Administrative Specialist II - Communicable Disease Epidemiology and Immunization (CD-Imms) Section

Public Health – Seattle & King County is currently recruiting for two (2) Career Service Administrative Specialist II positions. These Career Service positions will support the Communicable Disease Epidemiology and Immunization (CD-Imms) Section. These positions will provide administrative support by providing customer service and support in a fast-paced work environment. These positions will be responsible for triaging multi-line calls from healthcare providers, laboratories, and the public, requesting and reviewing lab reports from medical facilities, coordinating and transporting specimens throughout King County, performing high-volume data entry into multiple databases, and other administrative duties as assigned. This position reports to the Public Health Administrative Support Supervisor.

COMMITMENT TO EQUITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE:
As the only jurisdiction in the world named after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the most influential civil rights leaders in our nation's history, King County is a vibrant international community. King County has adopted a racial equity agenda aimed at advancing regional change and is developing the systems and standards necessary to eliminate racial health inequities. The selected candidate will be able to demonstrate a commitment to eliminating racial inequities and the ability to integrate King County's Equity and Racial Social Justice principles into the daily functions of this position. To learn more, please visit http://www.kingcounty.gov/equity. 

• Contact health care providers, laboratories, and hospitals to obtain patient demographic and confidential information.
• Process high-volume communicable disease reports submitted via electronic fax, US mail, and the disease report line and perform daily intake by entering information in a timely and accurate way into multiple databases and triaging calls to staff.
• Maintain case reports received in various secure email mailboxes in Microsoft Outlook
• Provide direct customer service and support over the phone to healthcare providers, laboratories, and the general public in a fast-paced work environment.
• Sort and distribute incoming mail, and process outgoing mail by creating labels, updating mailing lists, and assisting with bulk mailing projects.
• Route communicable disease reports received by email/fax to internal and external partners, including other local health jurisdictions and the Washington State Department of Health.
• Maintain electronic records of disease case report files, request older case reports from the record center as needed, and send records to the archives.
• Perform data entry corrections in the local and state surveillance databases and participate in annual data reconciliation.
• Provide sensitive communicable disease information to the public and health care providers through various channels (telephone, email, mail).
• Arrange for specimens to be picked up from various locations (including private residences) throughout King County and be delivered to local or state laboratories for testing, including on evenings, weekends and after hours, either by driving the specimens or arranging for a courier service.
• Coordinate and schedule meetings, reserve conference rooms via MS Teams and Outlook and set up audiovisual equipment, record meeting minutes, and attend meetings as a representative of the administrative team as requested.
• Manage the distribution and collection of equipment to staff, including computers and peripherals; provide instructions for use of computers, projector screens, phones/headset, scanners, faxes, printers and copiers and facilitate resolution of technical issues by calling maintenance service or repair if needed.
• Process expense claims, including for travel, mileage, and other purchases.
• Process travel requests.
• Prepare and maintain documents, packets, manuals, and forms, spreadsheets, and mailing lists.
• Order goods and services and track inventory for the section.
• Maintain and update loaner laptops.
• Maintain and create personal protective equipment kits for employees.
• Maintain the disease hotline and record new messages as needed.
• Fax, copy, conduct word processing, create transparencies, and provide support with Word, Excel, PowerPoint presentations, Publisher, and Access as needed; provide file management support in Teams and SharePoint.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Experience, Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills:

• Demonstrated ability to handle confidential information with tact and discretion
• Skill in establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with others, including working as part of a multidisciplinary team.
• Experience conducting high volume and accurate data entry and documentation
• Knowledge of equity and social justice principles and practices, and understanding of the effects of place, race and policy, systems and environment-based inequities on marginalized communities and populations
• Experience working with or in a workplace setting serving a diverse or underserved population
• Demonstrated effective communication skills that are culturally appropriate, respectful, and non-judgmental
• Experience providing customer service for diverse clients, under varying degrees of stress, with discretion, patience, etiquette, and professionalism, in person and over the phone in a fast paced, high volume work environment
• Documented experience working with electronic health records and disease surveillance systems
• Skilled at problem-solving, troubleshooting, organizing, prioritizing, and completing multiple tasks simultaneously, with the ability to adapt to changes in workload demands and meet strict deadlines
• Experience gathering, organizing and evaluating data, utilizing intermediate skills to track, evaluate and report quantitative information
• Knowledge of medical terminology related to communicable diseases
• Valid Washington State Driver’s license required. Must be willing to drive to collect/distribute specimens within King County locations during and after business hours – including weekends and nights.
• Demonstrated ability to lift up to 20 pounds in order to move boxes, retrieve health records, replenish office supplies with or without reasonable accommodation. This may involve intermittent lifting, standing, stooping, bending, reaching and extensive walking during the course of the workday
• Proficiency with software applications and word processing applications, including Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, Outlook, Word, Excel, Adobe Acrobat

Desired Qualifications:

