How to hire a public health epidemiologist

How to hire a public health epidemiologist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step public health epidemiologist hiring guide:

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

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your public health epidemiologist job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a public health epidemiologist for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A public health epidemiologist's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, public health epidemiologists 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.

   The following list breaks down different types of public health epidemiologists and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Public Health Epidemiologist	Description	Hourly rate
   Public Health Epidemiologist	Epidemiologists are public health professionals who investigate patterns and causes of disease and injury in humans. They seek to reduce the risk and occurrence of negative health outcomes through research, community education, and health policy.	$16-61
   Epidemiologist	An epidemiologist specializes in studying and investigating different diseases, including its causes and effects on the human body. Their responsibilities revolve around gathering samples and subjecting them to various experiments and scientific procedures, traveling to different areas to conduct observations and in-depth analysis, maintaining extensive records, coordinating with other scientists and experts, and summarizing findings into reports and presentations... Show more	$13-60

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Health Issues
   • Data Collection
   • SAS
   • Statistical Analysis
   • Health Data
   • Data Management
   • Community Health
   • Data Analysis
   • Disease Surveillance
   • Registry
   • Surveillance Data
   • Technical Assistance
   • Program Evaluation
   • Stata

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage projects relate to mammography promotion, hospital profiling, prenatal care, immunization and diabetes.
   • Present quarterly lectures on statistics, data analysis, and SAS to epidemiologists and program directors.
   • Develop a juvenile prevention, rehabilitation and health promotion program for incarcerate teens.
   • Perform analytical medical necessity audits of clinical documentation for CMS compliance and quality improvement of PT/OT department.
   • Design, develop and produce statistical reports to describe school-wide assessment-base surveys of childhood and adult immunization levels using SAS.
   • Prepare monthly monitoring reports for health care facilities pertaining to the TB treatment of health care workers.

   More public health epidemiologist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your public health epidemiologist job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A public health epidemiologist salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, public health epidemiologists' average salary in georgia is 54% less than in district of columbia.
   • Seniority. Entry-level public health epidemiologists earn 73% less than senior-level public health epidemiologists.
   • Certifications. A public health epidemiologist 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 public health epidemiologist's salary.

   Average public health epidemiologist salary

   $67,628yearly

   $32.51 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level public health epidemiologist salary

   $35,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 20, 2026

   Average public health epidemiologist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$95,970	$46
   2	Pennsylvania	$93,189	$45
   3	Massachusetts	$87,952	$42
   4	New York	$83,487	$40
   5	Maryland	$82,583	$40
   6	Virginia	$81,036	$39
   7	North Carolina	$76,055	$37
   8	Oregon	$75,197	$36
   9	Minnesota	$70,976	$34
   10	Michigan	$69,645	$33
   11	Nebraska	$68,289	$33
   12	Colorado	$67,516	$32
   13	Texas	$64,345	$31
   14	Wisconsin	$63,927	$31
   15	Utah	$58,537	$28
   16	Louisiana	$56,671	$27
   17	Florida	$55,539	$27
   18	Montana	$53,082	$26
   19	Indiana	$52,868	$25

   Average public health epidemiologist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	IBM	$98,323	$47.27
   2	University of California-Berkeley	$89,268	$42.92
   3	Commonwealth	$87,266	$41.95	3
   4	Nes Holdings	$82,353	$39.59
   5	General Dynamics	$78,244	$37.62	4
   6	City of Baltimore	$72,899	$35.05
   7	Pennsylvania State Treasurer	$71,226	$34.24	28
   8	Kelsey-Seybold Clinic	$69,804	$33.56	1
   9	State Bar of Michigan	$68,691	$33.02
   10	University of Virginia	$67,331	$32.37	25
   11	Americorps	$66,503	$31.97	22
   12	Washington State University	$65,640	$31.56
   13	Fort Bend County	$64,602	$31.06	5
   14	University of Florida	$63,274	$30.42	27
   15	Minnesota State Fair	$62,196	$29.90	2
   16	Board Of Regents Of The University System Of Georgia	$60,487	$29.08
   17	University of Wisconsin System	$57,491	$27.64	12
   18	Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania	$53,302	$25.63	28
   19	NC.gov	$49,551	$23.82	22
   20	PHMC	$47,205	$22.69	1

4. Writing a public health epidemiologist job description

   A public health epidemiologist 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. Below, you can find an example of a public health epidemiologist job description:

   Public health epidemiologist job description example

   The Public Health Infection Preventionist will oversee the management of the infection control process. This person will be responsible for developing and implementing systems to monitor infection prevention and control measures; designing data collection and analysis processes; as well as managing the daily surveillance, regulatory compliance, outbreak management, and performance improvement processes throughout the Enterprise. This position will also collaborate with IPAC departments and others to develop applied epidemiology curricula and materials, as well as review all project and work is conducted by scientific quality and appropriateness. This position will also be responsible for the compliance of all UKHC, state and federal regulations/policies and other external agencies for epidemiology and public health policies.
   
   The University of Kentucky considers the health, safety and well-being of our entire community to be a top priority. In alignment with this priority, all new hires must provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination or obtain an approved medical or religious exemption as a condition of employment. For areas that fall under the federal CMS mandate, start of employment cannot occur until two weeks after receiving the full COVID-19 vaccination series or upon obtaining an approved exemption. Only vaccines approved by the World Health Organization can be accepted.
   Skills / Knowledge / Abilities
   
   The ideal candidate will possess extensive knowledge of infection control and prevention processes; experience with analytical software including SAS, SCM, and Data Quality; excellent project planning and organizational skills; strong leadership skills including the ability to lead and direct others toward goal setting and attainment, taking into account divergent demands while managing scope and timelines; strong analytical and qualitative research experience; exceptional organizational and communication skills (written & verbal); outstanding computer skills (to include Microsoft Office); a strong ability to engage and motivate others; active listening skills; and a thorough understanding of resource and employee management.
   
   Does this position have supervisory responsibilities? No Preferred Education/Experience
   
   Master's degree (MS, MPA, or MHA) and experience in data mining and infection control/prevention preferred.
   
   Deadline to Apply 10/23/2022 University Community of Inclusion
   
   The University of Kentucky is committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce by ensuring all our students, faculty, and staff work in an environment of openness and acceptance. We strive to foster a community where people of all backgrounds, identities, and perspectives can feel secure and welcome. We also value the well-being of each of our employees and are dedicated to creating a healthy place to work, learn and live. In the interest of maintaining a safe and healthy environment for our students, employees, patients and visitors the University of Kentucky is a Tobacco & Drug Free campus.
   
   As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we strongly encourage veterans, individuals with disabilities, women, and all minorities to consider our employment opportunities.
   
   Any candidate offered a position may be required to pass pre-employment screenings as mandated by University of Kentucky Human Resources. These screenings may include a national background check and/or drug screen.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right public health epidemiologist for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your public health epidemiologist job on Zippia to find and recruit public health epidemiologist candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit public health epidemiologists, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to 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 public health epidemiologist

   Once you've found the public health epidemiologist 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.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new public health epidemiologist. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

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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