USA CDC Recruiting Its First Chief Data Officer Synced Follow Apr 6 · 3 min read

This is an updated version.

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is looking for a Chief Data Officer. The Atlanta-based Department of Health and Human Services agency posted the job opportunity last week on the US government website USAJobs.

In the age of AI, a Chief Data Officer’s role goes beyond simple data collection and management to include for example developing data processing analysis techniques to derive maximum value from data.

Applicants for the CDC position must have a degree related to medicine, health sciences or allied sciences from an institution recognized by the US Department of Education, a PhD or other earned doctorate, and show “clear evidence of specialized experience.”

The CDC says the successful candidate’s duties will include:

Provide leadership for advancing CDC’s public health data and IT modernization initiatives.

Position CDC within the larger data science and advanced health science communities, ensuring that public health benefits from and contributes to impactful and ethical use of data for discovery, innovation, application and improvement.

Facilitate a data governance and standards structure through the implementation and oversight of an appropriate governance program.

Advise the CDC Chief Information Officer and other senior leaders on policy and technology changes and trends influencing public health practice.

CDC Office of Advanced Molecular Detection Chief Science Officer Duncan MacCannell tweeted “incredible opportunity for someone to help shape how data is collected, analyzed, integrated and shared across public health”

Google AI lead Jeff Dean tweeted he’s “super excited” to see the CDC hiring a Chief Data Officer.

The CDC is the USA’s premier health promotion, prevention, and preparedness agency, responsible for public health threat protection, emerging disease research, and public health program mobilization with domestic and international partners. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the CDC is conducting critical research and reference diagnostic testing, and analyzing huge amounts of data to provide new health insights and find solutions.



To help people stay informed, the CDC recently launched COVIDView: A Weekly Surveillance Summary of U.S. COVID-19 Activity. The platform tracks the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and provides information on outpatient visits, emergency department visits, hospitalizations and deaths, and laboratory data.