Health Director Interviews Underway

The town's Health Director Search Committee hopes to have the field narrowed down to a preferred candidate by the end of next week. 

The town's current Director of Public Health, Wayne Attridge, plans to retire Jan. 3, after 34 years as a town employee, 27 as the head of the health department.

On Wednesday, committee member and former Board of Health chair Carl Goodman said preliminary screenings have been completed and members will be conducting interviews through the end of next week.

"Once we are done with the interview process we will persent our finalist to the Board of Health for consideration," Goodman said.

At a meeting last month, Goodman pointed out that finding someone to serve as Marblehead's Health Director meant finding a candidate with a very specialized skill-set.

"You don’t typically find someone coming out of the school of board of health who knows heavy equipment and waste removal, which is something we need here Marblehead," Goodman said.

The board agreed that they are in the hopes of having a new director in place by Dec. 15, which means having an offer in someone’s hands by mid-November.

Job posting

Proactive, independently elected Board of Health for the town of Marblehead is seeking a strong leader and administrator to direct the Solid Waste Transfer Station and all public health activities across the community.

Manages a staff of 6.5 FTEs including the public health nurse and sanitarian, heavy equipment operators and solid waste admin staff.

The Director of Public Health is responsible for all code enforcement, public health regulatory compliance, emergency preparedness, Transfer station operations and DEP compliance, and recommending to the Board actions that can be taken to improve the health of the public and the solid waste operations.

Manage multiple volunteer committees and coordinate efforts amongst community members, the Board and other town officials. Seek out grant opportunities and manage multi-community collaboration projects. Prepare and manage annual budgets and present special initiatives to Town Meeting as needed.

Requirements: BS in Public Health or allied field preferred plus at least 5 years experience in public health or related field. Supervisory experience and MPH a plus.

The salary range for the position is between $64,312 and $75,017.