Assessment and Planning Specialist

State of Colorado

$71K — $90K *
Education, Government & Non-Profit
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 7 years of experience in public health planning and evaluation or equivalent combination of education and experience.
  • Experience providing technical assistance to diverse partners and communities.
  • Familiarity with Public Health Accreditation Board requirements.
  • Proven ability to work collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills tailored to diverse audiences.

Responsibilities

  • Lead the implementation of Colorado's statewide Public Health Improvement Plan.
  • Provide technical assistance and training to Local Public Health Agencies.
  • Conduct monitoring and evaluation of assessment and planning systems.
  • Manage public health systems dashboards and communication strategies.
  • Oversee project management duties related to public health initiatives.

Benefits

  • Focus on professional development and training opportunities.
  • Work within a collaborative and supportive team environment.
  • Contribute to enhancing public health infrastructure across Colorado.
  • Engage with a wide range of public health stakeholders and organizations.
Full Job Description
Salary: $71,544.00 - $90,000.00 Annually
Location : Denver, CO
Job Type: Full Time
Job Number: FAA00069-06/25/26
Department: Department of Public Health & Environment
Division: Administration Division
Opening Date: 06/26/2026
Closing Date: 7/26/2026 11:59 PM Mountain
FLSA: Determined by Position
Type of Announcement: This position is open only to Colorado state residents.
Primary Physical Work Address: 4300 Cherry Creek Drive South Denver, CO 80246
FLSA Status: Exempt; position is not eligible for overtime compensation.
Department Contact Information:
How To Apply: Please submit an online application for this position at https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/colorado. Reach out to the Department Contact to apply using a paper application, including any supplemental questions. Failure to submit a complete and timely application may result in the rejection of your application. Applicants are responsible for ensuring that application materials are received by the appropriate Human Resources office before the closing date and time listed.

Description of Job

The Work Unit:
The mission of the Office of Public Health Practice, Planning, and Local Partnerships (OPHP) is to collaborate and partner across the public health system to maintain and further strengthen statewide infrastructure and capacity. The Office of Public Health Practice, Planning, and Local Partnerships exists to build capacity and improve performance of state and local public health agencies. Office staff members work across the department and with local public health agencies, boards and organizations to foster collaboration and leverage resources to:
  • Lead Colorado's assessment and planning system for state and local public health.
  • Develop infrastructure to ensure all counties provide the core public health services and local public health directors meet the defined minimum qualifications.
  • Distribute funds to local public health and monitor contracts.
  • Provide technical assistance to state and local public health agencies for training, assessment and planning, public health practice, performance improvement, workforce development,
  • Serve as a liaison and contact for all local public health agencies and provide connections to a variety of CDPHE programs and resources.
  • Connect with national organizations and governmental public health agencies in other states.
  • Increase public health practice competency through the utilization and dissemination of evidence-based best practices using a variety of delivery mechanisms including synchronic and asynchronous training, tools, and resources.
  • Represent the department in professional public health organizations.
  • Support the development of the public health workforce through training, capacity building, funding, and partnerships.

What You Will Be Doing:
This position assists with implementing Colorado's Public Health Improvement Plan which is required in Colorado statute. This position provides technical assistance and training for Local Public Health Agencies per the 2008 Public Health Act. The 2008 Act requires a coordinated system of state and local public health planning on a 5-year cycle. This is also in line with the national Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB), which has the same cyclical requirements with emphasis on stakeholder engagement and partnerships between state and local public health. This position provides coordination, support and technical assistance for state and local community health assessment and improvement planning in accordance with best practices and national standards. This includes the continuous process of state and local community capacity assessment, prioritization, improvement planning and implementation, monitoring and evaluation in accordance with statute and national accreditation standards. Having a point person for related guidance and technical assistance at OPHP has been cited by local public health agencies (LPHAs) as integral to their success in this process. It also helps bolster capacity for the core public health service of assessment, planning and communication and accreditation readiness among LPHAs in Colorado.

Additionally, this position ensures that CDPHE's statewide public health improvement plan (as required for accreditation by the Public Health Accreditation Board) is aligned with the strategies and recommendations in local improvement plans. In order to achieve this, this position identifies and analyzes strategies and issues in local health assessments and public health improvement plans, and makes recommendations to CDPHE public health and environmental programs to address gaps and areas for needed alignment. This position increases accreditation readiness among LPHAs in Colorado because community health assessments, public health improvement plans, strategic plans and quality improvement activities are required for national public health accreditation. Increased accreditation readiness ensures stronger, higher quality provision of public health services.

