Director, Community Health - Department of Public Health and Environment

About Our Job

With competitive pay, great benefits, and endless opportunities, working for the City and County of Denver means seeing yourself working with purpose — for you, and those who benefit from your passion, skills and expertise. Join our diverse, inclusive and talented workforce of more than 11,000 team members who are at the heart of what makes Denver, Denver.

What We Offer

The City and County of Denver offers a competitive salary commensurate with education and experience. The salary range for this position is $125,000.00 - $168,000.00. We also offer generous benefits for full-time employees which include but are not limited to:

• A guaranteed life-long monthly pension, once vested after 5 years of service
• 457B Retirement Plan
• 140 hours of PTO earned within first year + 12 paid holidays, 1 personal holiday, 1 Wellness Day and 1 volunteer day per year
• Competitive medical, dental and vision plans effective within 1 month of start date

Location and Schedule

In this position you can expect to work mostly onsite in the office, with some hybrid opportunities available. The office for this position is located at the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Building at 201 W. Colfax Ave., Denver, CO 80202.

While this position works mostly a traditional Monday – Friday schedule, some evening and weekend work may be required, depending on business needs.

What You’ll Do

Denver's Department of Public Health and Environment (DDPHE) is dedicated to advancing Denver's environmental and public health goals. DDPHE works collaboratively with city, state and community partners to conduct education, community engagement, and enforcement to promote healthy people, healthy pets, and a sustainable environment. DDPHE oversees a number of services related to public health and the environment and is comprised of eight divisions: Office of Strategy and Operations; Office of Communications, Equity and Engagement; Community Health; Behavioral Health; Public Health Investigations; Denver Animal Shelter; the Office of Medical Examiner; and Environmental Quality. For more information on DDPHE’s programs and services, visit the DDPHE website at: Denver Department of Public Health and Environment.

We foster an inclusive culture by respecting the values, customs, and authenticity of everyone and by implementing equitable public health strategies so Denver communities can thrive.

DDPHE has an opening for a Director, Community Health. This position leads the Community Health Division responsible for working in tobacco control and prevention, food systems, maternal child health promotion, chronic disease prevention, and stewarding the Ryan White Part A funding for HIV services. In addition to personnel management, the position will oversee the strategic direction of the Community Health Division including policy development, grant applications, program development, coordinated evaluation and response to emerging public health issues. The division and department have a strong commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion and the same would be expected of the person in this role.

Specifically, in this role, job duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Creation and implementation of long-term strategies related to community health issues. Establishes and implements key performance indicators (KPIs) for the division.
• Directs the programs, projects, and operational work of the division including applications for funding, identifying policy opportunities to advance specific goals, guiding evaluation and reporting, developing internal and external communications, and working closely with department leadership to ensure alignment of work to achieve broader public health goals.
• Supervises staff including planning, scheduling and coordinating work, establishing goals and priorities, providing job-related training, promoting skill-development, and recommending resources necessary to meet community and population health goals.
• Facilitates and coordinates program implementation with numerous and diverse internal and external stakeholders. This may include development of division, department, or City-wide planning initiatives.
• Organizes, manages, and tracks the division’s budget and operations costs. This includes general fund, grants, and special revenue fund budgets.
• Negotiates and manages contracts, including budgets, expenses and work performed. Contracted resources managed by the position and the team is generally valued at over $12M annually.
• Coaches, mentors, and challenges a diverse staff. Champions continuous improvement and development, devising new strategies, and creating new opportunities. Leads staff development initiatives including training, development, and succession planning.
• Interacts with elected officials regarding city strategies, ordinances, policies and other items of interest as needed.
• Along with all department staff, this position will actively participate on an emergency preparedness and response team to support DDPHE’s responsibilities outlined in the City’s Emergency Operations Plan.  This may require being ‘on-call’ from time to time to help respond to emergencies.  Additional training commensurate with assigned duties will be provided.
• Responds to urgent and emergent situations requiring quick response and immediate resolution, as needed.
• Other duties as assigned

What You’ll Bring

We value diversity of ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, sexual identity, gender, religion, language, ability, and experience and exemplify this through the makeup of our team at all levels. You'll be right at home here if you cultivate strong relationships and push yourself, your work, the people around you and Denver to the next level.

Our ideal candidate has some or all the following experience, skills, and characteristics:

• Experience developing community health objectives, indicators and goals and identifying planned actions, resources, and timelines to achieve the objectives.
• Experience supervising and managing a team, including motivating and empowering employees to be autonomous in their work and have a high degree of engagement.
• Demonstrated ability to use scientific and theoretical skills to evaluate community health issues, manage community health programs and deliver results.
• Strong management experience with the ability to take responsibility for actions, projects, and people, make quick clear decisions which may include tough choices, after considering all risks.
• Ability to resolve complex problems, identify and eliminate barriers, contribute creative solutions, and leverage support when needed to deliver exceptional results.
• Experience adapting to setbacks and changes in work assignments and ways of doing work.
• A proven ability to build and maintain effective working relationships and function in various roles across large and diverse teams.
• A readiness to strengthen a positive and respectful organizational culture.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, and ability to present to and learn from diverse audiences.

• High integrity, strong degree of accountability, and sound decision‑making in complex situations.
• Ability to remain effective and adaptable during rapidly evolving public health issues.

Required Minimum Qualifications

• Education requirement: Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Chemistry, Architecture, Planning or related field based on a specific position(s).
• Experience Requirement: Five (5) years of experience at the type and level of functional or operational management, which must have included management of subordinate supervisors.
• Education/Experience Equivalency: Two (2) years of the appropriate type and level of experience may be substituted for each required year of post-high school education.
• Additional appropriate education may be substituted for the minimum experience requirements.
• License/Certifications: Requires a valid Driver's License at the time of application.
• Licenses and certifications must be kept current as a condition of employment.

Application Deadline

This position is expected to stay open until Friday, November 20, 2026. Please submit your application as soon as possible and no later than that date at 11:59 p.m. to ensure consideration.

To be considered for this position, you must include the following on your job application (upload the attachment(s) to the Resume/CV section on the My Experience tab):

• Cover letter detailing relevant leadership experience as it pertains to this position, as well as any other relevant information of why you would be the best fit for this role.
• Resume

About Everything Else

Job Profile

CE2780 Director Engineering and Science

To view the full job profile including position specifications, physical demands, and probationary period, click here.

Position Type

Unlimited

Position Salary Range

$124,937.00 - $212,393.00

Target Pay

$125,000.00 - $168,000.00

Agency

Dept of Public Health & Environment

The City and County of Denver provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, genetic information, age, or any other status protected under federal, state, and/or local law. 

It is your right to access oral or written language assistance, sign language interpretation, real-time captioning via CART, or disability-related accommodations. To request any of these services at no cost to you, please contact [email protected] with three business days’ notice.

Applicants for employment with the City and County of Denver must have valid work authorization that does not require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the U.S.

For information about right to work, click here for English or here for Spanish.