Registered Environmental Health Specialist

IntroductionTHIS IS A CONTINUOUS EXAMINATION: The examination consists of an on-going review of candidates' applications and supplemental questionnaires to verify possession of minimum qualifications. Those candidates who possess the minimum qualifications for the class will be placed on the eligible list based on an evaluation of education, training, and experience. The eligible list resulting from this recruitment and selection process may be used to fill future vacancies which may arise within the next year. This examination will cancel any existing list and may last approximately one year but can be extended. This examination may be reopened as necessary, and the names of additional candidates merged onto the existing list according to examination score. Supplemental Questionnaire: A properly completed Supplemental Questionnaire must be submitted with each application. Applications and Supplemental Questionnaires must be in the possession of the Human Resource Services Department by 5:00 p.m. on the Last Day for Filing. Failure to submit the Supplemental Questionnaire will result in disqualification. Applications and Supplemental Questionnaires will only be accepted online. Qualified bilingual persons who speak English and are also fluent in: Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, Korean, Mien, Tagalog, Amharic, Farsi, Dari, Tigrigna, Russian, Romanian or Sign Languages are especially encouraged to apply. There is an additional biweekly compensation for persons in positions designated bilingual. Qualified candidates may be tested to demonstrate language proficiency.DESCRIPTIONTHE COUNTY Alameda County, located on the east side of San Francisco Bay, is California's seventh-largest county. The County employs 9,700 full-time employees and operates on an annual budget of $3.4 billion. Oakland, the County seat, is California's eighth-largest city. One and a half million people call Alameda County home and live in a variety of incorporated cities, unincorporated communities, and rural areas. As a major urban county, Alameda provides a full range of services to its citizens. The County is a blend of culturally and ethnically diverse communities, and its mixture of cosmopolitan and suburban areas provides the perfect environment for families and their active lifestyles. The County offers extensive cultural resources, countless recreational opportunities, and an array of fine public and private colleges and universities. ALAMEDA COUNTY HEALTH Alameda County Health is the local government agency that promotes and protects the health and well-being of all who live, work, learn, and play in Alameda County. We coordinate services and cultivate partnerships with community organizations and providers to help ensure access, organize, and deliver health care and services to people with Medi-Cal and without insurance, support resilient communities, and improve health for all. We focus on health equity by developing programs and systemic solutions that reduce disparities for the people and communities we serve. Alameda County Health's departments and programs focus on services and support that provide care for the whole person. The Behavioral Health Department provides mental health and substance use services for people with Medi-Cal and without insurance and supports people along their path to wellness, recovery, and resilience. The Environmental Health Department works to keep our air, water, and food safe; it regulates, protects, and promotes the health of everyone in Alameda County by enforcing environmental health codes to reduce exposure to toxins and diseases. The Public Health Department focuses on community and population-level health, preventing and addressing root causes of health inequity across a range of communicable and chronic diseases. Alameda County Health also provides services through Housing and Homelessness Services, Emergency Medical Services Agency, HealthPAC, and Healthy Schools and Communities. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTHEnvironmental Protection Division (EP): As part of Alameda County Health, the Environmental Health Department protects and enhances people's health and quality of life by ensuring food and recreational safety, reducing exposure to toxins and diseases, and protecting the quality of our water, air, and environment. We are environmental protection specialists, food and recreation facilities inspectors, certified hazardous materials and waste specialists, recreational water quality technicians, land and water protection regulators, and vector control biologists. For more information about the Department of Environmental Health, please visit Hazardous Materials Division/Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA): Hazardous Materials Division/Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA): Incumbents assigned to the Hazardous Materials Division/CUPA are responsible for conducting inspections, permitting, training/outreach and enforcement; investigating incidents related to hazardous materials, waste tire or pollution of the waters of Alameda County; lending technical assistance during emergency response; providing regulatory oversight; and ensuring compliance with applicable laws and regulations Local Oversight Program (LOP): Incumbents assigned to the LOP Division are responsible for providing regulatory and technical oversight for the routine or frequently seen leaking Underground Storage Tanks and other contamination sites; Providing review and analysis of technical data and evaluates the effectiveness of corrective actions at contaminated sites; Conducting environmental oversight surveys; investigating potential community health hazards; evaluating sites based on current and future use; ensuring compliance with applicable laws and regulations and local ordinances. Household Hazardous Waste Program (HHW): Incumbents assigned to the HHW Division will be responsible for employee safety, efficiency and compliance with applicable requirements during operations and service to the public and businesses, including during handling, accumulation, transport and disposal of hazardous waste and materials collected at a Permanent HHW Facilities and for