Emergency Management Specialist (Federal Coordinating Officer)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is seeking a highly qualified candidate to serve as an Incident Management Assistance Team Lead (IMAT TL) within the Federal Coordinating Officer cadre structure. The selected candidate will play a crucial role in coordinating federal assistance in the aftermath of a major disaster or emergency.
What will I do in this position if hired?

As the IMAT Team Lead, you may serve as a Federal Coordinating Officer responsible for the coordination of federal assistance following the President's declaration of a major disaster or emergency. You may serve as the lead federal official for designated disasters and principal advisor to the FEMA Administrator and the Regional Administrator in the area in which a disaster occurs. You will assess what federal support is needed, establish field offices, and coordinate response and recovery activities in support of state, local, tribal, and territorial partners.

When deployed:

• Assessing needs, establishing goals, and coordinating diverse partners in the delivery of federal disaster assistance programs in coordination with the affected State, Territory, or Tribe and the FEMA Regional Office.
• Leading implementation of and providing guidance related to federal disaster assistance policy and programs, including grant programs, to improve and promote equitable recovery outcomes, reduce delays, and maximize the benefit of federal funds.
• Managing and overseeing diverse personnel and financial resources to achieve outcomes consistent with legal, regulatory, and policy requirements.
• Managing media, community, and other external relations to communicate the availability of assistance to Congress, applicants, and the general public.
• Working with officials and impacted communities to incorporate mitigation and resilience-building measures into recovery plans and implementation.
• Working at the intersection of response and recovery operations, including understanding community disaster recovery issues and the interdependencies between relevant organizations and sectors.
• Problem-solving and communicating effectively with senior leaders in an often politically sensitive environment.
• Adhering to the highest ethical standards, to include honoring FEMA's core values of Compassion, Fairness, Integrity, and Respect.

When not deployed:

• Ensuring the operational capability of the IMAT by overseeing the management and training of the IMAT personnel.
• Participating in preparedness efforts, to include planning, exercising, and training.

What else do I need to know?

At FEMA, our mission is to help people before, during and after disasters, and every employee at FEMA has a role in emergency management. Every FEMA employee has regular and recurring emergency management responsibilities, though not every position requires routine deployment to disaster sites. All positions are subject to recall around the clock for emergency management operations, which may require irregular work hours, work at locations other than the official duty station, and may include duties other than those specified in the employee's official position description. Travel requirements in support of emergency operations may be extensive in nature (weeks to months), with little advance notice, and may require employees to relocate to emergency sites with physically austere and operationally challenging conditions.

This announcement is for a position as an IMAT CORE (Incident Management Assist Team, Cadre of Response/Recovery Employee). IMAT CORE employees are full time employees hired to directly support the response and recovery efforts related to disasters. IMATs are the first FEMA personnel deployed to an incident and manage the field-level federal response and early recovery with a primary focus on critical infrastructure stabilization, especially life-saving and life-sustaining efforts. Appointments to IMAT CORE positions are four years in duration and may be renewed based upon workload needs and funding availability. Employees are hired under the and are excluded from the provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing jobs in the competitive service. They can be hired under a streamlined process instead of a competitive process. After 3 years of continuous service, Stafford Act employees may be granted competitive eligibility to apply for permanent full-time positions at FEMA.

This position will be hired into a temporary 4-year, excepted service appointment. Appointments may be renewed based on workload, funding, and supervisory approval.

FEMA is committed to ensuring that its workforce reflects the diversity of the nation. At FEMA, our workforce includes the many identities, races, ethnicities, backgrounds, abilities, ages, cultures, and beliefs of the people we serve. To learn about FEMA's ongoing diversity and inclusion efforts, reasonable accommodation process, and the FEMA Core Values, please visit?.