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How to hire a health officer

Health officer hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring health officers in the United States:

  • In the United States, the median cost per hire a health officer is $1,633.
  • It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
  • Human Resources use 15% of their expenses on recruitment on average.
  • On average, it takes around 12 weeks for a new health officer to become settled and show total productivity levels at work.

How to hire a health officer, step by step

To hire a health officer, consider the skills and experience you are looking for in a candidate, allocate a budget for the position, and post and promote the job opening to reach potential candidates. Follow these steps to hire a health officer:

Here's a step-by-step health officer hiring guide:

  • Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
  • Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
  • Step 3: Make a budget
  • Step 4: Write a health officer job description
  • Step 5: Post your job
  • Step 6: Interview candidates
  • Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new health officer
  • Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a health officer do?

A Health Officer investigates and inspects reports of cases of disease outbreaks and illnesses that can affect a community's health and safety. It is the job of the Health Officer to conduct tests, according to health protocols, on suspected individuals with an infectious or contagious disease. They maintain people's healthiness in a community and its growth. Included tasks are educating people on health concerns, tips, and methods to prevent diseases and illnesses.

Learn more about the specifics of what a health officer does
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  1. Identify your hiring needs

    First, determine the employments status of the health officer you need to hire. Certain health officer roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

    Determine employee vs contractor status
    Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

    A health officer's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, health officers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

    This list shows salaries for various types of health officers.

    Type of Health OfficerDescriptionHourly rate
    Health OfficerMedical and health services managers, also called healthcare executives or healthcare administrators, plan, direct, and coordinate medical and health services. They might manage an entire facility, a specific clinical area or department, or a medical practice for a group of physicians... Show more$19-66
    Nursing DirectorA nursing director's role is to oversee and evaluate all nurse staff in a hospital or organization, ensuring their efficiency at providing care towards patients. A nursing director's responsibilities mainly revolve around administrative tasks such as coordinating with physicians and other consultants, producing reports, conducting assessments, managing the budget and expenditures, and resolving issues... Show more$30-56
    Interim DirectorAn interim director is responsible for supporting business operations, organizing training, as well as specific department programs for staff to maximize their productivity and improve optimal performance to meet project deliverables and achieve client satisfaction. Interim directors coordinate with the management and board executives on corporate decisions, implementing company guidelines and procedures, and identifying business opportunities to generate more revenues and profitability... Show more$31-77
  2. Create an ideal candidate profile

    Common skills:
    • Patients
    • Mental Health
    • Environmental Health
    • Emergency Situations
    • Patient Care
    • Food Safety
    • CPR
    • Health Services
    • Disease Prevention
    • Community Health
    • Health Issues
    • First Aid Kits
    • Public Health Programs
    • Infectious Disease
    Check all skills
    Responsibilities:
    • Engage, educate and empower participants to access community base resources in or- der to achieve rehabilitation and recovery.
    • Develop and implement evidence-based therapeutic approaches for patients dealing with substance abuse with co-morbid mental health issues.
    • Instruct BLS and CPR to active duty personnel.
    • Participate in blood borne pathogen, CPR and first-aid training.
    • Develop or expand and implement medical programs or health services that promote research, rehabilitation, and community heath.
    • Complete statistical reviews to determine if Medicaid lien are necessary.
    More health officer duties
  3. Make a budget

    Including a salary range in your health officer job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A health officer salary can vary based on several factors:
    • Location. For example, health officers' average salary in montana is 57% less than in new hampshire.
    • Seniority. Entry-level health officers earn 71% less than senior-level health officers.
    • Certifications. A health officer with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
    • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a health officer's salary.

    Average health officer salary

    $75,156yearly

    $36.13 hourly rate

    Entry-level health officer salary
    $40,000 yearly salary
    Updated December 24, 2025

    Average health officer salary by state

    RankStateAvg. salaryHourly rate
    1District of Columbia$105,232$51
    2Massachusetts$102,812$49
    3Connecticut$102,539$49
    4Virginia$100,630$48
    5New York$97,979$47
    6Illinois$92,744$45
    7South Carolina$90,702$44
    8Ohio$89,050$43
    9Wisconsin$88,791$43
    10California$87,815$42
    11Oregon$83,684$40
    12Michigan$81,045$39
    13Nevada$77,787$37
    14Missouri$77,270$37
    15Alaska$76,295$37
    16Indiana$68,470$33
    17Iowa$67,162$32
    18New Mexico$66,392$32
    19South Dakota$64,695$31
    20Texas$60,125$29

    Average health officer salary by company

    RankCompanyAverage salaryHourly rateJob openings
    1Planned Parenthood$105,389$50.6724
    2Deloitte$94,052$45.2210
    3Liberty Mutual Insurance$93,395$44.9029
    4Kings County Education Office$82,092$39.471
    5Chicago Public Schools$81,597$39.233
    6Ymca Of Metropolitan Atlanta$78,339$37.66
    7Indian Health Service$75,371$36.2417
    8City of Pasadena$71,359$34.311
    9San Ysidro Health Center$70,698$33.992
    10City of St. Louis$68,202$32.792
    11Primary Health Solutions$67,844$32.62
    12Deschutes County$65,671$31.57
    13Iowa Department of Transportation$62,424$30.01
    14Alaska State Library$60,436$29.06
    15City of Austin$57,369$27.582
    16Securitas AB$52,068$25.031,330
    17S.C. Department of Commerce$50,129$24.10
    18SMOC$46,291$22.26
    19YMCA of Metro Chicago$39,558$19.02
  4. Writing a health officer job description

    A health officer job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a health officer job description:

    Health officer job description example

    Salary: Starts at $17.00/hour for EMT-B with limited experience. Increases based on certification level and experience.

