The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) is seeking a strategic and collaborative leader to serve as the Healthy Rural Communities Manager within the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), a landmark $896 million investment aimed at strengthening healthcare access, improving population health, and enhancing long-term health outcomes across rural Massachusetts. As the Initiative Lead for Healthy Rural Communities, this role will guide efforts to prevent chronic disease through community interventions, expand access to conditions that are supportive of health, and advance health equity for rural residents, particularly vulnerable and underserved populations.

This highly visible position offers the opportunity to lead a complex, multi-stakeholder initiative that brings together community partners like community organizations, municipalities, healthcare providers, residents, state agencies, and governance partners to drive meaningful systems change. The selected candidate will shape strategy, oversee implementation, manage grant-funded investments, and ensure measurable results while helping rural communities build sustainable community infrastructure and networks that improve access to conditions that support healthy living. Applicants who are passionate about public health, community engagement, population and community health improvement, and leading transformational initiatives will find this role both rewarding and impactful

Please Note: This position has statewide responsibilities and therefore primary work location is flexible within DPH work sites. The incumbent will be required to report to the Boston office on a regular cadence

Duties and Responsibilities (these duties are a general summary and not all inclusive):

• Lead the overall strategy, vision, and phased workplan for the Healthy Rural Communities initiative, ensuring alignment with DPH, RHTP, and CMS grant objectives.
• Provide day-to-day leadership and oversight of initiative activities, workgroups, and implementation efforts, ensuring successful execution of program goals, deliverables, and timelines.
• Develop and implement policies, procedures, and strategic recommendations that advance chronic disease prevention, population health improvement, and health equity within rural communities including but not limited to systems and environmental change strategies.
• Chair and coordinate initiative workgroups while serving as the primary representative for the initiative in governance forums, cross-agency collaborations, and partner meetings.
• Foster collaboration among community-based organizations, municipalities, residents, public health and other state and local agenciesand other partners to strengthen community interventions that improve conditions for healthy living.
• Expand and support networks of community organizations to build local capacity and community infrastructure and coordinate prevention efforts.
• Integrate initiative activities with existing rural health, public health, and healthcare transformation efforts to maximize impact, reduce duplication, and promote sustainable outcomes.
• Supervise, mentor, and develop assigned staff while overseeing project management functions, including workflow planning, issue escalation, change management, and progress monitoring.
• Provide guidance and technical assistance to Activity Leads, coordinators, vendors, and stakeholders regarding program requirements, implementation strategies, operational processes, and performance expectations.
• Oversee the preparation, review, and submission of progress reports, spending plans, memoranda, and other program documentation to ensure accuracy, completeness, and compliance with grant requirements.
• Monitor program performance, grant compliance, expenditures, and vendor deliverables, ensuring fiscal accountability, quality outcomes, and adherence to contractual and regulatory requirements.
• Maintain expertise in community-based interventions, chronic disease prevention, population health strategies, rural health systems, and technology-enabled care models to inform decision-making, drive innovation, and support long-term program success.

Preferred Qualifications :

• Skilled in leading large-scale, grant-funded population health, community development, or public health initiatives involving multiple partners and funding sources.
• Strong understanding of public health activities related to systems and environmental change strategies to improve rural health as well as preventive measures for chronic disease and community-based interventions, particularly for rural residents.
• Knowledge of the roles of local public health, other local government entities, community - based organizations, social services, aging services, and health systems in rural communities.
• General understanding in developing and implementing strategic plans, policies, programs, and operational frameworks that drive measurable outcomes and systems improvement.
• Proven ability to build and maintain collaborative partnerships with community-based organizations, municipalities, state and local agencies, healthcare providers, and other external partners.
• Experience managing complex projects with competing priorities, multiple workstreams, aggressive timelines, and significant financial investments.
• Strong knowledge of population and community health approaches and evidence-based interventions that improve health outcomes and reduce disparities.
• Demonstrated experience overseeing contracts, vendors, budgets, spending plans, performance metrics, and grant compliance requirements within a public sector, healthcare, or nonprofit environment.
• Capacity to analyze data, evaluate program performance, prepare executive-level reports, and use findings to inform strategic decision-making and continuous improvement efforts.
• Knowledge and experience supervising, mentoring, and developing professional staff while fostering collaboration, accountability, and high-performance team cultures.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and partner engagement skills, with the ability to influence decision-making, build consensus, and effectively present information to diverse audiences, including executive leadership and governance bodies.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, particularly Word, Excel, Outlook, SharePoint and Teams.

Qualifications:
MINIMUM ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS:

Applicants must have at least (A) five (5) years of full-time or, equivalent part-time, professional, professional internship, administrative, supervisory, or managerial experience in business administration, business management, public administration, public management, clinical administration or clinical management or (B) any equivalent combination of the required experience and substitutions below.

Substitutions:

I. A certificate in a relevant or related field may be substituted for one (1) year of the required experience.

II. A Bachelor's degree in a related field may be substituted for two (2) years of the required experience.

III. A Graduate degree in a related field may be substituted for three (3) years of the required experience.

IV. A Doctorate degree in a related field may be substituted for four (4) years of the required experience.

Salary placement is determined by a combination of factors, including the candidate's years of directly related experience and education, and alignment with our internal compensation structure as set forth by the Human Resources Division's Hiring Guidelines. For all bargaining unit positions (non-management), compensation is subject to the salary provisions outlined in the applicable collective bargaining agreement and will apply to placement within the appropriate salary range.

Comprehensive Benefits

When you embark on a career with the Commonwealth, you are offered an outstanding suite of employee benefits that add to the overall value of your compensation package. We take pride in providing a work experience that supports you, your loved ones, and your future.

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