Health Scientist

Parthenon Management Group

POSITION DESCRIPTION

Position Title: National Birth Defects Prevention Network (NBDPN) Health Scientist

Reports To: Senior Leader, Grants and Strategic Growth

Position Overview:

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We are Solutionaries. 

Parthenon Management Group is an association management company offering management services to professional medical and scientific societies. We offer strategic guidance and bring creative solutions with a vision for the future. 

The Health Scientist supports NBDPN’s mission to improve the surveillance, research, and prevention of birth defects across the United States. This role collaborates with state and territorial birth defects programs, epidemiologists, clinicians, laboratorians, and public health partners to translate data into actionable insights, strengthen data quality and standards, and communicate findings that inform policy and practice. This position reports to the Senior Leader of Grants and Strategic Growth. The Health Scientist will provide clear communication of proper rules and regulations as outlined in the NBDPN cooperative agreement, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and ensure that all objectives and deliverables related to the cooperative agreement are met as designated by the approved cooperative agreement timeline, in coordination with the NBDPN Executive Director (ED). 

PRIMARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES, include the following but are not limited to:

Grant Management and Projects

• Keep NBDPN ED and relevant staff informed about upcoming deadlines and deliverables, thereby ensuring smooth completion of work responsibilities.
• Provide detailed reports to the funders and NBDPN leadership with respect to the organization's progress on cooperative agreement deliverables and timelines.
• The Health Scientist will be the subject matter expert (SME) and provide leadership in the execution of the proposed workplans as applicable. 
• The Health Scientist will oversee and manage the overall Surveillance Guidelines Revision Project with support from the Technical Editor (TE) and ED.
• Plan and conduct analyses of population-based birth defects surveillance data (e.g., prevalence estimates, trends, demographic and geographic patterns) using appropriate epidemiologic and statistical methods.
• Support development, implementation, and evaluation of surveillance standards, case definitions, and data quality procedures across NBDPN member programs.
• Coordinate and contribute to NBDPN reports, data briefs, abstracts, posters, manuscripts, and presentations for public health and scientific audiences.
• Collaborate with state/territorial programs to provide technical assistance on data management, validation, coding/classification systems (e.g., ICD/CDC/BPA), and analytic approaches.
• Contribute to multi-site studies and working groups focused on risk factors, outcomes, health equity, and prevention strategies related to birth defects.
• Prepare clear, accurate written products and visualizations to communicate findings to partners, decision-makers, and the public.
• Support membership engagement by participating in meetings, webinars, and conferences; document decisions and track action items.
• Ensure compliance with human subjects protections, data use agreements, privacy/security requirements, and applicable public health regulations.
• The Health Scientist is a member of the respective federal cooperative agreement Senior Management Team and works in collaboration with the NBDPN BOD and the ED to execute the activities listed in the CDC grant workplan and other grant areas.
• The Health Scientist will participate in Grant Department weekly meetings, activities, planning, and initiatives, as applicable.
• Other duties as assigned by Senior Leader of Grants and Strategic Growth.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The Health Scientist position is in a remote office setting that involves everyday risks or discomforts requiring normal safety precautions. On occasion, the individual must be able to do moderately demanding physical activity such as handling and opening boxes weighing 35-40 pounds, standing and walking extensively throughout the day.

BENEFITS

People come first at PMG. That goes for both our clients and our team members. We are known for our exceptional customer service and work ethic. Our clients are like family to us! But our real family is also a priority. From flexible work schedules, including work-from-home plans, paid volunteer days, profit sharing and more, PMG takes great care of its team members.

We are passionate about creating a workplace that promotes and values diversity. We serve associations that are global, multicultural, and diverse, and we want to reflect that inside our walls. More importantly, creating an environment where everyone, from any background, can do their best work is just the right thing to do.

Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree or higher in public health, epidemiology, biostatistics, health sciences, or a related field (or equivalent combination of education and experience).
• Experience analyzing public health surveillance or administrative health data using statistical software (e.g., SAS, R, Stata, or Python).
• Knowledge of epidemiologic methods, descriptive and analytic study designs, and interpretation of results.
• Demonstrated ability to write and edit clear technical documents (e.g., reports, manuscripts, data dictionaries, protocols).
• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with multidisciplinary and geographically distributed teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with birth defects surveillance, maternal and child health, congenital anomalies, newborn screening, or perinatal epidemiology.
• Familiarity with clinical coding/classification systems (e.g., ICD-10-CM, BPA, CDC classification), medical record abstraction, or registry operations.
• Experience working with large, multi-site datasets; record linkage; geospatial analysis; or time-trend methods.
• Experience developing data visualizations and dashboards (e.g., Tableau, Power BI, R Shiny) and communicating results to non-technical audiences.
• Experience with quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) processes for surveillance data.
• Prior work with federal, state, or academic public health partners; ability to navigate data governance and data sharing processes.

Core Competencies

• Data-driven decision-making: Applies sound scientific judgment to translate data into recommendations.
• Scientific communication: Presents complex information clearly in writing and verbally.
• Collaboration: Builds productive relationships across programs and disciplines.
• Equity focus: Considers how social and structural factors influence outcomes and access to prevention services. 
• Integrity and stewardship: Protects confidential data and maintains high standards for reproducibility and documentation.