Health Director
IDj-1618
Job TypeDirect Hire
Remote TypeOn-Site
Compensation$120640 - $176966 / yr
The Central District Health Department Board of Health is seeking a Health Director to lead our organization through continued innovation and growth. Central District Health Department serves the 80,000 residents of Hall, Hamilton, and Merrick Counties in Central Nebraska.
Rpeporting to the Board of Health, this executive position will manage the overall day-to-day operations and personnel of the Health Department to ensure achievement of the department's vision, mission, and program objectives. The Director promotes and supports population health in Hall, Merrick, and Hamilton Counties by providing senior management, leadership, and public health expertise.
This position promotes individual and population public health by providing the essential services of public health within a variety of settings, ensuring compliance with a broad range of current local health and environmental codes, regulations, and policies; participating in multi-faceted community health and environmental projects; and providing technical assistance and information to individuals, families and groups regarding public health and environmental issues. The Health Director provides mentoring, supervision, and technical assistance to all staff.
This is a unique opportunity to:
- Lead a full-service local health department in existing and developing programs and services through assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation.
- Champion public health program and service delivery through collaboration and communication at the local, regional, state, and national levels.
- Collaborate with healthcare providers, local and state government, organizations, and private citizens on conducting the community health assessment and planning, implementing, and evaluating the community health improvement plan.
- Provide guidance and build staff skill sets to adequately address community health needs.
Local Public Health Profile
Central District Health Department (CDHD) is one of Nebraska’s nineteen decentralized local public health departments. It was created by Nebraska statute in 2001 and is governed by a 13-member Board of Health. The service area for CDHD includes both rural and urban communities covering three-counties and 1,577 square miles. CDHD’s budget for the 2025-26 Fiscal Year is just under $9 million. CDHD employs over fifty staff who take pride in quality delivery of a wide variety of effective, efficient programs and services.
Central District Health Department (CDHD) is one of Nebraska’s nineteen decentralized local public health departments. It was created by Nebraska statute in 2001 and is governed by a 13-member Board of Health. The service area for CDHD includes both rural and urban communities covering three-counties and 1,577 square miles. CDHD’s budget for the 2025-26 Fiscal Year is just under $9 million. CDHD employs over fifty staff who take pride in quality delivery of a wide variety of effective, efficient programs and services.
Primary Job Responsibilities
Overarching Health Director responsibilities include but are not limited to:
- Strategic Budget Leadership & Long-Term Financial Planning
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- Anticipate economic shifts
- Prioritize high-impact program investments
- Ensure sustainable resource allocation
- Create new revenue streams
- Long-range financial forecasting
- Board collaboration on fiscal priorities
- Accountability for financial transparency
- Understanding of diversified funding (federal, state, Medicaid, fee-for-service, local taxes, philanthropy)
- Innovation and Resource Development
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- Innovation in public health delivery
- Identifying creative funding mechanisms
- Securing state, federal, philanthropic, and private-sector funding
- Building fee-for-service or billing systems
- Organizational Strategy & Change Leadership
- Creating a vision for organizational growth
- Leading organizational restructuring/improvement
- Guiding the department through accreditation or reaccreditation
- Leading technology modernization
- Governance & Board of Health Relations
- Presenting reports to the Board
- Advising the Board on emerging issues
- Developing policy and governance recommendations
- Guiding board education to support evidence-informed governance
- Advocacy & Policy Leadership
The Health Director will proactively engage in:
- Local, state, and federal policy advocacy to advance public health priorities
- Representing the department in legislative or regulatory processes
- Speaking on behalf of the health department to elected officials and the public
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor of Science in Nursing or other health related field required; Graduate degree in public health or healthcare field preferred.
- Five (5) years of leading community initiatives and/or facilitating teams focused on public health issues.
- Experience in Performance Management Public Health Accreditation, Quality Improvement, Strategic Planning, Community Health Improvement Planning, Communicable Disease follow up, Health Hazard Investigations and Foodborne/Waterborne outbreaks preferred.
- National Incident Management System (NIMS)/Incident Command System (ICS) 100, 200, 300, 400 and 700.a certification within six (6) months of employment.
- CPR certification within four (4) months of employment.
Compensation and Benefits
- Competitive Group Insurance benefits including health, life, dental and vision plans.
- Pre-tax retirement plan with matching 6% deferment on a 6-year vesting schedule.
- Eleven paid holidays.
- Vacation leave and sick leave accrual.
- Workers Comp, Administrative Leave, Bereavement Leave, and FMLA.
- Employee Assistance Program.
Work Environment
General office setting in the department facilities, as well as community sites including clients, homes, and workplaces. In all settings, employees in this classification may occasionally need to relate to members of the public who exhibit challenging, atypical, or hostile behaviors and/or communication.
General office setting in the department facilities, as well as community sites including clients, homes, and workplaces. In all settings, employees in this classification may occasionally need to relate to members of the public who exhibit challenging, atypical, or hostile behaviors and/or communication.
CDHD has contracted with The Public Health Network, LLC to lead the recruitment for this position. Due to the volume of applications received, we are unable to provide information on application status by phone or e-mail. All qualified applicants will be considered but may not necessarily receive an interview. We will contact selected applicants to proceed with the next steps in the selection process. Applicants who are not selected will not receive notification.
This position is subject to close at any time once a satisfactory applicant pool has been identified.
We are committed to providing access and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities. If you require accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to complete this application, please email a request to: HR@ThePublicHealthNetwork.com.
The Central District Health Department is an equal opportunity employer. Employment opportunities are based upon individual capabilities and qualifications without regard to race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic as established under law.