oversight of all activities at temporary events. Duties include: train and supervise Senior Hazardous Materials (HM) Specialists, HM Specialists, Environmental Health (EH) Technicians, EH Maintenance Workers, Clerks and administrative staff and contractor employees to provide good communication and service to the public; material handling, packing and shipping, recordkeeping and reporting compliant with all relevant requirements; arrange for purchase of all needed equipment, supplies, services; determine and implement preventative measures to reduce risk of incident, injury or disruption of service to the public; coordinate on-call response to monitoring system activation and; take a leading role in response to any incident or emergency. Food & Recreational Health Program: Incumbents within the Food and Recreational Health Program are responsible for conducting complex inspections of retail food facilities, temporary food events, swimming pools, spas, recreational water facilities, and other regulated establishments; reviewing and processing plan review submittals for food and recreational facilities; evaluating compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and ordinances; providing guidance and technical assistance to operators regarding safe food handling, sanitation, and recreational water safety requirements; investigating foodborne illness complaints and suspected outbreaks; responding to public health emergencies related to food and recreational water; preparing detailed inspection and enforcement reports; issuing permits and notices of violation; coordinating enforcement actions when necessary; mentoring and training assigned staff; and serving as a program resource to ensure protection of public health and safety. Solid Waste Program - Body Art and Medical Waste: Incumbents within the Solid Waste Program are responsible for oversight of body art facilities and medical waste generators, with duties such as conducting complex inspections of solid waste handling and disposal facilities, transfer stations, landfills, body art establishments, and medical waste generation, storage, treatment, and disposal sites; reviewing and processing plan review submittals, permits, and registrations; evaluating compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and ordinances; investigating complaints related to solid waste, body art practices, and medical waste management; responding to illegal dumping and improper disposal incidents; providing technical assistance and regulatory guidance to facility operators and practitioners; preparing detailed inspection and enforcement documentation; issuing notices of violation and coordinating corrective actions; assisting with emergency response related to solid or medical waste incidents; mentoring and training assigned staff; and serving as a program resource to ensure protection of public health, worker safety, and environmental quality. THE POSITION Under general supervision, conducts inspections and investigations to enforce applicable state health and safety codes, regulations and local ordinances; and to perform related work as required. Program responsibilities include, but are not limited to retail food facilities, consumer protection, public swimming pools/spas, public water systems, on-site sewage disposal/treatment systems, housing, recreational areas, institutions, work sites, solid waste, medical waste, hazardous materials, vector control and public health nuisances. Incumbents in this class are typically assigned to a geographical area or a specific program, in which they are responsible for maintaining disciplinary surveillance for assigned program areas, conducting routine inspections of all facilities on inventory, investigating disease outbreaks and responding to complaints as they arise. Under the supervision of the Supervising Environmental Health Specialist, the Section Chief, or the Director, incumbents submit all completed inspection reports, records, correspondence and daily activity reports for review. Additional responsibilities include consulting with supervisors concerning technical matters, policy interpretation and legal action. For a detailed listing of the essential responsibilities and core competency requirements for this position, please click here for the job description. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONSThe minimum professional requirements for admission to the competitive assessment process include:CERTIFICATION: Possession of a valid Certificate of Registration as an Environmental Health Specialist Issued by the California State Department of Health Services. EDUCATION: Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university (180 quarter units or 120 semester units) with major course work in environmental health science or a closely related field. LICENSE: Possession of a valid California driver's license. NOTE: The Civil Service Commission may modify the above Minimum Qualifications in the announcement of an examination. KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS NOTE: The level and scope of the following knowledge and abilities are related to duties listed under the "Examples of Duties" section of this specification. The most suitably qualified candidates will possess the following competencies: Knowledge of: • Principles and practices of environmental health, including water supply, sewage disposal and treatment, refuse disposal, housing, recreational and industrial sanitation, vector control and land use. • Principles and practices relating to sanitary food production, processing, and handling. • Principles of zoonoses and control of rodents and arthropod vectors. • Techniques of conducting environmental health inspection, preparing risk assessments and enforcing relevant laws. • Provisions of the California Health and Safety Code, other statutes and regulations pertaining to environmental health. Ability to: • Explain and interpret rules, regulations and laws. • Establish effective working relationships with others. • Write and communicate effectively. • Read and interpret structural plans and blue prints. EXAMINATION COMPONENTSTHE EXAMINATION WILL CONSIST OF THE FOLLOWING STEPS: 1) A review of candidates' applications and supplemental