Emergency Management Planning Specialist II

Salary : $67,425.90 - $112,377.41 Annually
Location : FAIRFAX (EJ11), VA
Job Type: FT Salary W BN
Job Number: 25-00694
Department: Emergency Mgmt and Security
Opening Date: 03/22/2025
Closing Date: 4/4/2025 11:59 PM Eastern
Pay Grade: S24
Posting Type: Open to General Public

Job Announcement
The Fairfax County Department of Emergency Management and Security (DEMS) is dedicated to preparing for, responding to, recovering from, and mitigating emergencies and disasters affecting the Fairfax County community. This department plays a critical role in ensuring the safety and resilience of residents, businesses, and visitors through a comprehensive approach to emergency management.

This position writes disaster plans and drives the emergency planning process to strengthen the county's ability to prepare, respond, recover, and mitigate the threats and hazards that affect the county. Plays a vital role in assisting applicable regional partners and county agencies in the review/revision of their plans and procedures to ensure compliance with NIMS, CPG 101, EMAP, and local, state, or federal regulations. Participates in various local, regional, state, and federal committees to enhance collaboration and communication between jurisdictions and other emergency management organizations.

As appropriate, this position will assist the Communications and Community Engagement division with educational and community outreach efforts. The Emergency Management Specialist II position is classified as essential personnel and is expected to serve as a member of an assigned EOC team upon activation, which could include extended hours (12-hour shifts) over multiple days.

Illustrative Duties
(The illustrative duties listed in this specification are representative of the class but are not an all-inclusive list. A complete list of position duties and unique physical requirements can be found in the position description.)

• Establishes and maintains liaisons with agency program managers to insure efficient and continued use of volunteers;
  
• Prepares and presents speeches to civic and community organizations to promote volunteerism;
  
• Serves as project manager on diverse, medium-sized county-level emergency management programs;
  
• Regularly facilitates and convenes meetings with county agencies, recommends appropriate courses of emergency action, establishes emergency planning guidelines, and ensures compliance with federal, state and county emergency management guidance;
  
• Conducts independent research, prepares, develops and manages assigned projects/ programs in a variety of complex emergency management areas;
  
• May supervise other employees on a recurring or project basis;
  
• Coordinate and work directly with residential and business partners;
  
• Developing new relationships, researching and identifying available grant resources;
  
• Identify and manage budget for program;
  
• Performs ICS position specific or ESF function roles in day-to-day operations or during EOC activations.

Required Knowledge Skills and Abilities
(The knowledge, skills and abilities listed in this specification are representative of the class but are not an all-inclusive list.)

• Knowledge of emergency disaster plans of local, federal and state governments;
  
• Ability to supervise both professional level staff and volunteers effectively;
  
• Ability to effectively demonstrate interpersonal and organizational skills;
  
• Ability to effectively communicate, both orally and in writing;
  
• Ability to develop, implement and evaluate program goals and objectives;
  
• Ability to operate emergency communications equipment, computers, wireless devices, etc.;
  
• Ability to effectively coordinate a variety of emergency management related activities.

Employment Standards
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Any combination of education, experience, and training equivalent to the following:(Click on the aforementioned link to learn how Fairfax County interprets equivalencies for "Any combination, experience, and training equivalent to")
Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with a degree in business administration, public safety, emergency management or related fields, plus two years of professional work experience in emergency management or public safety.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Ability to effectively communicate verbally and in writing.
• Ability to extract data, analyze, and present.
• Ability to problem solve.
• Proficiency in the use of information technology tools applicable to modern office productivity software for communicating (email), planning, scheduling, spreadsheets, and word processing

|CERTIFICATES AND LICENSES REQUIRED:

• Driver's License (Required)
• Incident Command System (ICS) 100 (Required within 12 months)
• Incident Command System (ICS) 200 (Required within 12 months)
• Incident Command System (ICS) 700 (Required within 12 months)
• Incident Command System (ICS) 800 (Required within 12 months)
• Incident Command System (ICS) 300 (Required within 18 months)
• Incident Command System (ICS) 400 (Required within 18 months)
• FEMA Professional Development Series Certificate (On-line classes) - Within 24 months

NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
The appointee to this position will be required to complete a criminal background check and driving record check to the satisfaction of the employer.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:
The position requires individual to be able to lift up to 25 pounds, speak articulately in person and on the telephone, work long periods at a desk and participate as required as a civilian member of an emergency response organization. All duties may be performed with or without reasonable accommodations.

