Public Safety Planner II, III, IV
: Job Details :

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) Department of Homeland Security and Public Safety (DHSPS) has an immediate opening for a Public Safety Planner. COG DHSPS brings local, state, and federal government leaders from the District of Columbia, suburban Maryland, and Northern Virginia together to increase the National Capital Region's ability to prepare for respond to all types of hazards and threats.

Job ID/Number: HSPS-132024

Posted Date: 9/26/2024

Job Location: Washington, DC

Position Type: Full-time

Division: Department of Homeland Security and Public Safety

Description: The Public Safety Planner position is a professional, full-time position in regional public safety and homeland security within COG, inclusive of activities within the domains of emergency management, fire and rescue, law enforcement, public health, transportation, emergency communications, among others. Daily activities for this position include providing technical expertise, planning, and coordination support to regional stakeholders and conducting research and analysis for a variety of working groups of COG's Department of Homeland Security and Public Safety (DHSPS) within the Public Safety and Health Preparedness section. This Planner will primarily support the work of multiple National Capital Region (NCR) public safety committees, including, but not limited to, emergency management directors, emergency communications center/911 directors, chief information officers/chief information security officers, and department projects/initiatives (e.g., regional public safety professional development programs).

This Public Safety Planner opportunity includes three levels: Planner II, Planner III, and Planner IV. Specific responsibilities and the range of compensation vary slightly at each level and depend on background and work experience.

Responsibilities:

• Facilitating (or assisting in facilitating) meetings with high-level stakeholders, while documenting and tracking action items and decision-making.
• Drafting and preparing agendas, meeting materials, and summaries for inter-disciplinary and executive committees and working groups.
• Organizing, coordinating, documenting, tracking outcomes, and conducting follow-up activities for meetings, working groups, committees, subcommittees, and similar entities.
• Drafting and preparing reports, fact sheets, and other documents on topics related to public safety and consequence management.
• Leading or assisting in the development, maintenance, and review of regional plans and policies.
• Supporting the development and implementation of project work plans for inter-disciplinary and executive committees.
• Drafting PowerPoint presentations, briefing documents, talking points, and other materials for use by internal and external stakeholders.
• Researching and synthesizing information on technical matters related to homeland security and providing the information in the form of oral and written reports and summaries, presentations, and responses to requests from stakeholders.
• Moving stakeholders forward on identified action items and decisions.
• Providing input on policy and strategy matters in the form of oral and written reports and responses to requests for information or data.
• Creating easily accessible data visualization and graphics for use in stakeholder documents and products.
• Performing administrative tasks such as meeting scheduling and data entry into spreadsheets and databases.
• Maintaining positive, trusting work relationships with coworkers and regional stakeholders, including department/agency executives.
• Managing (or assisting in managing) a variety of highly specialized and technical problems in support of local officials and the public.
• Assisting in planning and hosting public safety-related exercises, conferences, seminars, training sessions, and other special events.
• Attending professional conferences and training sessions as a representative of COG.
• Leading project teams that may involve supervision of COG staff.

KEY OUTCOMES:

• Facilitate the development or updating of specific regional plans, agreements, or procedures related to cybersecurity, 911 service outages.
• Provide support to assigned committees by organizing and facilitating monthly meetings, tracking and advancing agenda items/work projects, developing work plans for the upcoming year, and updating membership rosters.
• Support and lead planning for several regional public safety professional development/education series.
• Develop and track the progress of multiple ongoing or new projects related to emergency planning and capacity building for 911, cybersecurity, emergency management stakeholders.
• Support the development of a potential grant request for 911 continuity support.
• Support the transition of committee leadership and facilitate the identification of committee goals and priorities.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential responsibility satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education and Professional Experience:

• Planner II: Possess a bachelor's degree in a relevant professional field with a minimum of two years office experience or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Planner III: Bachelor's degree in relevant professional field with a minimum of three years work experience in homeland security or related field, such as emergency management, public safety, defense, politics, public health, or public policy. Master's Degree in related field, with one to two years post-graduate work preferred.
• Planner IV: Bachelor's degree and five or more years of professional experience in emergency management or related fields, such as defense, politics, public health, or public policy; or any equivalent combination of experience and training which provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities relevant to the major duties of this advanced position. Preferred: A master's degree from an accredited university; and thorough knowledge of intergovernmental coordination.

Supervisory Responsibilities: At the Planner IV level responsibilities may include supervision and coordination of contract staff or management of discrete projects with assigned staff peers. Planner II and Planner III positions will not include supervisory responsibilities.

Communication Skills: Demonstrated strong skills in verbal, written, and interpersonal communication, including experience condensing complex topics to concise summaries appropriate for decision-makers and the public; ability to present information one-on-one and to groups of stakeholders and other employees of the organization. An understanding of boundaries and sensitivities in the presence of stakeholders, including politicians and agency leadership, and when/where to add a value-adding opinion.

Critical Thinking/Reasoning Ability: Demonstrate working knowledge of principles and practices of homeland security, public safety, and emergency management; ability to read, analyze, and interpret technical documents; ability to respond to common inquiries from stakeholders, and a thorough understanding of when to escalate issues; and ability to understand when to seek supervisor input or support.

Computer Knowledge and Skills: In-depth proficiency of the Microsoft Office Suite of programs, including Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive, and SharePoint. Experience with Adobe InDesign or comparable desktop publishing software is preferred.

Quality of Work/Organization: Demonstrated accuracy and thoroughness in written documents and communications, looking for ways to improve and increase the quality of work. Demonstrated strong organizational skills, ability to maintain accurate files; ability to multi-task; and detail-oriented with high degree of accuracy.

Certificates, Licenses, Registrations: Professional certification will be included in consideration of acceptable experience and training.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to handle or feel objects or controls and talk or hear. Work is also occasionally performed in the field outside of the COG office in downtown Washington, DC, requiring the ability to operate a motor vehicle to travel to various locations within the region.

WORK ENVIRONMENT: The work environment characteristics are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The office hybrid schedule consists of assigned days for in-office/field work with other days available for telework or in-person work.

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