Santa Clara County Department of Public Health, Communications Team – San Jose, CA

Summer 2023 Fellows:

Rithika Kacham ’26

Summer 2024 Fellows:

Summer 2025 Fellows:

Jude Hardan

Office Description

The County of Santa Clara Public Health Department focuses on protecting and improving the health of communities through education, promotion of healthy lifestyles, disease and injury prevention, and the promotion of sound health policy.

The Communications and Policy team within the Public Health Department is responsible for:

Strategic advice to Department leadership and program staff on using communications and marketing tactics to achieve public health program goals, including social marketing and behavior change. Strategic advice to Department leadership and program staff on public health policy—laws, regulations, ordinances, or other government actions that impact the health experiences of local communities.
News media relations activities to facilitate interviews and accurate news coverage.
Government relations to assist our organization in interacting with other government agencies or external partners on shared goals.
Advertising and marketing to reach diverse local populations for health behavior change: media buy recommendations, including some graphic design of health education materials for priority populations in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, and other languages, or contractor management of outside orgs doing this work for us;
Web and social media projects, including website planning and management, digital marketing, and analytics
Visual and brand identity
Risk communications during disasters and public health emergencies

To learn more about how the Public Health Department serves the people who live, work, study, and play in Santa Clara County, please visit our website, sccphd.org.

Description of the Work

Fellows and interns in our office take on primary responsibility for significant communications projects that may involve collaboration with other parts of our organization as well as external groups.

Fellows may:

Research traditional media and online promotion/marketing tactics for public health programs and then make recommendations that will really move the needle on behavior change. They secure approval, help to implement and evaluate.
Write plans to bring public attention to events and Department announcements, assists implementation.
Work with graphic designer and public health experts to assist with the revision of health education brochures, developing online and hardcopy materials that increase program utilization.
Evaluate marketing, outreach, public awareness and promotional efforts, track metrics, and document lessons learned.
Draft logic models and other program planning materials for changing perceptions or attitudes about public health interventions
Provide assistance with drafting and management of content and photo/video assets for the Department website and social media, to ensure complete and current content.
Draft needed standard operating procedures, job aids, and other documents.
Participate in office staff and Department meetings. Shadow leadership to external key meetings.
Additional opportunities available based on intern’s interests and experience.

Desired Skills

Very strong writing skills
Excellent organizational skills, managing complex tasks with overlapping streams of activity
Judgment and discretion in handling sensitive, nonpublic information
Basic understanding of health science and/or statistics would be helpful, as we take an approach to content and programs that is informed by data
Language skills (Spanish, Vietnamese, Mandarin) would be helpful but are not required
If you have graphic design skills (Canva, Photoshop) or video editing skills, please include in your cover letter