SELECTION PROCEDURE:
Panel interview and may include exercise.

The population of Fairfax County is very diverse where 38.7% of residents speak a language other than English at home () and we encourage candidates bilingual in English and a foreign language to apply to this opportunity.

Fairfax County Government prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetics, political affiliation, or military status in the recruitment, selection, and hiring of its workforce.

Reasonable accommodations are available to persons with disabilities during application and/or interview processes per the Americans with Disabilities Act. TTY 703-222-7314. EEO/AA/TTY.

#LI-SP1
Merit Positions

Fairfax County is proud to offer employees an attractive and comprehensive benefits program, including the following:

• Medical/Vision/Dental Insurance Coverage
• Group Term Life Insurance
• Long Term Disability
• LiveWell Program
• Flexible Spending Programs
• Paid Leave (annual, sick, parental, volunteer activity, and more!)
• Paid Holidays
• Contributory Retirement Plan
• Deferred Compensation
• Employee Assistance Program
• Employees' Child Care Center
• Commuter Benefit Program
• Continuous Learning Opportunities

NOTE: Fairfax County Government is a qualifying employer under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. For more information about the PSLF program:

For additional details please visit the
Non-Merit Positions

Non-Merit Benefit Eligible: scheduled to work a minimum 1,040 hours and no more than a maximum of 1,560 hours in a calendar year.

• Medical/Vision/Dental Insurance Coverage
• Flexible Spending Program
• Deferred Compensation

Temporary: scheduled to work a maximum of 900 hours in a calendar year.

• No benefits

01

What is the highest level of education that you have completed?

• Less than 12th grade
• High school diploma or GED
• Some college
• Associate's degree
• Bachelor's degree
• Master's degree
• Doctorate degree

02

If you answered "Some college" for the highest level of education completed, please indicate the number of quarter or semester hours you have completed towards a degree.

• Less than 45 quarter hours
• 45 to less than 90 quarter hours
• 90 to less than 135 quarter hours
• 135 to less than 180 quarter hours
• 180 or more quarter hours
• Less than 30 semester hours
• 30 to less than 60 semester hours
• 60 to less than 90 semester hours
• 90 to less than 120 semester hours
• 120 or more semester hours
• Not applicable

03

Please indicate the major(s) or minor(s) for your completed degree(s). Check all that apply.

• Business administration
• Public safety
• Emergency management
• Public administration
• Other (related field)
• Other (non-related field)
• Not applicable

04

If you answered "Other (related field)" or "Other (non-related field)" for the previous question, please list all of your majors and minors. If this question does not pertain to you, or you do not have a degree, enter "Not applicable".
05

Do you currently possess a valid driver's license?

• Yes
• No

06

How many years of full-time equivalent professional experience do you have in emergency management or public safety?

• None
• Less than one year
• One to less than two years
• Two to less than three years
• Three to less than four years
• Four to less than five years
• Five to less than six years
• Six or more years

07

Have you worked in any of the following sections in a local, state, FEMA, or DHS Emergency Operations Center? Check all that apply.

• Operations
• Planning
• Logistics
• Finance/Administration
• None of the above

08

How many years of full-time equivalent professional experience do you have with disaster recovery planning, recovery operations and/or recovery response?

• None
• Less than one year
• One to less than two years
• Two to less than three years
• Three to less than four years
• Four to less than five years
• Five or more years

09

How many years of full-time equivalent professional experience do you have with disaster recovery planning, recovery operations and/or recovery response?

