Epidemiologist / Disease Surveillance Subject Matter Expert (SME)

Position Summary 

AMS is seeking an experienced Epidemiologist / Disease Surveillance SME to support the CDC Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology (OPHDST) in the modernization, sustainment, and nationwide adoption of the NEDSS Base System (NBS). The SME provides epidemiologic expertise that keeps modernization aligned with public health surveillance practice while supporting migration from NBS 6 to NBS 7, implementation of CDC surveillance standards, and collaboration with State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial (STLT) health departments. 

This is the bridge role between public health practice and software engineering: the SME ensures technical solutions support disease surveillance workflows, outbreak response, and national case reporting. The position is designated proposal Key Personnel, so the selected candidate must provide a resume and a signed Letter of Commitment for submission with the proposal. 

Key Responsibilities 

Public Health Surveillance 

• Serve as the epidemiology subject matter expert for the NBS modernization program. 

• Validate surveillance workflows against current epidemiologic practice and advise development teams on disease surveillance requirements. 

• Support implementation of National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) reporting requirements. 

• Review and recommend enhancements to surveillance workflows and evaluate the impacts of modernization on epidemiologic operations. 

Jurisdiction Support 

• Support onboarding and migration of STLT jurisdictions and participate in readiness assessments for NBS migrations. 

• Provide consultation during implementation and stabilization activities. 

• Facilitate stakeholder meetings with epidemiologists and public health program managers, and incorporate jurisdiction feedback into product improvements. 

Agile Delivery Integration 

• Develop and refine user stories and acceptance criteria with the CDC Product Owner and delivery pods. 

• Apply the public health Definition of Ready gate to surveillance-related stories before build. 

• Participate in sprint ceremonies (planning, refinement, reviews, retrospectives) as an embedded pod member and support human-centered design, including prototyping and usability testing with practicing STLT users through the community of practice. 

Collaboration, Standards & Program Support 

• Collaboration. Works with the Public Health Informatician, Product Owners, CDC Surveillance Leads, Software Developers, Business Analysts, QA/Test teams, and DevSecOps Engineers to ensure technical solutions support real-world public health operations. 

• Standards & data quality. Supports implementation and validation of NNDSS; CDC Message Mapping Guides (MMGs), including Gen V3; HL7 v2; FHIR; CDA; electronic case reporting (eCR); electronic laboratory reporting (ELR); Public Health Information Network (PHIN) standards; and USCDI public health requirements. 

• Program support. Supports disease surveillance modernization, case notification workflows, PageBuilder modernization, Person Match/Merge workflows, eCR, STLT migrations, user acceptance testing, training, operational readiness, change management, and release validation. 

Required Qualifications (Must-Have — screen on these) 

• Education. Master's degree or higher in epidemiology, public health, biostatistics, health informatics, population health, public health administration, or a related discipline. (Doctoral degree preferred.) 

• Experience. Minimum 10 years supporting public health surveillance, epidemiology, disease reporting systems, CDC programs, and/or state or local public health agencies. 

• Technical knowledge. Demonstrated experience with infectious disease surveillance, case investigation workflows, outbreak response, surveillance reporting, public health analytics, public health data governance, surveillance system implementation, and public health modernization initiatives. 

• Suitability. U.S.-based and able to obtain and maintain HHS Public Trust suitability, PIV credentialing, and the position-risk background investigation for a FISMA High system handling PII/CUI. 

• Availability. Able to commit to 1.0 FTE from contract start (anticipated 14 September 2026) and to sign a Letter of Commitment for the proposal. 

Preferred Qualifications (Nice-to-Have — discriminators) 

• Direct experience with the NEDSS Base System (NBS), NNDSS, CDC surveillance modernization, and STLT public health organizations. 

• Knowledge of HL7 v2, FHIR, CDA, ELR, eCR, and MMGs (including Gen V3). 

• Experience supporting one or more of CDC, CSTE, APHL, a State Department of Health, Tribal health organizations, or local public health agencies. 

• Agile software development, Product Owner collaboration, user story development, requirements validation, user acceptance testing, change management, and training development; familiarity with the CSTE position statement process for nationally notifiable conditions. 

• Preferred certifications. Certified in Public Health (CPH), CDC epidemiology training, public health informatics certifications, PMP, and SAFe or Agile certifications. 
• Core competencies. Applied epidemiology; disease surveillance; public health informatics; public health data standards; surveillance system modernization; stakeholder engagement; requirements validation; public health analytics; risk communication; facilitation; strategic thinking; and cross-functional leadership. 

Benefits: 

Aleut offers the following benefits to eligible employees: 

• Health insurance
• Dental/Vision insurance
• Paid Time Off
• Short- and Long-Term Disability
• Life insurance
• 401k and match

EEO Statement: 

Aleut Federal, LLC provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, AF complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location where the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training. AF prohibits workplace harassment based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status. 

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