Assistant Public Health Laboratory Director

Description

THE POSITION

Under direction, the Assistant Public Health Laboratory Director plans, organizes, and directs the operation of the Ventura County Public Health Laboratory; advises the Public Health Laboratory Director with a wide-range of activities and initiatives; provides oversight for laboratory operations; assists in managing professional and para-professional public health microbiology staff involved in bacteriology, serology, mycology, mycobacteriology, parasitology, and virology studies and testing; assists in establishing long and short-term objectives for the laboratory operations; acts for the Public Health Laboratory Director during absences or as assigned.

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE
The Public Health Department is seeking a candidate with strong leadership and management skills that possesses experience in overseeing and managing Public Health laboratory operations. The ideal candidate will be a detail-oriented public health professional with superior organizational, time management, interpersonal and communication skills (both written and verbal). The incumbent will possess prior experience with programmatic operational budgets and managing an integrated health care/public health care delivery system.

PAYROLL TITLE: Public Health Division Manager

EDUCATIONAL/BILINGUAL INCENTIVE

Incumbents may be eligible for an educational incentive of 2.5%, 3.5%, or 5% based on completion of an Associate's, Bachelor's, or Master's degree that is not required for the classification. Incumbents may also be eligible for bilingual incentive depending upon operational need and certification skill.

DEPARTMENT/AGENCY: Health Care Agency - Public Health

Public Health Division Manager is a management classification and is not eligible for overtime compensation. Incumbents in this classification are eligible for benefits at the MB3 level.

The eligible list established from this recruitment may be used to fill current and future Regular (including Temporary and Fixed-term), Intermittent, and Extra Help vacancies. There is currently one (1) Regular vacancy.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
Opening Date: 5/12/2026
Closing Date: 5/18/2026

Examples Of Duties

Duties may include but are not limited to the following:

• Assist the Public Health Laboratory Director in planning, organizing and directing of the operations, administration and implementation of the Public Health Laboratory objectives, policies and procedures; ensure effective and efficient services and compliance with established laws, standards, rules, and regulations.
• Assist in developing, implementing and assessing long-range and short-term goals; make recommendations concerning staffing, organization, budget, and workflow; monitor and control expenditures.
• Work cooperatively with outside agencies; assist in coordinating the Public Health Laboratory operations and services with the operations of other local and state Public Health programs; establish and maintain a sound working relationship with federal and state agencies pertaining to the diagnosis, control and prevention of communicable diseases and other illnesses of public health concern; ensure conformance with all applicable statutes and administrative directives.
• Plan, organize, direct, and evaluate the work of laboratory staff within all laboratory sections, including Bacteriology, Parasitology, Mycobacteriology, Mycology, Virology, and Serology.
• Assist in planning and implementing policies and procedures to ensure compliance with local, state and federal regulations; ensure all laboratory testing meets all state and federally mandated requirements.
• Assist in the development and preparation of grant/contract applications and progress reports.
• Communicate the need for surrounding laboratory agencies to provide state required laboratory testing; direct programs to train licensed personnel in the performance of state required tests.
• Consult with medical systems and providers to identify laboratory tests considered necessary in order to meet their needs; evaluate new testing requests and determine necessity and feasibility of implementing and incorporating new procedures into the Public Health laboratory system; advise on new, improved or alternative testing procedures.
• Assist the Public Health leadership in establishing and determining operational priorities based on departmental goals and objectives; review and evaluate reports illustrating volume and test frequency by laboratory location in order to determine adequate staffing levels; adjust staffing levels by location as necessary.
• Assist in evaluating new technologies and methodologies and oversee the implementation to allow for continued growth and development of the Public Health Laboratory.
• Travel throughout the County of Ventura to engage in various meetings and events to develop and maintain positive relations with business and community leaders, governmental organizations, and the public.
• Perform other duties as required.

Typical Qualifications

Any combination of education, training, or experience equivalent to:

• Bachelor’s degree in a health or social services related field and a minimum of 3 years’ experience in a clinic or public health laboratory.
• Two years of the required experience must include supervisory experience directing subordinate microbiologists on the technical and administrative activities of a clinical or public health laboratory.

NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENT

• Must possess a California Public Health Microbiologist (PHM) certification.
• Must possess excellent written and oral communication skills
• Considerable recent public health laboratory work experience in a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) certified (federal Health and Human Services Agency certified) or accredited by a CLIA deemed organization as a highly complex clinical or public health laboratory.
• Possession of or ability to obtain and maintain a valid California driver license.

DESIRED

• Prior experience working in an integrated health care/public health care delivery system.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
Thorough knowledge of:

• The principles and practices of federal CLIA laboratory standards and regulatory requirements; State of California Public Health Laboratory standards and regulatory requirements.
• Laboratory management principles and practices, including laboratory quality management initiatives; laboratory equipment and information systems operations.
• Principles, practices, methods, and current developments in the fields of bacteriology, serology, mycology, mycobacteriology, parasitology, and virology as applied in a public health laboratory.
• Principles of public health as it relates to community disease outbreak control and prevention; health and safety codes as they relate to public health services; basic administrative and management principles.
• Civil service and supervision practices.
• Principles and practices of budget development and monitoring; grant funding and award management, laws, regulations and practices governing Public Health laboratories.

