Emergency Preparedness & Response (EP&R) Manager

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Arlington County requires all applicants to thoroughly complete each section of the application, including prior job responsibilities, duties, and supplemental questions. While you may attach a resume, it will not replace a completed application. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Arlington County Department of Human Services (DHS) Public Health Division is seeking an experienced Emergency Preparedness & Response (EP&R) Manager to lead the EP&R Unit staff and oversee operational, planning, logistics, finance, and administration aspects of emergency preparedness programs. This position involves close collaboration and communication with government and community partners. To learn about Public Health services, please visit here.

The EP&R Unit is responsible for ensuring community wide plans for outbreaks and/or public health emergencies when large swaths of the community are at risk from adverse exposures or are expected to have adverse outcomes requiring mitigation strategies. This unit develops plans, public health staff trainings, exercises for environmental health and homeland security threats, and Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) volunteers to assess the success of the plans and training. This unit is responsible for training staff to work in census tracts with the most vulnerable populations to make them more resilient before a disaster happens. 

Specific duties include:

• Providing leadership, management and supervision for the staff of Planners, MRC Coordinator, and Community Outreach Lead for planning, training, and exercise programs within the unit’s purview;
• Assessing the implementation of training and exercise needs of the division and the community with respect to standard emergency preparedness and response, up to and including pandemic response;
• Collaborating with division, department, county government partners as well as regional, state and national partners for emergency preparedness and response;
• Establishing and/or updating business processes including continuity of operations and data analysis with appropriate policies, plans and procedures based on needs of the unit and the community and ensure business processes are followed; and
• Providing leadership, management and direction for integrating the Department’s vision, mission, and values by Division and/or Department Staff.

The ideal candidate will possess:

• Strong critical thinking, analytical and decision-making skills;
• The ability to use data to inform decisions, monitor progress and make decisions;
• The ability to interact effectively and build productive relationships with managers, employees, health care and human services practitioners, clients, community members, and elected officials;
• Proficiency in uses and applications of technology for business practices, including data management; and
• Strong verbal and writing skills.

About DHS
Arlington County DHS is committed to delivering client services in an effective, equitable, respectful, and trauma-informed manner. Our staff is dedicated to ensuring our clients are approached, engaged and cared for in ways that demonstrate competency, sensitivity and awareness of factors which impact the client experience including but not limited to: cultural identity, gender, racial, and ethnic diversity, religious/spiritual ascription, physical capability, cognitive and literacy levels, sexual orientation, and linguistic needs

Minimum:

• Master’s Degree in Public Health; plus
• Significant and progressively responsible experience in communicable disease and emergency preparedness and response, preferably with a federal, state or local public health agency.

Desirable:

• Direct experience performing in a leadership role in a public health emergency;
• Proficiency with National Incident Management System (NIMS) and ICS (Incident Command System) for emergency response, especially any, or all, of the following ICS courses: 100, 200, 300, 400, 700, 800;
• Knowledge of assessment approach and communication principles to risk due to exposures, outcomes and/or mitigation strategies;
• Knowledge of and experience in program performance assessment and continuous process improvement.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS

A pre-hire federal background check will be made on all candidates who are selected for employment. It may include checks of the following: criminal record, driving record, education, professional licensure, and credit history. You may be required to sign a release authorizing the County to obtain your background information. Additionally, you will be required to complete a State of Virginia Central Registry Check.

This position will require travel around Arlington County for various meetings and field inspections. Applicant must possess, or obtain by time of appointment, a valid motor vehicle operator's license from the applicant's place of residence.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Work Hours: 40 hours per week, Monday – Friday, core hours being 8:00am-5:00pm with some flexibility. This position is identified as Essential Personnel and must be available to work during unscheduled leave, County closures, weekends, evening, holidays, and County disasters; during emergencies, may be assigned to an alternate work site or set of duties including responding to the County Emergency Operations Center. Some telework may be available, contingent upon supervisor approval and workload.

The official job title is Public Health Emergency Manager.

#LI-Hybrid