Role Responsibilities

The Government of Alberta is seeking a dedicated and highly skilled Communicable Disease (CD) policy development and public health specialist to join our team. In this role, you will provide leadership in the development, maintenance, and evaluation of notifiable communicable disease guidelines, policies, and surveillance activities. You will also collaborate with federal, provincial, and territorial colleagues to inform CD policy decisions with national and international implications. This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in shaping public health responses and enhancing communicable disease management strategies.

Primary responsibilities include:

1) Policy Development & Leadership

• Lead the development, maintenance, and evaluation of provincial guidelines, policies, and surveillance reporting related to communicable diseases in Alberta.

2) Surveillance & Compliance Activities

• Lead communicable disease surveillance efforts, including reviewing data, conducting literature reviews, and evaluating research to support the development of public health disease management guidelines.

3) Stakeholder Engagement & Collaboration

• Collaborate with key internal and external stakeholders, including the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health (OCMOH), Alberta Health Services (AHS), Primary Care Alberta (PCA) Indigenous Services Canada, laboratories, infectious disease specialists, and federal/provincial/territorial colleagues.

4) Emergent Response & Public Health Emergencies

• Support urgent public health responses, including outbreak management, emergency preparedness, and pandemic responses, by providing policy guidance and strategic advice.

5) Clinical Expertise & Program Support

• Provide specialized clinical expertise to support communicable disease management, including advising on disease-specific interventions, protocols, and treatment recommendations.

6) Research & Policy Recommendations

• Conduct in-depth research on current communicable diseases, emerging threats, and best practices in disease prevention and control.

7) Project Management & Strategic Planning

• Manage and lead projects related to communicable disease policy development and public health response, ensuring timely delivery and alignment with strategic priorities.

8) Capacity Building

• Provide guidance and training to team members, healthcare professionals, and other stakeholders on communicable disease policies, surveillance techniques, and best practices.
  
  

The is provided for Further details on this position.

APS Competencies

Competencies are behaviors that are essential to reach our goals in serving Albertans. We encourage you to have an in depth understanding of the competencies that are required for this opportunity and to be prepared to demonstrate them during the recruitment process.

Systems Thinking: Considers inter-relationships and emerging trends to attain goals, seeks insight on implications of different options, analyzes long-term outcomes, focus on goals and values, and identifies unintended consequences.

Creative Problem Solving: Engages with stakeholders and uses resources at hand to address issues and to seek root causes, finds ways to improve complex systems. Employs resources from other areas to solve problems, engages others and encourages debate and idea generation to solve problems while addressing risks.

Drive for Results: Works to exceed goals and partners with others to achieve objectives. Plans based on experience, holds self and others responsible for results, partners with groups to achieve outcomes and aims to exceed expectations.

Develop Networks: Leverages relationships to build input and perspective, looks broadly to engage stakeholders, open to perspective towards long-term goals, actively seeks input into change initiatives and maintains stakeholder relationships.

Build Collaborative Environments: Works in an open honest manner with colleagues, creates sharing opportunities, actively shares, accepts, and listens to others, recognizes conflict, respects, and discusses opinions openly, supports group even to learn from mistakes and recognizes differing interpretations.

Qualifications

Minimum Recruitment Standards
A bachelor’s degree in nursing, plus a minimum of four (4) years of progressively responsible experience. Must be a regulated member of the College of Registered Nurses of Alberta.

Equivalency: Diploma related to the position assignment and six (6) years of related experience. Master’s degree related to the position assignment and three (3) years of related experience. Must be a regulated member of the appropriate college if required by the Health Professions Act.

Requirements of the role:

Experience in public health/communicable diseases, with demonstrated involvement in research, policy development, and/or analysis is required.

The following experience will be considered assets:

• Project management
• Notifiable disease case/outbreak investigation, communicable disease surveillance, and/or notifiable disease reporting
• Public health policy and legislation

The successful candidate should demonstrate:

• Strong leadership capabilities, including the ability to guide work, influence decision‑making, and support collaborative outcomes.
• Advanced problem‑solving skills, with demonstrated ability in negotiation, facilitation, and conflict resolution.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, applied in complex, multidisciplinary, and stakeholder‑driven environments.
• Critical thinking and strategic planning skills, with experience applying evidence‑informed approaches to public health decision‑making.
• Demonstrated computer proficiency, including good working knowledge of:
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Word
  • PowerPoint
  • Microsoft Team

Minimum recruitment standards outline the minimum education and experience required for appointment to a job classification.

Notes

Hours of work are 8:15 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday to Friday. This is a full-time permanent position working 36.25 hours per week from downtown Edmonton.

Final candidates may be required to undergo a criminal records check (CRC).

Any costs associated with obtaining the required documents/checks as noted or interview travel expenses, will be the responsibility of the candidate. Out-of-province applicants can obtain the required documents/checks from the province they currently reside in.

Links and information on what we have to offer:

• Working for the Alberta Public Service
• Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP)
• Alberta Public Service Benefit Information
• Professional learning and development
• Research Alberta Public Service Careers tool
• Positive workplace culture and work-life balance.