questionnaires to verify possession of minimum qualifications. Those candidates who possess the minimum qualifications for the classification will be placed on the eligible list based on an evaluation of education, training, and expertise. CANDIDATES MUST ATTAIN A QUALIFYING RATING ON EACH PORTION OF THIS EXAMINATION.We reserve the right to make changes to the announced examination components. Alameda County utilizes a Civil Service Selection System founded on merit. Such a system is competitive and based on broad recruitment efforts and equal opportunity for qualified applicants to test in an examination process designed to determine the qualifications, fitness and ability of competitors to perform duties of the vacant position. Many of our recruitments are targeted and specific to the needs of a current vacant position, in which case, the eligible list may be exclusively used for that current vacant position. Other recruitments may be more broadly used for both current and future vacancies, or for other alternate jobs with comparable scopes of work. To learn more about our recruitment and selection process, please visit the "What You Need to Know" section of our website, hrs.alamedacountyca.gov. RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PLANTHIS IS A CONTINUOUS, ACCELERATED EXAMINATION: The examination consists of an on-going review of candidates' applications and supplemental questionnaires to verify possession of minimum qualifications. Those candidates who possess the minimum qualifications for the class will be placed on the eligible list based on an evaluation of education, training, and experience. The eligible list resulting from this recruitment and selection process may be used to fill future vacancies which may arise within the next year for this and other County Departments; this examination will cancel any existing list and may last approximately one year but can be extended. This examination may be reopened as necessary, and the names of additional candidates merged onto the existing list according to examination score.WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE CHANGES TO THE ANNOUNCED RECRUITMENT & SELECTION PLANBENEFITS The County offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package that affords wide-ranging health care options to meet the different needs of a diverse workforce and their families. We also sponsor many employee discount, fitness and health screening programs focused on overall wellbeing. These benefits include but are not limited to: For your Health & Well-Being Medical - HMO & PPO Plans Dental - HMO & PPO Plans Vision or Vision Reimbursement Share the Savings Basic Life Insurance Supplemental Life Insurance (with optional dependent coverage for eligible employees) Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance County Allowance Credit Flexible Spending Accounts - Health FSA, Dependent Care and Adoption Assistance Short-Term Disability Insurance Long-Term Disability Insurance Voluntary Benefits - Accident Insurance, Critical Illness, Long-Term Care, Hospital Indemnity and Legal Services Employee Assistance Program For your Financial Future Retirement Plan - (Defined Benefit Pension Plan) Deferred Compensation Plan (457 Plan or Roth Plan) For your Work/Life Balance 12 paid holidays Floating Holidays Vacation and sick leave accrual Vacation purchase program Catastrophic Sick Leave Pet Insurance Commuter Benefits Program Guaranteed Ride Home Employee Wellness Program (e.g. At Work Fitness, Incentive Based Programs, Gym Membership Discounts) Employee Discount Program (e.g. theme parks, cell phone, etc.) Child Care Resources 1st United Services Credit Union Eligibility is determined by Alameda County and offerings may vary by collective bargaining agreement. This provides a summary of the benefits offered and can be subject to change. Conclusion All notices related to County recruitments for which you have applied will be sent/delivered via email. Please add @jobaps.com, @acgov.org, , and as accepted addresses to any email blocking or spam filtering program you may use. If you do not do this, your email blocking or spam filtering program may block receipt of the notices regarding your application for recruitments. You are also strongly advised to regularly log into your County of Alameda online application account to check for notices that may have been sent to you. All email notices that will be sent to you will also be kept in your personal online application account. You will be able to view all of your notices in your online application account by clicking on the "My applications" button on the Current Job Openings page. Please take the steps recommended above to ensure you do not miss any notices about a recruitment for which you have applied. The County of Alameda is not responsible for notices that are not read, received or accessed by any applicant for a County recruitment. NOTE: All notices are generated through an automated email notification system. Replies to the email boxes and ,are routed to unmonitored mailboxes. If you have questions, please go to our website at hrs.alamedacountyca.gov. You may also contact the Human Resources Analyst listed on the job announcement for the recruitment for which you have applied. Nicole Lewis-Bolton, Human Resources Analyst Human Resource Services, County of Alameda (510) 272-6468 • hrs.alamedacountyca.gov Disaster Service Worker All Alameda County employees are designated Disaster Service Workers through state and local law. Employment with the County requires the affirmation of a loyalty oath to this effect. Employees are required to report to work as ordered in the event of an emergency. Equal Employment Opportunity Alameda County has a diverse workforce, that is representative of the communities we serve, and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All aspects of employment are based on merit, competence, performance and business need. Alameda County does not discriminate in employment on the basis of: race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factors protected under federal, state and local law. Alameda County celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive, and welcoming workplace environment.

Created: 2026-03-04