Deputy Managing Director for Emergency Management Services

CITY OF PHILADELPHIA

OFFICE OF THE MANAGING DIRECTOR


DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SERVICES

 

We are seeking to hire a highly experienced and talented person to oversee the City of Philadelphia?s Office of Emergency Management and lead emergency management strategy and planning city-wide. This position will report directly to the Managing Director. The Managing Director is the Cabinet-level official that directly supervises the City?s public safety, public works and social services departments, including Police, Fire and Public Health, within the City of Philadelphia in an effort to create a comprehensive and seamless system of service delivery. 

 

The Deputy Managing Director for Emergency Management Services is responsible for developing and articulating to multiple audiences the City's key policies, positions and strategies for dealing with emergencies; implementing, coordinating, and enforcing policies and legal requirements across multiple City departments; overseeing the development, implementation and evaluation of the City's emergency preparedness program; developing interagency and multi-jurisdictional agreements; prioritizing and implementing training programs, drills and exercises; and seeking best practices in emergency management services. Additionally, the Deputy Managing Director for Emergency Management Services evaluates, improves, and promotes the City's comprehensive disaster planning efforts; prepares and administers the annual emergency operations management budgets; and coordinates local, national, and international relationships, including business, community, and volunteer organizations.

 

 

ABOUT EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

In July 2006, the City released its Emergency Preparedness Review Committee (EPRC) Report (www.phila.gov/pdfs/EPRC_Final_Report.pdf).  The EPRC was comprised of 45 individuals, primarily from the private sector, and including representatives from City, state and federal governments.  The Report, prepared over the prior six months, addressed the most pressing emergency preparedness and response issues facing the City.  The EPRC identified resource and procedural gaps, both within the City government as well as among the systems and infrastructure within the city, such as hospitals. One of the EPRC?s priority recommendations was to appoint a senior-level official in the Managing Director?s Office to oversee all emergency preparedness and response functions.

 

The Deputy Managing Director for Emergency Management Services will be responsible for directing and overseeing emergency planning and management activities managed through the Office of Emergency Management (OEM), including evaluation and monitoring of the City?s emergency preparedness.  The position will be immediately responsible for implementing the recommendations of the EPRC Report, including:

 

Enhancing Emergency Management Capacity, including increasing the capabilities of the OEM by developing stronger situational awareness capabilities and developing and implementing a plan to ensure that the OEM effectively performs its essential functions.

 

Enhancing Emergency Communications, including ensuring readiness of primary communication infrastructure, Police and Fire Department communications, interoperability, and public and private health network communications.

 

Integrating Health and Human Services into Emergency Management, including developing policy and protocols regarding shelter agreements, large-scale shelter-in-place and quarantine protocols, and increasing the emergency feeding capacity.

 

Enhancing Emergency Communications, including creating an ongoing forum for the region?s highest elected officials and private sector leaders to regularly meet to review key strategic emergency preparedness issues and develop coordinated approaches to region-wide challenges.

 

Promoting Transparency and Community Engagement in Emergency Management, including launching, with the assistance of partners from the public and private sectors, a sustainable, regional public education, awareness, and training program focusing on emergency preparedness. 

 

Ensuring Continuity of Government and Continuity of Operations Planning, including working with City departments and the private sector, especially with critical infrastructure owners and businesses that provide goods and services to the City, to create, finalize, and update their continuity plans.

 

Protecting Critical Infrastructure and Promoting Public-Private Partnerships, including coordinating with the primary electricity and telecommunications providers and with the publicly-owned water and natural gas utilities to jointly develop a list of restoration priorities and a plan of action to ensure continuity of operations and effective emergency management capabilities. 

 

Developing Comprehensive Evacuation Plans, including initiating and actively participating in the development of a regional evacuation plan that incorporates federal, state, and local government partners, including Emergency Medical Services (EMS), transit agencies with rail and bus assets, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA), the Port Authority Transit Corporation (PATCO), New Jersey Transit, and Amtrak.  The evacuation plans are to include the needs of people with disabilities and other special needs populations.

 

REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCETen years of general management experience, including significant enterprise-wide responsibility for developing, implementing, coordinating, and evaluating a major phase of an emergency management or emergency preparedness program.Superior knowledge of best practices in the field of emergency management.Proven leadership skills in government or complex business organization.Knowledge of the principles, problems, and techniques of organizing, directing, and coordinating a modern municipal emergency management program, combining elements of public safety, public works, and social services in an all hazards environment.Ability to facilitate decision-making among diverse governmental and private organizations and individuals serving on planning committees.

Salary is commensurate with experience.  Philadelphia residency is required within six months of hiring. 

 

The deadline for submitting applications is September 15, 2006.  The City of Philadelphia is an Equal Opportunity Employer.