Community Health Specialist I

Salary : $68,774.37 - $114,625.06 Annually
Location : HEALTH DEPARTMENT KELLY SQUARE, 10777 MAIN ST, FAIRFAX (FJ56), VA
Job Type: FT Salary W BN
Job Number: 26-00833
Department: Health Department
Opening Date: 05/30/2026
Closing Date: 6/5/2026 11:59 PM Eastern
Pay Grade: S24
Posting Type: Open to General Public


Job Announcement


Are you looking for a meaningful career where you can make a lasting impact in your community? Join the Fairfax County Health Department, the largest public health department in Virginia, and become part of a passionate, mission-driven team dedicated to protecting, promoting, and improving the health and quality of life for more than 1.2 million residents.

Why Join Our Team?

• Supportive and collaborative team environment.
• Dynamic onboarding and orientation experience.
• Opportunities for continuous learning and professional growth.
• Meaningful work focused on health education, health promotion, and disease prevention.
• The ability to build strong community partnerships and address critical public health priorities.

With more than 100 years of public health leadership, the Fairfax County Health Department proudly serves residents from diverse ethnic, cultural, and economic backgrounds throughout Fairfax County.

This position plays a vital role in advancing community health through outreach, education, and engagement efforts within ethnically diverse communities, nonprofit organizations, faith-based organizations, small businesses, and historically underserved populations. As part of the Community Outreach and Engagement team, this position collaborates closely with outreach managers, supervisors, community health specialists, agency staff, and a wide network of community partners to:

• Deliver health promotion and prevention education initiatives.
• Strengthen community partnerships and build local capacity.
• Support population-based public health interventions.
• Address social determinants of health and root causes impacting community well-being.
• Assist in implementing and evaluating strategies that improve community health outcomes.

If you are passionate about public service, community engagement, and creating healthier communities, we encourage you to apply and join our exceptional team of public health professionals.

Note: This position requires working evenings and weekends on a regular basis. The position is fully in person and is not eligible for telework. Reliable transportation is required to fulfill the duties of this role.

Required Knowledge Skills and Abilities


(The knowledge, skills and abilities listed in this specification are representative of the class but are not an all-inclusive list.)

• Knowledge of program development, implementation and elementary evaluation;
• Knowledge of disease management/health promotions models that target the treatment of disease in symptomatic or at-risk individuals;
• Ability to conduct screenings, monitoring and education, coordination of care (i.e. physicians, hospitals, laboratories, and pharmacies) and evidence-based practice guidelines to identify and treat disease conditions before they advance to an acute or chronic stage;
• Ability to develop, collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data to evaluate effectiveness of disease management/health promotion programs and quality assurance;
• Ability to deliver health education presentations within the community;
• Ability to work predominantly with adults, applying learning concepts;
• Ability to work with sub-group of the community to organize and implement health education services;
• Ability to communicate effectively through the use of verbal, written and electronic means.

Employment Standards

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:


(Click on the aforementioned link to learn how Fairfax County interprets equivalencies for "Any combination, experience, and training equivalent to")
Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with a bachelor's degree in health education, human services, or a directly related field; plus one year of experience in community capacity building, public and/or community health education, or other types of health-related work involving considerable public contact.

CERTIFICATES AND LICENSES REQUIRED:

• Valid driver's license.
• Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) certification (Required within 60 days of hire).
• Automated External Defibrillator (AED) certification (Required within 60 days of hire).

NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
The appointee to this position will be required to complete a criminal background check, Child Protective Services Registry check, and driving record check to the satisfaction of the employer.

This position is emergency/essential services personnel. (Required to report for duty during inclement weather and/or other emergencies.)


Additional Work Schedule Requirements: Flexible work schedule will be required to work evening and/or weekend community meetings or events to and/or be on-call.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master's degree in public health or related field of study.
• Two or more years of experience designing, implementing and contributing to evaluating community-based health programs in culturally and age-diverse populations.
• Experience developing and presenting health education topics to a multicultural population.
• Two or more years of experience with community development and capacity building activities.
• Ability to develop and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of individuals, such as community members and building partnerships with businesses, nonprofits and faith-based groups.
• One or more years of experience with managing, implementing, and developing comprehensive outreach programs for the public, preferably in health promotion and health access services.
• One or more years of experience working independently.
• Advanced knowledge of basic Microsoft Office Suite applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook).

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:
Job is generally sedentary in nature, and requires walking, standing, sitting (for long periods of time), and kneeling, reaching, bending, climbing stairs; may be required to lift or carry up to 25 lbs. as required for the position. Uses hands to grasp, handle, or feel. Visual acuity is required to read data from paper and on a computer monitor or other electronic device; ability to operate keyboard driven equipment and computer and use of touchscreen. Position frequently communicates and must be able to exchange accurate information with others verbally and in writing. Ability to drive a motor vehicle. Generally, works in an office environment may occasionally be required to perform job duties outside of the typical office setting. All duties performed with or without reasonable accommodations.


