Emergency Management Specialist

Emergency Management Specialist

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania

Salary Range: $89508 - $116362 Per Year

Job Summary: The incumbent is responsible for preparing for and carrying out or coordinating emergency functions to prevent, protect from, mitigate against, prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies and disasters. The incumbent serves and assists the various program coordinators relating to Emergency Management (EM), Safety, Pharmacy Cache, Clinical Support, and Law Enforcement.

Major Duties:

• The incumbent develops and coordinates all VAMC emergency plans and exercises in accordance with VHA Directive 0320 and supporting appendices, and the VHA Emergency Operations Plan which encompasses Continuity of Operations (COOP). Collaborates with community partners to support the execution of national objectives. Employee will be the primary point of contact and Liaison in managing intra and interagency VA contingency support of Department of Defense (DoD), VA health and medical support of the National Response Framework (NRF) and other applicable authorities and support provided through the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS). This position interacts in a professional and competent manner daily with individuals of executive level responsibilities and authority. In this position the EMS represents the Associate Director or Executive Leadership at key planning sessions, after actions reviews, response planning, NDMS, VA/DoD Contingency and Emergency Support Function (ESF) #8 meetings, conferences, forums and symposiums; as well as any applicable ad hoc meetings that may present. As a VAMC representative, the requirements for the position will require the incumbent to be detail oriented and address complicated and complex issues requiring tact and diplomacy. Duties and Responsibilities: Program Oversight and Growth - 35% The incumbent is responsible for coordinating the Healthcare System efforts and engaging staff, as well as the functions required to manage the Comprehensive Emergency Management Program (CEMP) Develop, implement, sustain, and maintain policies and guidance within the VHA, local, and community The incumbent is further responsible for ensuring the emergency response results and conclusions lead to a continual improvement of the emergency management program throughout the healthcare system Provides leadership with direction management, professional and technical expertise regarding the development and implementation of the CEMP Resource Management and Contingency Operations - 35% The incumbent functions as the local program manager for the Disaster Emergency Personnel System (DEMPS), which is a program comprised of qualified volunteers who register and train in disaster management and support national deployment requirements The incumbent recruits, evaluates, identifies, and trains specifically qualified volunteers to support national task orders Approval for DEMPS deployments are coordinate through VHA OEM, VISN and Medical Center Director Exercise, Evaluation, and Community Relations - 30% Incumbent reviews, analyzes and coordinates the implementation and evaluation of exercises to test and analyze the healthcare system's comprehensive emergency management plans and associated programs which includes collaboration and integration with the Safety, Patient Safety, Office of Public Affairs, VA Police programs Assists in the planning and designing exercise scenarios using Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) principles that meet program objectives and provide measurable outcomes Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday to Friday, 8am to 430pm (position is required to work during emergencies, training, outside of normal business hours) Compressed/Flexible: Not Available Telework: This position may be authorized for ad-hoc telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position Position Description/PD#: Emergency Management Specialist/PD99789S Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Qualifications: To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 05/11/2026. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Preferred Experience: Previous experience in emergency management is necessary Ability to respond quickly to emergency situations where degree of hazard could be of a high nature; knowledge of a variety of emergency, contingency and operations plans, policies, and directives enough to provide advice and assistance. Skill in applying basic data gathering methodologies to collect various types of information and knowledge of database entry programs and management Extensive knowledge of the Microsoft Office Suite software (Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint) is required You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Knowledge of the pertinent laws, objectives, precedents, guidelines and policies governing various emergency management programs and operations enough to assist with development and execution of a comprehensive emergency management program. Knowledge of analytical and evaluation methods and thorough understanding of how regulatory programs are administered to select and apply program evaluation and measurement techniques (data gathering methodologies) in determining compliance with emergency preparedness and management rules and regulations. Ability to respond quickly to emergency situations where degree of hazard could be of a high nature; knowledge of a variety of emergency, contingency and operations plans, policies, and directives enough to provide advice and assistance. Previous experience in emergency management is required. Skill in applying basic data gathering methodologies to collect various types of information and knowledge of database entry programs and management. Extensive knowledge of the Microsoft Office Suite software (Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint) is required. 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; religions; 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. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary during non-emergency situations. However, participation in field exercises and operational support missions may require strenuous physical activity to include carrying persons and equipment, walking long distance, climbing, working long hours, long periods of standing, and bending and stooping. May include various housing and living conditions to include non-climate controlled, limited privacy sleeping facilities (for example, cots, tents, "hot-bunking", gymnasiums, or similar), limited shower and laundry facilities, and limited feeding options (such as shelf-stable meals, meals-ready-to-eat (MRE's), and field kitchens). Incumbent must have and maintain a valid motor vehicle operator's license. During emergency situations the incumbent may be required to remain available 24 hours per day, seven days per week for multiple weeks. Incumbent is subject to work under emergency notification and contact procedures. EMS will be provided and must carry a government provided mobile communication device. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

How to Apply: All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 05/11/2026 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12947427. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at: https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/merit-hiring-plan-resources/applicant-guidance-on-the-two-page-resume-limit/ The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

Application Deadline: 2026-05-11