks, responding to public health emergencies related to food and recreational water, preparing detailed inspection and enforcement reports, issuing permits and notices of violation, coordinating enforcement actions when necessary, mentoring and training assigned staff, and serving as a program resource to ensure protection of public health and safety.
Solid Waste Program - Body Art and Medical Waste: Incumbents within the Solid Waste Program are responsible for oversight of body art facilities and medical waste generators, with duties such as conducting complex inspections of solid waste handling and disposal facilities, transfer stations, landfills, body art establishments, and medical waste generation, storage, treatment, and disposal sites, reviewing and processing plan review submittals, permits, and registrations, evaluating compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and ordinances, investigating complaints related to solid waste body art practices and medical waste management, responding to illegal dumping and improper disposal incidents, providing technical assistance and regulatory guidance to facility operators and practitioners, preparing detailed inspection and enforcement documentation, issuing notices of violation, and coordinating corrective actions, assisting with emergency response related to solid or medical waste incidents, mentoring and training assigned staff, and serving as a program resource to ensure protection of public health, worker safety, and environmental quality.
THE POSITION
Under general supervision, conducts inspections and investigations to enforce applicable state health and safety codes, regulations, and local ordinances, and to perform related work as required. Program responsibilities include but are not limited to:
Incumbents in this class are typically assigned to a geographical area or a specific program in which they are responsible for maintaining disciplinary surveillance for assigned program areas, conducting routine inspections of all facilities, investigating disease outbreaks, and responding to complaints as they arise.
Under the supervision of the Supervising Environmental Health Specialist, the Section Chief, or the Director, incumbents submit all completed inspection reports, records, correspondence, and daily activity reports for review. Additional responsibilities include consulting with supervisors concerning technical matters, policy interpretation, and legal action.
For a detailed listing of the essential responsibilities and core competency requirements for this position, please click here for the job description.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
The minimum professional requirements for admission to the competitive assessment process include:
NOTE: The Civil Service Commission may modify the above Minimum Qualifications in the announcement of an examination.
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
NOTE: The level and scope of the following knowledge and abilities are related to duties listed under the "Examples of Duties" section of this specification. The most suitably qualified candidates will possess the following competencies: