Emergency Management Specialist

Summary

You will serve as a Emergency Management Specialist with Office of the Secretary of Interior.

The OEM provides policy direction and coordination for nationwide emergency management and continuity activities across the Department of the Interior and its component Bureaus and Offices.

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Duties

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Serves as a subject matter expert in the Department's continuity program, specifically focused on the succession program. Co-leads and advises on planning, preparedness, and policy (PPP) activities for continuity plans and programs, with particular focus on the succession program, to support the resilience of DOI's essential functions and command and control.

Manages and updates all Departmental succession program documentation, contact rosters, training modules, and standard operating procedures and liaises with the Interior Operations Center (IOC) concerning real-time succession program updates and issues.

Serves as the primary point of contact for the Secretary's Detail Team on behalf of all continuity matters, particularly with regard to succession.

Leads a component of the Department's participation in continuity communications testing and compliance program, including scheduling, planning, and executing operational testing and compliance at a single location; engages with and tracks participation; collaborates on testing agendas; and manages compliance reporting procedures.

Manages, reviews, revises, updates, and distributes continuity plans and policies in accordance with external requirements. Represents the Department on working groups to address government-wide continuity policy and operational issues.

Serves as technical expert and provides advice and guidance to support the maintenance and update of the Department's Continuity Plan, assuring compliance with interagency policies.

Provides planning and implementation efforts required by national continuity policy for the DOI Continuity Operations activities and the Continuity of Government (COG) programs, including the formulation of Department-wide policy.

Provides continuity PPP development assistance to the Interior Bureaus' and Offices' continuity programs to promote compliance with emergency management, continuity, resilience, and risk management directives, regulations, and programmatic requirements and standards.

Participates in and represents the Department on internal and external planning and policy committees related to continuity policy and operations. Leads coordination with partner agencies to develop and manage agreements for space and infrastructure support that support continuity requirements.

Serves as the on-site coordinator in Washington, D.C. in the absence of the Assistant Director, Continuity Programs Division.

Plans and executes resilience-driven activations, including real-world and training/exercise events.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
• Appointment subject to background investigation and favorable adjudication.
• Males born after 12-31-59 must be registered for Selective Service.
• Direct Deposit participation required.
• Successfully pass the E-Verify employment verification check. To learn more, visit
• Pre-employment and random drug testing is required. You will not be appointed to the position if a verified positive drug test is received.

Probationary period - As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you may be required to serve a 1 year probationary period to evaluate your fitness and whether your continuation of employment advances the public interest.

This probationary period is an extension of the appointment process and therefore requires the agency to determine if continued employment would advance the public interest, meet the organization goals and mission of the agency, and/or otherwise promote the efficiency of the service. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, the agency will consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Under applicable law, the employment of an individual serving a probationary or trial period automatically terminates when that period ends unless the agency affirmatively certifies, in writing, that the individual's employment should continue and that their appointment should be finalized. In the absence of agency action to affirmatively certify continued employment beyond the probationary or trial period, such appointments are terminated. Upon completion of your probationary period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

This is a supervisory position that may require completion of a supervisory probationary period.

Qualifications

All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement - 10/20/2026-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement. Competitive candidates must also meet Time-in-Grade requirements as defined in 5 CFR 300, Subpart F.

For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of specialized experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience . For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the work schedule requirement as the service dates will be reflected. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience.

To qualify for this position at the GS-13 grade level:

Experience : To qualify, you must possess at least one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-12 level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is defined as demonstrated experience:

1) In continuity, serving as a lead on planning, preparedness, and policy activities for continuity plans and programs;

2) Participating in, and managing, continuity communications testing activities

3) Representing the organization on continuity planning and policy committees, coordinates partner agency agreements for continuity-related support, and preparing and delivering briefings to senior leadership on continuity activities and execution; and,

4) Planning and executing resilience-driven site activations, including real-world and training and exercise events.

Applicants must meet all specialized experience statement described above.

You must include hours per week worked.

Volunteer Experience: 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 can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Education

This position does not allow substituting education for experience.

Additional information

If otherwise eligible and qualified, you may be offered a recruitment or relocation incentive. The decision to offer an incentive will be made on a case-by-case basis and is neither promised nor guaranteed. For information visit: Recruitment Incentive or Relocation Incentive. A continued service agreement may be required if it is determined you are eligible for a permanent change in duty station (PCS), recruitment, or relocation incentive.

All DOI employees, their spouses, and minor children may not acquire or retain any claim, permit, lease, small tract entry, or other rights granted by the Department in Federal lands, with limited exceptions. Additional ethics prohibitions can be found here, DOI Ethics Prohibitions | U.S. Department of the Interior.

Physical Demands/Work Environment: Duties involve office type work with periodic field activity characterized by moderate physical exertion. Individuals must be able to operate in austere and operationally challenging environments during activations or deployments. Demanding travel and/or work schedules may be required during emergencies. The incumbent must be prepared to work extended hours during emergency operations with little or no notice. The position may also require the incumbent to don respiratory or other personal protective equipment.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.