    Duties and Responsibilities:

    • Providing emergency and non-emergency medical care to staff, participants, and visitors in a timely manner.
    • Follows the standing orders issued by the council physician and Orange County Healthcare Agency.
    • Coordinates external emergency medical services as needed.
    • Contacts patient emergency contacts if they need to leave the premise for emergent or non-emergent medical issues.
    • Supports program operations by handling emergency situations in a discrete manner when appropriate.
    • Documents care provided in accordance to camp standard operating procedures.
    • Secures medications, patient health information, and medical equipment in accordance with camp standard operating procedures.
    • Keeps any physical medical forms for campers and staff members on file in the health office in an orderly manner.
    • Utilizes camp's electronic health record (EHR) system to document patient care and medication usage.
    • Assists with checks-in of overnight program groups by collecting and labeling medication in accordance with the camp standard operating procedures.
    • Returns medications back to program group leaders when overnight groups check-out.
    • Conducts bi-weekly inventory of first aid supplies and audits medical equipment in the health office and first aid kits and reports any needs to the Sr. Program Director.
    • Maintains the health office in a clean and orderly manner.
    • Abides by the OCBSA staff handbook, IROEC staff handbook, National Camp Staff Code of Conduct, National Camp Health Officer Training, and the Scout Oath and Law.
    • Other duties as assigned.

    Page Break

    Qualifications, Experience, and Licensure:

    • High School Diploma or HSE.
    • Current American Heart Association Basic Life Support (BLS) certification or equivalent.
    • Certified and Licensed EMT-B, AEMT, EMT-P, LVN, or RN by the appropriate California state certifying agency.
    • Currently registered with, or willing to be registered with, the Boy Scouts of America.
    • Excited to work with kids in an educational environment.
    • 1-3 years direct patient care experience (preferred).
    • 1-3 years of working with kids in any capacity (preferred).

    Additional Skillsets:

    • Basic computer literacy, including limited usage of Microsoft Office Products and online electronic health record systems.
    • Ability to communicate clearly, positively, and professionally with others.
    • The ability to operate and take leadership in emergency situations.
    • Ability to think critically and prioritize when given multiple assigned tasks.
    • Fluency in written and spoken English.
    • Bi-lingual (preferred)

    Physical Demands:

    The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

    • Must be able to spend significant time in the outdoors
    • Ability to lift, carry, and balance 75 pounds
    • Ability to exert on a regular basis 75 pounds of force
    • Constantly able to bend and scoop, sit, and stand, possess hand-eye-foot coordination, and perform good manual dexterity.

    Work Environment:

    This Camp Health officer position is located at the Irvine Ranch Outdoor Education Center (IROEC). The IROEC serves the youth of Orange County by providing quality outdoor educational programs that instill in them an appreciation of the outdoors and the environment, teach effective teamwork, instruct about the cultural history of Orange County, and provide access to the natural resources of the surrounding areas.

    Working in a camp environment includes providing customer service, solving problems, and cooperation with others, regardless of your title. Working at the IROEC specifically requires a desire to develop and work with youth, which can occasionally lead to challenging interactions.

    The Orange County Council, Boy Scouts of America is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status.

  5. Post your job

    There are a few common ways to find health officers for your business:

    • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
    • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
    • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
    • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.
    Post your job online:
    • Post your health officer job on Zippia to find and recruit health officer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
    • Use field-specific websites.
    • Post a job on free websites.
  6. Interview candidates

    Recruiting health officers requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

    You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

    The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

  7. Send a job offer and onboard your new health officer

    Once you've found the health officer candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

    It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

    To prepare for the new health officer first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

  8. Go through the hiring process checklist

    • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
    • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
    • Define job responsibilities and requirements
    • Establish budget and timeline
    • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
    • Write job description
    • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
    • Promote the job internally
    • Process applications through applicant tracking system
    • Review resumes and cover letters
    • Shortlist candidates for screening
    • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
    • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
    • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
    • Conduct background checks on top candidates
    • Check references of top candidates
    • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
    • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
    • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
    • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
    • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
    • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)
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How much does it cost to hire a health officer?

Before you start to hire health officers, it pays to consider both the one-off costs like recruitment, job promotion, and onboarding, as well as the ongoing costs of an employee's salary and benefits. While most companies that hire health officers pay close attention to the initial cost of hiring, ongoing costs are much more significant in the long run.

Health officers earn a median yearly salary is $75,156 a year in the US. However, if you're looking to find health officers for hire on a contract or per-project basis, hourly rates typically range between $19 and $66.

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