• Ability to work well under pressure
• Demonstrated ability to identify and prioritize time sensitive matters and respond with a sense of urgency while adapting to changes in workload demands
• Two (2) years of experience in general administrative office duties, such as sorting and distributing mail, faxing, scanning, photocopying, setting up printers and copiers, filing a high volume of documents, sending confidential documents via secure email, scheduling meetings and interviews (via MS Teams/Microsoft Outlook), and taking meeting minutes
• Two (2) consecutive years of demonstrated experience performing high volume data entry (experience in using 10 key)
• Two (2) consecutive years of demonstrated experience working in a busy office setting with high volume calls, triaging multi line phones
• Within the last 5 years a minimum of 2 consecutive years of demonstrated experience in a health care field or setting working directly with medical providers and laboratories (HIPAA training/certification)
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience using surveillance databases, such as the Washington Disease Reporting System (WDRS) database, REDCap, and the Washington State Immunization Information System (WIIS)
• Strong interpersonal skills, including healthy conflict resolution
• Knowledge of medical terminology related to Covid, vaccine preventable and enterics/foodborne related communicable diseases
• Demonstrated ability to reliably attend work and meet obligations
• Experience managing public records requests
• Demonstrated ability to learn and comprehend new and complex bodies of knowledge efficiently

Forbes recently named King County as one of Washington State's best employers.

Together, with leadership and our employees, we're changing the way government delivers service and winning national recognition as a model of excellence. Are you ready to make a difference? Come join the team dedicated to serving one of the nation's best places to live, work and play.

Guided by our "True North", we are making King County a welcoming community where every person can thrive. We value diversity, inclusion and belonging in our workplace and workforce. To reach this goal we are committed to workforce equity. Equitable recruiting, support, and retention is how we will obtain the highest quality workforce in our region; a workforce that shares and will help advance our guiding principles--we are one team; we solve problems; we focus on the customer; we drive for results; we are racially just; we respect all people; we lead the way; and we are responsible stewards. We encourage people of all backgrounds and identities to apply, including Native American and people of color, immigrants, refugees, women, LGBTQ , people living with disabilities, and veterans.

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement:
King County Executive Branch employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. If you are the successful candidate for the position you applied for, the County will send you a conditional offer letter.

As a condition of employment, prior to a final offer of employment, you will be required to:

• submit proof of vaccination, or
• have an approved request for medical or religious exemption and an approved accommodation. Philosophical, political, scientific, or sociological objections to vaccination will not be considered for an exemption or accommodation.

People are considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19 two weeks after receiving the final dose of a vaccination approved by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Executive Branch includes employees in the Executive branch, the Assessor's Office, Elections, the King County Sheriff's Office, and the Executive Office.

King County is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Employer:
No person is unlawfully excluded from employment opportunities based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation and pregnancy), age, genetic information, disability, veteran status, or other protected class. Our EEO policy applies to all employment actions, including but not limited to recruitment, hiring, selection for training, promotion, transfer, demotion, layoff, termination, rates of pay or other forms of compensation.

To Apply:
If you are interested in pursuing this position, please follow the application instructions carefully. If you need this announcement in an alternate language or format, would like to request accommodation or assistance in the application or assessment process or if you have questions please contact the recruiter listed on this job announcement.

Application Process:
The following items are required to be considered for this vacancy:

• An electronic application through www.kingcounty.gov/jobs or www.governmentjobs.com (use the “Apply” link), or paper application (see note below).
• Responses to the supplemental questions.
• Resume

Your application may be rejected as incomplete if you do not include the relevant information in the application. Cover letters and/or resumes are not accepted in lieu of a completed application. Applications and/or Supplemental Questionnaires that state "see my resume" or "see my personnel file" are considered incomplete and will not be accepted.

• The selection process may include but is not limited to: evaluation of application materials and supplemental questions, interviewing, and testing. For more information on our selection process, please refer to www.kingcounty.gov/depts/health/jobs/hiring.
• Regular and reliable attendance, effective communication skills, and development of effective working relationships are requirements of all Public Health positions.
• Staff may be required to play an active role in the event of a public health emergency, which may include changes in responsibilities, work location and working hours.

Necessary Special Requirements:

• The selected candidate will be required to pass a thorough background investigation. 
• Employees are required to protect the privacy and security of protected health information as defined in State and Federal Law.
• Employees are required to adhere to OSHA/WISHA guidelines including but not limited to completing required training on time.

Work Schedule: The work schedule for the position is from 8 AM to 5 PM Monday through Friday and may include occasional night and weekends. Work schedule may be subject to change depending on business needs. This position is overtime eligible.

Telecommuting:
The work associated with this position will be performed through teleworking with reporting to office location and to meetings as needed. Employees will have access to shared workspaces at various King County facilities. Employees must reside in Washington state and within a reasonable distance to their King County worksite to respond to workplace reporting requirements.
 
Employees will be provided with a County issued laptop and must maintain a workspace with an internet connection (access may be supplemented in some situations) where they can reliably perform work and remain available and responsive during scheduled work hours. Please note that when an employee conducts work that is likely to bring them in contact with another individual, safety precautions are required, including the wearing of masks in some situations. King County is doing its part to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and remains committed to reducing our carbon footprint.
   
King County has a robust collection of tools and resources to support working remotely. The individual selected for this opportunity will be joining an innovative and progressive team that is redefining how we work as we transition to the department's hybrid environment.   

Union Affiliation:  This position is represented by PROTEC 17. 

CONTACT: If you have questions regarding the recruitment process, please contact Sarah Dunkinson, Human Resource Analyst at sdunkinson@kingcounty.gov.   

Salary : $52,187 - $66,144