WIC- Program Lead

   General Statement of Duties

Provides nutritional certification, education and counseling for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC); does related work as required.


   Distinguishing Features of the Class

This is skilled technical and administrative work involving, program planning, staff oversight as needed, serving, and ensuring breastfeeding promotion and support activities within the local WIC program. This employee must meet qualifications as a CPA and have specific breastfeeding training. The work is performed under the general direction of the Assist Director, but considerable leeway is granted for the exercise of independent judgement and initiative. The nature of the work performed requires that an employee in this class establish and maintain close cooperative working relationships with Health Department employees, supervisors, clients, family, and the general public.



   Examples of Essential Work (Illustrative Only)

•    Oversees WIC clinic and Parents and Teachers Health Education programs.    
•    Promote and support breastfeeding both within the clinic and through community engagement and partnerships. This person must be familiar with the WIC program and policies.
•    Direct oversite of WIC and Parents and Teachers program and staff.
•    Oversees evaluation of the nutritional needs of high-risk clients including preparation of a care plan.
•    Conducts client chart reviews and coordinates with the state for action to ensure compliance.
•    Provides client education in food selection, dietary needs and nutrition.
•    Provides educational materials relative to client nutritional health.
•    Maintains required client documentation and program records.
•    Documents client visits and completes all related medical records, including assessment and care plans.
•    Maintains current dietary and nutritional research findings, incorporating them into the WIC program services.
•    Refers clients to appropriate agencies or health care professionals.
•    Utilizes the CONNECT web based consented referral system whenever possible.
•    Promotes and supports breastfeeding.
•    Dispenses food benefits.
•    Performs capillary blood draws for iron/lead levels and reads iron/lead levels.
•    Gathers anthropometric data.
•    Collaborates with and provides consultative services to community organizations to promote community understanding of nutritional health.
•    Gives presentations to community groups as requested and assists with staff training.
•    Attends meetings, conferences, and workshops as requested and authorized.
•    Performs related work as required.
•    Perform all duties and work assignments in a safe, healthy, and environmentally sound manner, specifically, maintaining work areas in a safe and orderly manner; identifying and reporting unsafe conditions; reporting all accidents; wearing required personal protective equipment; and attending safety-related meetings, training sessions, fit testing, etc.;
•    Perform all duties and work assignments in compliance with project quality requirements.
•    Act responsibly and ethically, and in conformance with generally accepted business, occupational, and professional standards.
•    Perform other duties as assigned.



   Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

•    One year of experience in counseling women about how to breastfeed successfully, and ? Hold credentials of International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC)* as granted by the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners; or ? Within one year, be a Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC), or have attended comparable training in lactation management
•    Thorough knowledge of dietary health and nutritional education principles;
•    Thorough knowledge of the functions and programs of community and other health and social service agencies and their available public health resources;
•    Good knowledge of counseling and teaching techniques;
•    Good knowledge of the needs and problems of low-income families;
•    Skill in interpersonal communications and persuasion;
•    Ability to establish effective working relationships with patients, health care professionals, health care agencies, departmental employees and the general public;
•    Ability to maintain client confidentiality;
•    Ability to communicate well with departmental employees, health care professionals, patients, health care agencies and the general public, both orally and in writing, using both technical and non-technical language;
•    Ability to prepare accurate and reliable reports containing findings, conclusions and recommendations;
•    Ability to operate a personal computer using standard word processing, spreadsheet and database applications appropriate to assigned duties;
•    Ability to drive in all types of weather and road conditions;
•    Ability to use logical thought processes to develop solutions according to written specifications and oral instructions;
•    Ability to perform a wide variety of technical and administrative tasks with accuracy and speed under the pressure of time-sensitive deadlines and emergency situations;
•    Ability to quickly learn and use new skills and knowledge brought about by rapidly changing information; 
•    Ingenuity and inventiveness in the performance of assigned tasks.


  Acceptable Experience and Training

•    Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN); or
•    Nutritionist with a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree from an accredited college/university; or
•    Diet Technician, Registered (DTR); or
•    Health Related Degree (Health Promotion, Health Education, Health and Human Development, Community Health, Early Childhood Development, Exercise Science, Family and Consumer Sciences, or Home Economics) with 6 or more semester credit hours in food and nutrition appropriate to the WIC population (including courses in Basic Nutrition, Nutrition in Life Cycle, Community Nutrition or Nutrition and Disease) and successful completion of an Anatomy/Physiology series of coursework.
•    Other degreed professionals with 12 or more semester credit hours in food and nutrition appropriate to the WIC population and Anatomy/Physiology; or
•    Current Montana WIC CPA; and
•    Considerable experience in nutritional health or closely related field.


   Required Special Qualifications

•    Possession of a valid driver’s license issued by the State of Montana;
•    Must be a resident of Butte-Silver Bow during employment according to Butte-Silver Bow Ordinance.  See below.
“2.08.010 Residence during employment.
From and after October 1, 1979, all employees of the local government of Butte-Silver Bow shall be bona fide residents within the boundaries of Butte-Silver Bow during the period of their employment by the government of Butte-Silver Bow.
(Ord. 85 § 1, 1979)”


  Essential Physical Abilities

•    Sufficient clarity of speech and hearing, with or without accommodation, which permits the employee to communicate well with clients, families, employees and health care professionals.
•    Sufficient vision, with or without reasonable accommodation, which permits the employee to make comprehensive visual examinations of health conditions and to record and review a wide variety of written reports and visual materials and supplies;
•    Sufficient manual dexterity, with or without reasonable accommodation, which permits the employee to operate a computer keyboard and handle small objects;
•    Sufficient personal mobility, with or without reasonable accommodation, which permits the employee to visit a variety of work sites, drive a car and transport materials or supplies weighing up to 60 pounds. 

Due to the need for all Health Department personnel to respond to public health emergencies, the employee must be assessed for his/her ability to meet the physical demands of performing the following activities:

•    Must be able to be fitted and wear NIOSH 95 mask. 
•    Engage in the following movements: Climbing, balancing, stooping, kneeling, crouching, reaching, standing, walking, lifting, grasping, feeling and writing and repetitive motions. 
•    Exert up to 30 pounds of force occasionally, and/or a negligible amount of force constantly to move objects. 
•    Hearing ability sufficient enough to communicate with others effectively in person and over the phone. 
•    Visual ability must be sufficient enough to read typewritten documents and computer screens and drive a vehicle. 

The City-County is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. It does not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, physical disability, or veteran status. 

The job description is only a summary of the typical functions of the job, not an exhaustive or comprehensive list of all possible job responsibilities.  Tasks and duties of the employee may differ from those outlined above.