Comprehensive ability to:

• Manage, coordinate and direct the activities of the Public Health laboratory.
• Analyze situations accurately and take effective action.
• Prepare and control budgets.
• Understand and apply regulations and policies as they relate to public health programs.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with staff, other departments, outside agencies, and the general public.
• Supervise and coordinate the work of public health microbiology professional and paraprofessional staff.
• Speak and write effectively, including preparation of clear and concise reports.
• Develop and maintain good relationships with a wide range of stakeholders.
• Ability to safety drive a vehicle.

Supplemental Information
Work is performed primarily in an office environment, but incumbents may be required to visit various County departments/agencies on a regular basis and meet offsite and/or attend events with business and community leaders, staff of other governmental organizations, and the public.

Recruitment Process

Your application must be received by County of Ventura Human Resources in Ventura, California, no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, May 18, 2026.

To apply on-line, please refer to our web site at www.venturacounty.gov/jobs. If you prefer to fill out a paper application form, please call (805) 677-5184 for application materials and submit them to County of Ventura Human Resources - Health Care Agency, 646 County Square Dr., Ventura, CA 93003.

LATERAL TRANSFER OPTION: If presently permanently employed in another "merit" or "civil service" public agency/entity in the same or substantively similar position as is advertised, and if appointed to that position by successful performance in a "merit" or "civil service" style examination, then appointment by "Lateral Transfer" may be possible. If interested, please click here for additional information.

Note to Applicants

It is essential that you complete all sections of your application and supplemental questionnaire thoroughly and accurately to demonstrate your qualifications. A resume and/or other related documents may be attached to supplement the information in your application and supplemental questionnaire; however, it/they may not be submitted in lieu of the application.

SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE - qualifying: All applicants are required to complete and submit the questionnaire for this examination at the time of filing. The supplemental questionnaire may be used throughout the examination process to assist in determining each applicant's qualifications and acceptability for the position. Failure to complete and submit the questionnaire will result in the application being removed from consideration.

APPLICATION EVALUATION - qualifying: All applications will be reviewed to determine whether or not the stated requirements are met. Those individuals meeting the stated requirements will be invited to continue to the next step in the screening and selection process.

TRAINING & EXPERIENCE EVALUATION: A Training and Experience Evaluation (T&E) is a structured evaluation of the job application materials submitted by a candidate, including the written responses to the supplemental questionnaire. The T&E is NOT a determination of whether the candidate meets the stated requirements; rather, the T&E is one method for determining who are the better qualified among those who have shown that they meet the stated requirements. In a T&E, applications are either scored or rank ordered according to criteria that most closely meet the business needs of the department. Candidates are typically scored/ranked in relation to one another; consequently, when the pool of candidates is exceptionally strong, many qualified candidates may receive a score or rank which is moderate or even low resulting in them not being advanced in the process.

NOTE: The selection process may consist of an Oral Exam, which may be preceded by or replaced with the score from a Training and Experience Evaluation (T&E), contingent upon the size and quality of the candidate pool. In a typical T&E, your training and experience are evaluated in relation to the background, experience and factors identified for successful job performance during a job analysis. For this reason, it is recommended that your application materials clearly show your relevant background and specialized knowledge, skills, and abilities. It is also highly recommended that the supplemental questions within the application are completed with care and diligence. Responses such as "See Resume” or "Refer to Resume" are not acceptable and may disqualify an applicant from further evaluation.

ORAL EXAMINATION - 100%: A job-related Oral Examination may be conducted to evaluate and compare participating candidates' knowledge, skills, and abilities in relation to those factors which job analysis has determined to be essential for successful performance of the job. Applicants must earn a score of seventy percent (70%) or higher to qualify for placement on the eligible list. If there are three (3) or fewer qualified applicants, an oral examination will not be conducted. Instead, a score of seventy percent (70%) will be assigned to each application, and each applicant will be placed on the eligible list. Applicants successfully completing the examination process may be placed on an eligible list for a period of one (1) year.

BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: A thorough post offer, pre-employment background investigation which may include inquiry into past employment, education, criminal background information, and driving record may be required for this position.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

The County of Ventura is an equal opportunity employer to all, regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability (mental and physical), exercising the right to family care and medical leave, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religious creed, sex (includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and related medical conditions), and sexual orientation.

To apply visit: www.venturacounty.gov/jobs or for further information about this recruitment, please contact Rhiannon Flores by telephone at (805) 677-5318 or via e-mail at Rhiannon.Flores@venturacounty.gov .

YOUR BENEFITS AS A COUNTY OF VENTURA EMPLOYEE

MANAGEMENT

To learn more about Benefits, Retirement, and the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), see links below.

• Benefits website or you may call (805) 654-2570.
• Retirement FAQ's
• Memorandum of Agreement

Union Codes:MB3, MB4, MS, MT,MCC, MU

Closing Date/Time: 5/18/2026 5:00 PM Pacific

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• County of Ventura

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