The Bureau of Mental Health’s (BMH) mission is to improve mental health and wellness for people in New York City, and to eliminate racial and other long-standing societal disparities by providing services, resources, and opportunities to New Yorkers that are grounded in accurate, data-driven information that fosters community participation, thus reducing the stigma around mental health. To accomplish this mission, the Bureau of Mental Health contracts for supportive housing, crisis intervention, mental health treatment, care coordination and psychiatric rehabilitation services. The bureau directly operates the City’s court-mandated Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) program, Single Point of Access (SPOA) to mobile treatment and care coordination, and the NYC Supportive Transition and Recovery Team (NYCSTART) for young adults experiencing a first episode psychosis. The bureau also evaluates mental health services and conducts population level surveys and behavioral health care system surveillance to identify gaps care and inform decision making, advocacy and policy.

Duties will include but not be limited to:

- Participate in the planning, development, and implementation of population level mental health surveillance and research. This includes participating in the development and maintenance of adult mental health surveillance systems in NYC, including but not limited to syndromic emergency room visit data, suicide deaths, psychiatric hospitalizations, calls made to NYC 988, and 911.
- Design, conduct, and interpret analysis of both administrative datasets and survey data as they relate to mental health (SPARCS psychiatric data, Vital Statistics suicide death data, data from epidemiologic investigations, etc.) to evaluate the prevalence, patterns and trends of mental health outcomes, patterns and trends of service utilization, and associations with social determinants of mental health.
- Participate in investigations of surveillance clusters or signals, following surveillance investigation protocols.
- Assist with the identification and implementation of new surveillance data sources and/or methodologies
- Ensure surveillance indicators are measurable, standardized, and designed to support demographic disaggregation to identify and monitor disparities among historically marginalized populations.
- Leverage surveillance and program data sources to support the planning and resource allocation of mental health programs.
- Monitor surveillance systems for data quality issues, anomalies, and outliers, investigate discrepancies, and apply corrective actions as needed.
- Pre-process, clean, and prepare data for analysis using SAS and/or R; and assist in data management efforts through data quality review and thorough documentation of data management decisions.
- Respond rapidly and accurately to internal and external requests for data.
- Create graphics, tables, slides and dashboards. Effectively present and interpret data findings verbally, in writing and in graphical format to internal and external stakeholders.
- Assist in the writing of technical and research publications based on findings from the above analyses for internal and external stakeholders.
- Conduct literature reviews to inform research questions, analysis design and outcome measures.
- Collaborate with other research, surveillance, and evaluation staff.
- Conduct special projects and perform other duties as assigned.
- Incorporate an equity lens throughout all aspects of work.

PREFERRED SKILLS:
- The successful candidate will have strong analytic and statistical skills with the ability to manipulate and analyze data using statistical software such as SAS and R.
- Ability to design and produce dashboards, reports, and maps using Tableau, Microsoft Power BI, and GIS tools to enhance interpretation of mental health surveillance data.
- Competency in the use of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint is needed.

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.

CITY RESEARCH SCIENTIST - 21744

1. For Assignment Level I (only physical, biological and environmental sciences and public health) A master's degree from an accredited college or university with a specialization in an appropriate field of physical, biological or environmental science or in public health.
To be appointed to Assignment Level II and above, candidates must have:
1. A doctorate degree from an accredited college or university with specialization in an appropriate field of physical, biological, environmental or social science and one year of full-time experience in a responsible supervisory, administrative or research capacity in the appropriate field of specialization; or
2. A master's degree from an accredited college or university with specialization in an appropriate field of physical, biological, environmental or social science and three years of responsible full-time research experience in the appropriate field of specialization; or
3. Education and/or experience which is equivalent to "1" or "2" above. However, all candidates must have at least a master's degree in an appropriate field of specialization and at least two years of experience described in "2" above. Two years as a City Research Scientist Level I can be substituted for the experience required in "1" and "2" above.

NOTE:
Probationary Period
Appointments to this position are subject to a minimum probationary period of one year.

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.