Lead Epidemiologist

Position Overview
PetraMED is seeking an experienced Lead Epidemiologist - Disease Surveillance & Outbreak Response to provide senior epidemiological leadership for disease surveillance, outbreak preparedness, and public-health response initiatives.
We are looking for an epidemiologist with demonstrated experience leading epidemiology teams, designing surveillance systems, and developing responses to actual disease outbreaks.
Role focus: This is not primarily a statistical-analysis role. The position centers on epidemiological leadership, surveillance-system design, outbreak-response planning, program development, and technical oversight.
The Lead Epidemiologist will help determine who should be monitored or tested, when surveillance or testing should occur, how cases should be defined, what data should be collected, and what findings should trigger investigation or public-health action. The role may also represent PetraMED in meetings with public-health agencies, healthcare organizations, government partners, and international teams.
Key Responsibilities
Lead the design, implementation, and improvement of disease-surveillance systems.
Provide technical leadership and guidance to epidemiologists, analysts, and multidisciplinary public-health teams.
Develop surveillance strategies, including:
Who should be monitored, screened, or tested
When surveillance or testing should occur
Appropriate case definitions
Required epidemiological data
Surveillance indicators and thresholds
Criteria for investigation and public-health action
Lead or provide senior guidance during outbreak investigations and response activities.
Develop outbreak investigation plans, testing strategies, surveillance protocols, and response recommendations.
Translate surveillance findings into practical public-health and operational recommendations.
Coordinate with clinical teams, laboratories, infection-prevention professionals, analysts, public-health authorities, and operational leadership.
Review epidemiological analyses and provide senior interpretation and technical direction.
Represent PetraMED in meetings with public-health agencies, healthcare organizations, government partners, and international teams.
Support the development of surveillance and outbreak-response programs across different operational environments.
Required Qualifications
Master’s degree or higher in Epidemiology, Public Health, or a closely related field.
Significant professional experience in epidemiology, infectious-disease epidemiology, communicable-disease surveillance, or public-health response.
Demonstrated experience leading, supervising, or providing technical direction to epidemiologists or public-health teams.
Experience designing, developing, implementing, or managing disease-surveillance systems or programs.
Direct experience participating in or leading responses to actual disease outbreaks.
Experience developing or applying epidemiological case definitions.
Experience developing surveillance methodologies, testing strategies, indicators, thresholds, data-collection requirements, or response protocols.
Strong knowledge of infectious-disease epidemiology, surveillance, and outbreak investigation.
Strong leadership, communication, presentation, and stakeholder-management skills.
Ability to travel domestically and internationally as required.
Must currently reside in the United States.
Preferred Qualifications
Doctoral degree in Epidemiology, Public Health, or a related field.
Experience supervising multiple epidemiologists or public-health professionals.
Experience establishing or expanding a surveillance or outbreak-response program.
Experience working with federal, state, or local public-health agencies.
International or global-health experience.
Experience working with ministries of health, governmental organizations, or international public-health partners.
Experience in correctional health, infection prevention, or healthcare-associated infection surveillance.
Familiarity with SAS, R, Python, SQL, Power BI, Tableau, or similar tools.
Statistical and analytical skills are valuable, but this role is primarily focused on epidemiological leadership, surveillance-system design, outbreak-response strategy, program development, and team oversight.
Compensation
Compensation is $45-$60 USD per hour, based on the candidate's experience, qualifications, expertise, and the scope and complexity of the assigned work. Final compensation will be determined based on the individual's background and alignment with project requirements.
About PetraMED
PetraMED partners with correctional healthcare systems, public-health agencies, and healthcare organizations to deliver high-quality clinical, operational, and data-driven solutions. We are committed to supporting effective healthcare delivery through experienced professionals, evidence-based practices, innovative solutions, and strong collaboration with our clients and partners.

Work arrangement
Yes