The ideal candidate has demonstrated experience in floodplain management, including providing technical assistance, compliance support, and program implementation to a variety of audiences, including state and local officials. In this role, you will serve within the Floodplain Management and Insurance Branch, advancing community resilience and reducing future hazard losses through the effective delivery of NFIP and hazard mitigation programs.
All qualifications and eligibility requirements must be met by the closing date of the announcement. To qualify for this Emergency Management Specialist (Mitigation) position at the IC-09 level, you must possess one full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the IC-07 level in the Federal government, which has equipped you with the skills needed to successfully perform the duties of the position. Experience may be obtained in the federal government, a state or local government, or private sector, and must demonstrate the following: Assisting in the administration of disaster assistance programs; Preparing written correspondence such as reports, instructions, and/or briefings; and Assisting in the analysis and/or evaluation of programs to provide recommendations. OR Education Master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related. OR Combination of education and experience. To qualify for this Emergency Management Specialist (Mitigation) position at the IC-11 level, you must possess one full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the IC-09 level in the Federal government, which has equipped you with the skills needed to successfully perform the duties of the position. Experience may be obtained in the federal government, a state or local government, or private sector, and must demonstrate the following: Applying laws, regulations, and/or policies in the delivery of emergency management initiatives; Communicating requirements to stakeholders on emergency management programs; and Developing documents to support mitigation planning. OR Education Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related. OR Combination of education and experience. To qualify for this Emergency Management Specialist (Mitigation) position at the IC-12 level, you must possess one full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the IC-11 level in the Federal government, which has equipped you with the skills needed to successfully perform the duties of the position. Experience may be obtained in the federal government, a state or local government, or private sector, and must demonstrate the following: Developing and/or reviewing Emergency Management plans, policies, or operating procedures; Reseraching, analyzing and/or identifying mitigation risk-reduction actions/projects; Providing advice to stakeholders on mitigation planning. Please read the following important information to ensure we have everything we need to consider your application: Do not copy and paste the duties, specialized experience, or occupational assessment questionnaire from this announcement into your resume as that will not be considered a demonstration of your qualifications for this position. Your resume serves as the basis for experience related qualification determinations, and you must highlight your most relevant and significant work experience and education (if applicable), as it relates to this job opportunity. Please use your own words, be clear, and specific when describing your work history. We cannot make assumptions regarding your experience. Are you qualifying based on your work experience? Qualifications are based on your ability to demonstrate in your resume that you possess one year of the specialized experience for this announcement at a comparable scope and responsibility. To ensure all of the essential information is in your resume, we encourage you to use the USAJOBS online Resume Builder. If you choose to use your own resume, it must contain the following information organized by experience/position: (1) job title, (2) name of employer, (3) start and end dates of each period of employment (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY), (4) detailed description of duties performed, accomplishments, and related skills, and (5) hours worked per week (part-time employment will be prorated in crediting experience). Federal experience/positions must also include the occupational series, grade level, and dates in which you held each grade level. Are you a current or former FEMA Reservist/Disaster Assistance Employee (DAE)? To accurately credit your experience from intermittent positions and Reservist Deployments, you must list the dates (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY) of deployments that are relevant to your qualifying experience, along with the job title and specific duties you were responsible for during each deployment. Determining length of General or Specialized Experience is dependent on the above information. Failure to provide the above information in your resume may result in your application being found "not qualified." Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional, philanthropic, religious, spiritual, community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills, and provides valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. For additional information on crediting experience and/or education, please reference the OPM General Schedule Qualification Standards
What will I do in this position if hired? In this Emergency Management Specialist (Mitigation) position, you will work in the Region Three, Mitigation Division, Floodplain Management & Insurance Branch. Typical assignments include: Implement floodplain management, flood insurance, and mitigation messaging, both in the field and from the regional office, by coordinating with deployed and regional staff to support Hazard Mitigation and National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) operations during disasters and steady-state operations. Oversee and provide floodplain management and flood insurance education, outreach, webinars, and training sessions developed in coordination with program and external partners (e.g., State NFIP Coordinators, local officials, Community Rating System (CRS) communities, insurance agents, lenders, and real estate professionals) for a variety of technical and non-technical audiences. Identify, research, and write best-practice case studies on proven flood risk-reduction actions and projects, including NFIP/CRS practices, to promote effective mitigation techniques and appropriate flood insurance coverage for stakeholders. Maintain ongoing communication with partners (state, local, tribal, and territorial officials; mapping partners; insurance and lending stakeholders) to ensure program alignment, NFIP compliance support, and continued engagement. Develop procedures to increase the effectiveness of NFIP and mitigation program delivery that encourage risk-informed decision-making and foster a whole-community approach to mitigation activities, including adoption and enforcement of floodplain ordinances, use of Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs), substantial damage compliance, and Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) awareness. Write, review, and edit publications and reports (e.g., Community Assistance Contact/Visit reports, ordinance reviews, map adoption packages, outreach plans, and leadership briefers) to clearly convey technical and complex programmatic information and recommendations to leadership and stakeholders. Propose innovative projects to meet short- and long-term objectives, such as initiatives to increase appropriate flood insurance coverage and improve community NFIP compliance. 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 a CORE (Cadre of On-Call Response/Recovery Employee). CORE employees are full-time employees hired to directly support the response and recovery efforts related to disasters. Employees are hired under the Robert T. Stafford Act 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 three 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 2-year excepted service appointment. Appointments may be renewed based on workload, funding, and supervisory approval. This position has promotion potential to the IC-0089-12. Promotions are dependent on your ability to perform the duties at a higher level, successful performance review displaying at least one year of experience at the lower grade, the continuing need for an employee assigned to the higher level, and management approval.