EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS OFFICER

MDEM is looking for a diligent, detail-oriented individual who is excited about making Maryland a safer place to live and work by assisting with the Department’s Maryland Joint Operations Center, including dispatching of allied agencies, creating situational reports and obtaining information from local, State and Federal Agencies.

MDEM’s mission is to proactively reduce disaster risks and reliably manage consequences through collaborative work with Maryland’s communities and partners. MDEM is the department of State government with primary responsibility and authority for emergency preparedness policy, and for coordinating hazard mitigation, incident response, and disaster recovery. MDEM is a national leader in Emergency Management that provides Maryland residents, organizations, and emergency management partners with expert information, programmatic activities, and leadership in the delivery of financial, technical, and physical resources “to shape a resilient Maryland where communities thrive.” We do this by being Maryland's designated source of official risk reduction and consequence management information.

NOTE: This position operates within an on-call rotating schedule according to assignment within the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) to attend to all emergencies on a statewide 24/7 basis. This may involve working 12 hour shifts extended periods of time in support of 24 hour consequence management activities.

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The Emergency Management Operations Officer is responsible for the readiness and operation of the Maryland Joint Operations Center (MJOC) and the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) at the Maryland Department of Emergency Management (MDEM) on a twenty-four hour a day basis. The employee coordinates requests for assistance from local emergency managers and emergency operations centers by assigning resources to fill unmet needs.

The Emergency Management Operations Officer ensures an appropriate posture for the SEOC through monitoring emergency incidents and situations throughout the State as well as regional, national and international events which may affect Maryland public safety. The position collects, organizes, analyzes and reports critical incident information and data for use by emergency managers, emergency operations centers, fusion centers, and other officials and decision makers at local, state, and national levels. The position also receives, reviews and vets accordingly the following reports for events/items of significance that may affect Maryland public safety. Some examples include but are not limited to:

• Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Daily Open-Source Infrastructure Report
• Contiguous States Daily Incident Reports (Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia)
• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National and Regional Reports
• DHS National Operations Center Reports
• Local, State and Federal Law Enforcement Watch Center Reports
• Situational Reports from Local, State and Federal Agencies
• Maryland Fire Chiefs (MFCA)
• Maryland Coordination and Analysis (MCAC) Reports and Briefs
• Washington Regional Threat Advisory Centers (WRTAC) reports
• Press releases from Local, State and Federal entities

 The Emergency Management Operations Officer functions as the primary employee responsible for the operation of the Maryland State Warning Point. In this role, the employee coordinates the dissemination and issuance of all Federal and State issued warnings and protective action recommendations to other state agencies and local governments.

Additionally, this position assists in answering calls/texts/emails that come through the dedicated Maryland School Safety Tip Line and to route and/or escalate calls per established protocols. The Tip Line supports the Department’s mission by providing an additional tool to ensure that Maryland families and communities have the ability to prepare for, mitigate against, respond to, and recover from the consequences of emergency and disaster events. This position will directly support the Governor’s Maryland Safe to Learn Act of 2018 initiative.

The Emergency Management Operations Officer performs multiple communications related duties within the MJOC serving MDEM and the SEOC. These duties may include the provision of dispatch services for outside agencies and can act as a backup center for other outside agencies such as MCAC, The Maryland State police Aviation Command (SYSCOM) and the Emergency Medical Resource Center (EMRC) for the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services (MIEMSS). In addition, the MJOC serves as a “control station” for several interoperability communication systems to include the statewide 700 MHz radio system – MDFiRST.

Employees will be required to provide Emergency and Disaster response and recovery operations as needed and/or assigned by the agency Secretary, Deputy Executive Director, Directors, or Consequence Management Personnel. Employees will be expected to staff the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) upon activation for consequence management activities. Employees may be called to duty at any time, day, or night, and are expected to report to the SEOC or assigned duty location within 2 hours of notification. Employee will attend training and retain competencies to be appropriately prepared for prepared for SEOC staffing needs including understanding and mastery of all five components of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the Maryland Emergency Management System (MEMS). Employees will support SEOC activities, which may involve extended work hours, as well as extraordinary stress levels, given that a disaster event would occur requiring SEOC activation. Employees will be expected to perform command and supervisory functions for incident management needs with competence and reliability under NIMS and MEMS. Employee is expected to support ongoing recovery operations as it relates to their specific Branch roles/responsibilities. Employees may be required to report to an alternate location to perform SEOC duties in support of MEMS stakeholders or in the event of a Continuity of Operations Program (COOP) Plan activation. Employees may be called to duty at any time, day, or night, and are expected to report to the SEOC or assigned duty location within 2 hours of notification.

The employee will be required to report for 12 hours shifts on a Panama schedule, which change every 2 weeks between day and night shifts. The image below depicts the schedule rotation.