SELECTION PROCEDURE:
Panel interview and may include exercise.

Fairfax County is home to a highly diverse population, with a significant number of residents speaking languages other than English at home (including ) We encourage candidates who are bilingual in English and another language to apply for this opportunity.

Fairfax County Government prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetics, political affiliation, or military status in the recruitment, selection, and hiring of its workforce.

Reasonable accommodations are available to persons with disabilities during application and/or interview processes per the Americans with Disabilities Act. TTY View phone number on click.appcast.io. EEO/AA/TTY.

#LI-KA1
Merit Positions

Fairfax County is proud to offer employees an attractive and comprehensive benefits program, including the following:

• Medical/Vision/Dental Insurance Coverage
• Group Term Life Insurance
• Long Term Disability
• LiveWell Program
• Flexible Spending Programs
• Paid Leave (annual, sick, parental, volunteer activity, and more!)
• Paid Holidays
• Deferred Compensation
• Employee Assistance Program
• Employees' Child Care Center
• Continuous Learning Opportunities

Please click for a summary of our benefits.

NOTE: Fairfax County Government is a qualifying employer under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. For more information about the PSLF program:


For additional details please visit the
Non-Merit Positions

1. Non-Merit Benefit Eligible: scheduled to work a minimum 1,040 hours and no more than a maximum of 1,560 hours in a calendar year.
   • Medical/Vision/Dental Insurance Coverage
   • Flexible Spending Program
   • Deferred Compensation
2. Temporary: scheduled to work a maximum of 900 hours in a calendar year.
   • No benefits

01


What is the highest level of education that you have completed?

• Less than 12th grade
• High school diploma or GED
• Some college
• Associate's degree
• Bachelor's degree
• Master's degree
• Doctorate degree

02


If you answered "Some college" for the highest level of education completed, please indicate the number of quarter or semester hours you have completed towards a degree.

• Less than 45 quarter hours
• 45 to less than 90 quarter hours
• 90 to less than 135 quarter hours
• 135 to less than 180 quarter hours
• 180 or more quarter hours
• Less than 30 semester hours
• 30 to less than 60 semester hours
• 60 to less than 90 semester hours
• 90 to less than 120 semester hours
• 120 or more semester hours
• Not applicable

03


Please indicate your area(s) of study or major(s)/minor(s) towards a degree. Check all that apply.

• Health education
• Human services
• Public health
• Other (related field)
• Other (non-related field)
• Not Applicable

04


If you answered "Other (related field)" or "Other (non-related field)" for the previous question, please list all of your majors and minors. If this question does not pertain to you, or you do not have a degree, enter "Not applicable".
05


How many years of full-time equivalent professional experience do you have in community capacity building, public and/or community health education, or other types of health-related work involving considerable public contact?

• None
• Less than one year
• One to less than two years
• Two to less than three years
• Three to less than four years
• Four to less than five years
• Five or more years

06


Do you currently possess a valid driver's license?

• Yes
• No

07


How many years of experience do you have performing community outreach, and providing health promotion, prevention, and emergency preparedness education to various ethnic communities, non-profit organizations, hard to reach populations, small businesses and/or faith communities?

• None
• Less than one year
• One to less than two years
• Two to less than three years
• Three to less than four years
• Four to less than five years
• Five or more years

08


How many years of full-time equivalent experience do you have working with a diverse multicultural population?

• None
• Less than one year
• One to less than two years
• Two to less than three years
• Three to less than four years
• Four to less than five years
• Five or more years

09


Do you have any experience developing and presenting health education topics to a multicultural population?

• Yes
• No

10


If you responded "Yes" to the previous question, please list the names of the training curriculum you developed and the community and language in which you presented the education (i.e., Flu Shot Training, monolingual Spanish speaking audience, presented in Spanish). If this does not apply to you, type "Not applicable".
11


Are you proficient in any of the following Microsoft Office Suite applications? Check all that apply.

• Outlook (Composing email messages; sending and receiving email messages; organizing email messages into folders; managing contacts; scheduling appointments & meetings, managing tasks)
• Word (Knowledge of common functions such as creating a title; using, modifying, and creating styles; indenting paragraphs; using tabs and tables; inserting a hard page break; using page numbering; creating headers and footers; inserting graphics; adding comments and tracking changes)
• PowerPoint (Creating a template and working with a design template; working with graphics, animation and multimedia; building interactive presentations using hyperlinks)
• Excel (Basic knowledge of creating a worksheet; performing calculations in a worksheet; modifying and formatting a worksheet; printing workbook contents; creating and modifying pivot tables; using formulas and links to other cells/worksheets)
• None of the above

Required Question