• None
• Less than one year
• One to less than two years
• Two to less than three years
• Three to less than four years
• Four to less than five years
• Five or more years

10

This position is deemed "emergency service personnel". Are you willing and able to work nights, weekends, holidays and be available for emergency activations?

• Yes
• No

11

How many years of full-time equivalent experience do you have in writing emergency plans and annexes?

• None
• Less than one year
• One to less than two years
• Two to less than three years
• Three to less than four years
• Four to less than five years
• Five or more years

12

How many years of full-time equivalent experience do you have leading a planning team or project lead for a planning or recovery plan?

• None
• Less than one year
• One to less than two years
• Two to less than three years
• Three to less than four years
• Four to less than five years
• Five or more years

13

Please indicate your level of proficiency with Microsoft Word.

• Beginner (Basic knowledge of creating, editing, formatting, and saving simple documents; inserting simple tables; and proofreading documents for accuracy)
• Intermediate (Knowledge of common commands such as creating a title; using, modifying, and creating styles; setting up the ruler; indenting paragraphs, using tabs and tables; inserting captions, footnotes, endnotes, special characters, or hard page breaks; using page numbering; creating headers and footers; inserting graphics; inserting an equation, adding comments and tracking changes.)
• Advanced (Extensive knowledge of almost all function of program including mail merge, macros, creating a table of contents, creating bookmarks and cross-referencing.)
• No experience

14

Please indicate your level of proficiency with Microsoft Excel.

• Beginner (Basic knowledge of creating a worksheet; performing calculations in a worksheet; modifying and formatting a worksheet; printing workbook contents)
• Intermediate (Knowledge of inserting and modifying graphic objects in a worksheet; customizing and enhancing workbooks; analyzing data using Pivot Tables, Slicers, and Pivot Charts)
• Advanced (Extensive knowledge of increasing productivity and improving efficiency by streamlining workflow; collaborating with others using workbooks; auditing worksheets; analyzing data; working with multiple workbooks; importing and exporting data, using Excel with the web)
• No experience

15

Please indicate your level of proficiency with Microsoft PowerPoint.

• Beginner (Basic knowledge of opening, saving and closing files; creating backwards compatible files for working with older versions of PowerPoint; utilizing the find and replace tool; applying and modifying pre-designed WordArt; spacing and arranging objects and images; converting bulleted list into flowcharts)
• Intermediate (Knowledge of applying templates and themes; converting text to diagrams and tables; inserting images and clip art; adding sound effects and music clips, adding video and animation; adding and configuring interactive action buttons; incorporating review comments and embedded MS Office content; use advanced features for saving and distributing your file)
• Advanced (Extensive knowledge in customizing PowerPoint for your own work environment; fully leveraging the power of master slides to creating consistent and easy-to-update designs; simplifying internal communication or reviews with embedded notes and comments; reusing (not re-entering) data from other applications; adding multimedia elements; recording voice-overs for presentations; setting up a self-running slideshow display for a lobby or event kiosk)
• No experience

16

Please indicate your level of proficiency with Microsoft Access.

• Beginner (Basic knowledge of database design using existing templates; including captions with additional information; implementing consistent naming conventions; creating input masks and validation rules; retrieving and displaying a set of database records; using "wildcard" characters to search for data; performing global updates and calculations on multiple database records; communicating data through customized reports)
• Intermediate (Knowledge of eliminating redundant data and organizing data; maintaining logical relationships between tables and fields; using sub datasheets and lookup columns; advanced queries, including inner, outer and self-joins; using calculated fields to display mathematical or logical expression; assisting user with visual cues, such as shapes, borders and graphics; validating data; displaying data using PivotTables and Pivot Charts)
• Advanced (Extensive knowledge of querying with SQL; creating, running, modifying and attaching macros; importing, exporting and linking objects and documents; database management in optimizing resources, protecting databases and setting options and properties; internet integration; hyperlink fields)
• None of the above

Required Question