The employee is expected to:

• Monitor, collect, analyze, and prioritize information and data pertaining to emergency incidents and situations throughout the State. Such incidents may be crisis or disaster situations both natural (e.g. hurricane, tornado) and manmade (e.g., hazardous material spill, terrorist attack). Also monitor regional, national, and international incidents which may affect the State. Log all incidents listed above as established in the State Critical information reporting requirements (SCIRR) for analysis and assessment. If required notification of said incidents is reported to appropriate emergency staff.
• With guidance from the shift supervisor, contact and discuss situations with on-site emergency managers, fusion centers, EOC’s and other officials (including local, state, and federal officials) to obtain updates and clarifications and determine their response and resource needs. Based on the data and analysis, recommends appropriate course of action and response to the shift supervisor.
• Execute and assist with the operations of the SEOC to include receiving requests for emergency support from local emergency managers and public safety agencies. Under the guidance of the shift supervisor, hand these requests to appropriate agencies.
• Clearly compose and disseminate emergency and routine information verbally and in writing using various complex communications devices to include, but not limited to radios, satellites systems, computer systems, applications and software packages and the telephone.
• Operate all equipment associated with the Maryland State Warning Point to clearly communicate emergency warnings and protective action recommendations to local emergency managers and the public using the National Warning System (NAWAS) and Emergency Alert System (EAS).
• Answer calls, texts, emails, etc. from the dedicated anonymous reporting system and route and/or escalate according to established guidelines. This process includes gathering tip information, determining the level of tip severity for all reported tips, categorizing the tip type, and contacting appropriate entities, including designated school officials or local public safety centers, first responders, including law enforcement, and/or personnel so that these agencies can support response and conduct further follow up investigation.
• Provide initial technical support to the users of the agency’s technical information systems to include but not limited to audio/visual systems, telephone, radio, and software applications.
• Participate in special projects assigned to the shift including development and maintenance of databases and procedures to improve emergency operations capabilities and respond to field incident sites or alternate operations centers when required to provide communications and coordination.
• Monitor, collect and report meteorological data from the National Weather Service’s (NWS) Cooperative Observation weather station located at the SEOC for the purpose of defining the climate of the United States and help measure long term climate changes. Additionally, provide real time observed conditions and data to support forecasts, warning, and other public service programs of the NWS.
• Operate the SEOC’s video and audio teleconferencing system for effective scheduling and participation of both routine and emergency briefs amongst executive staff and senior elected officials.
• Monitor building surveillance and alarm systems for intrusion, fire, electrical and water flow that could impact the safety of staff and visitors.
• Complete the departmental specific training program.

Education:   Graduation from an accredited high school or possession of a high school equivalency certificate.

Experience: Two years of experience in emergency communications work related to police, fire/rescue, medical service or military operations; or in coordinating emergency, safety or disaster relief efforts.

Notes: 

1. Candidates may substitute additional experience in emergency response communication work responding to emergencies or coordinating emergency, safety or disaster relief on a year-for-year basis for the required education.

2. Candidates may substitute U.S. Armed Forces military service experience as a non-commissioned officer in emergency communications systems and equipment operations classifications or specialty codes in the emergency management field of work on a year for year basis for the required experience.

• Experience composing and dissemination emergency and routine information through written communication collected through multiple platforms software packages.
• Experience with Microsoft Office and Adobe software.

Please make sure that you provide sufficient information on your application to show that you meet the qualifications for this recruitment. RESUMES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED IN LIEU OF COMPLETING THE EMPLOYMENT APPLICATION. All information concerning your qualifications including any required certifications must be submitted by the closing date.  We will not consider information submitted after this date. Successful candidates will be ranked as Best Qualified, Better Qualified, or Qualified and placed on the employment (eligible) list for at least one year.

Employees in this classification may be assigned duties which require the operation of a motor vehicle. Employees assigned such duties will be required to possess a motor vehicle operator’s license valid in the State of Maryland.

1. Employees in this classification are subject to call 24 hours a day and will be required to provide the employing agency with a telephone number where they can be reached.

2. Employees in this classification are subject to substance abuse testing in accordance with Code of Maryland Regulations 17.04.09, Testing for Illegal Use of Drugs.

This recruitment will be used to recruit for both Merit and Contractual positions. Please make sure that you provide sufficient information on your application to show that you meet the qualifications for this recruitment. All information concerning your qualifications must be submitted by the closing date. We will not consider information submitted after this date. Successful candidates will be ranked as Best Qualified, Better Qualified, or Qualified and placed on the eligible (employment) list for at least one year.

The assessment may consist of a rating of your education, training, and experience related to the requirements of the position. It is important that you provide complete and accurate information on your application. Please report all experience and education that is related to this position.

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STATE OF MARYLAND BENEFITS

Online applications are highly recommended. However, if you are unable to apply online, the paper application and supplemental questionnaire may be submitted to: Maryland Department of Emergency Management, 5401 Rue Saint Lo Drive, Reisterstown, MD 21136. Paper application materials must be received in our office by the closing date for the recruitment. No postmarks will be accepted.

For questions regarding this recruitment, please call 410-702-3714, or email kiara.jones@maryland.gov. 

Appropriate accommodations for individuals with disabilities are available upon request by calling: MD TTY Relay Service 1-800-735-2258.

We thank our Veterans for their service to our country. People with disabilities and bilingual candidates are encouraged to apply.

As an equal opportunity employer, Maryland is committed to recruitment, retaining and promoting employees who are reflective of the State's diversity.