This position also works within the training team to develop and ensure a robust and appropriate training suite is available either by leveraging existing training or creating new training where needed. The target audiences are early career professionals that either have formal public health education or are transitioning from another sector; emerging leaders; new executive directors, and public health adjacent stakeholders such as local boards of health and county commissioners. This support and training provides a solid, common foundation for public health response. The position works with department health equity staff to ensure training materials are accessible to all and incorporate health equity principles.

This position is the main preceptor point of contact for OPHP and will coordinate all steps with CDPHE Human Resources. This position will supervise incoming interns, AmeriCorps members, and will assign and monitor progress of all students within OPHP. The FTE and length of positions will vary each year.
Key Responsibilities:
  1. Staff Authority - Assessment, Planning and Implementation of Colorado's Statewide Public Health Improvement Plan through the Colorado Public Health Assessment and Planning System (CHAPS)
  2. CHAPS Management and Technical Assistance
  3. Monitoring and Evaluation of the Assessment and Planning System
  4. Public Health Systems Dashboards and Communication
  5. Project Management Duties

Minimum Qualifications, Substitutions, Conditions of Employment & Appeal Rights
Residency Requirement:
This posting is only open to residents of the State of Colorado at the time of submitting your application.
Class Code & Classification Description:

H1S4XX
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
NOTE: An applicant may meet the minimum qualifications for this job in one of two ways: They may qualify through their work experience alone or through a combination of education and work experience.
**This experience must be substantiated within the Work Experience section of your application. "See Resume" will not be accepted. In addition, part-time work will be prorated.**

Experience Only:
Seven (7) years of relevant experience in public health planning and evaluation including providing technical assistance to diverse partners and communities. Technical assistance includes providing training, consultation, resource development, and quality assurance checks to partners.

OR

Education and Experience:
A combination of related education in public health or closely-related field and/or relevant experience in public health planning and evaluation including providing technical assistance to diverse partners and communities. Technical assistance includes providing training, consultation, resource development, and quality assurance checks to partners. equal to seven (7) years
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

In addition to the minimum requirements, the successful candidate in this position will have the following highly desirable experience and competencies:
  • Demonstrated proficiency working collaboratively with internal and external teams, technical and community partners, diverse public stakeholders, and medical providers.
  • Proven experience building and maintaining strong relationships with diverse partners, including schools and education entities.
  • Experience using communication strategies and tactics to disseminate information to partners.
  • Outstanding verbal and written communication, ability to adapt communication to fit intended audience that may have varying technical skills, various levels within an organization, and in groups and individual settings.
  • Working knowledge of Public Health Accreditation Board requirements
  • Experience assisting local public health agencies in aligning their work with state-level messages or priorities.
  • Experience selecting evidence-based public health strategies and implementing those strategies with fidelity.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT:
  • A pre-employment background check will be conducted as part of the selection process.


Appeal Rights:
An applicant who has been removed from an employment list or removed from consideration during the selection process may request a review by the State Personnel Director.
As an applicant directly affected by the results of the selection or comparative analysis process, you may file a written appeal with the State Personnel Director.
Review of the completed, signed, and submitted appeal will be timely on the basis of written material submitted by you, using the official appeal form signed by you or your representative. This form must be completed and delivered to the State Personnel Board by email at [email protected] within ten (10) calendar days from your receipt of notice or acknowledgment of the Department's action.
For further information on the Board Rules, you can refer to 4 Colorado Code of Regulations (CCR) 801-1, State Personnel Board Rules and Personnel Director's Administrative Procedures, Chapter 8, Resolution of Appeals and Disputes, at spb.colorado.gov/board-rules.

Supplemental Information
A complete application packet must include:
  • Completed State of Colorado application.
  • A Resume
  • A Cover Letter
  • If using education to qualify for this position a copy of your transcripts (unofficial acceptable) or diploma must be provided with application. Transcripts must be attached to your colorado.gov/jobs application.
  • If you are a veteran, a copy of your DD214 must be attached to your colorado.gov/jobs application.

The Selection Process:

All applications that are received by the closing of this announcement will be reviewed against the Minimum Qualifications in this announcement. Candidates who meet the minimum qualifications proceed to the next step.

Colorado Revised Statutes require that state employees are hired and promoted based on merit and fitness through a comparative analysis process.

Part of, or all of, the comparative analysis for this position may be a structured application review, which involves a review of the information you submit in your application materials by Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) against the preferred qualifications.

A top group, up to six candidates, will be invited to schedule an interview with the hiring manager.

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