Overview

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is calling on those who want to help protect American interests and secure our Nation. DHS Components work collectively to prevent terrorism; secure borders and our transportation systems; protect the President and other dignitaries; enforce and administer immigration laws; safeguard cyberspace; and ensure resilience to disasters. We achieve these vital missions through a diverse workforce spanning hundreds of occupations. Make an impact; join DHS.

When disaster strikes, America looks to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Now FEMA looks to you. Join our team and use your talent to support Americans in their times of greatest need. FEMA prepares the nation for all hazards and manages Federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. We foster innovation, reward performance and creativity, and provide challenges on a routine basis with a well-skilled, knowledgeable, high performance workforce. Please visit www.fema.gov for additional information.

EMERGENCY ASSIGNMENT: Every FEMA employee has regular and recurring emergency management responsibilities, though not every position requires routine deployment to disaster sites. All positions are subject to recall around the clock for emergency management operations, which may require irregular work hours, work at locations other than the official duty station, and may include duties other than those specified in the employee’s official position description. Travel requirements in support of emergency operations may be extensive in nature (weeks to months), with little advance notice, and may require employees to relocate to emergency sites with physically austere and operationally challenging conditions.

In this position, you will serve as a Hazard mitigation Community Planner with FEMA’s Region 3 Office. Typical assignments include:

  • Coordinating and providing technical assistance to state and local officials as applicable on the preparation, revision, or updating of hazard mitigation plans to comply with federal requirement, regulation, policies, and guidance.
  • Providing written recommendations for plan improvements
  • Tracking assigned plans through all elements of the review process, including data entry and drafting of review and approval letters. 
  • Coordinating with regional hazard mitigation planning team and supporting other mitigation activities as required.
  • Developing and delivering planning related training to state. local and tribal audiences, conferences and other outreach opportunities. 

Promotion Potential: Positions filled under Stafford Act regulations generally do not have documented promotion potential; however, dependent on an employee’s ability to perform higher level duties, the continuing need for an employee to perform work associated with a higher level position, and administrative recommendation and approval, promotions may be earned by CORE employees.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • You must be a U.S. citizen to be considered for this position.
  • You must successfully pass a background investigation.
  • Travel will be required.
  • You must be able to obtain and maintain a Government credit card.
  • Selective service registration is required for males born after 12/31/59.
  • Please review “Other Information” section for additional key requirements.

To ensure the accomplishment of our mission, DHS requires every employee to be reliable and trustworthy. To meet those standards, all selected applicants must undergo, successfully pass, and maintain a background investigation as a condition of placement into this position. This may include a credit check after initial job qualifications are determined, a review of financial issues, such as delinquency in the payment of debts, child support and/or tax obligations, as well as certain criminal offenses and illegal use or possession of drugs (please visit: Mythbuster on Federal Hiring Policies for additional information). For more information on background investigations for Federal jobs please visit OPM Investigations.

Please ensure you meet the qualification requirements described below.

Qualifications

The qualification requirements listed below must be met within 30 days of the closing date of the announcement.

Degree: community planning; or related field such as urban affairs, architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, sociology, geography, economics, political science, or public administration that included at least 12 semester hours in the planning process, socioeconomic and physical elements of planning, urban and regional economic analysis, and development finance.

OR

Combination of education and experience: courses equivalent to a major in one of the above disciplines, or a combination of related courses totaling at least 24 semester hours in any combination of the above disciplines of which at least 12 semester hours were in the planning process, and socioeconomic and physical elements of planning, plus appropriate experience or additional education.

Note: Applicants with degrees in related fields, such as those listed above, who do not have the 12 semester hours of specified course work must have had at least 1 year of work experience in community planning acquired under the supervision and guidance of a community planner.

In addition to the basic requirements listed above, you must meet the following specialized experience requirement(s) to be considered for the position:

You qualify for this position at the IC-11 level if you possess the following: One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade (IC-09) in the Federal Service.  This experience may have been gained in the federal government, a state or local government, a non-profit organization, the private sector, or as a volunteer; however, your resume must clearly describe at least one year of specialized experience.  Specialized experience for this position includes:

  1. Applying hazard mitigation laws, regulations, and policies;
  2. Evaluating community planning projects and preparing reports; and
  3. Developing and preparing briefing materials for stakeholders.

You qualify for this position at the IC-12 level if you possess the following: One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade (IC-11) in the Federal Service.  This experience may have been gained in the federal government, a state or local government, a non-profit organization, the private sector, or as a volunteer; however, your resume must clearly describe at least one year of specialized experience.  Specialized experience for this position includes:

  1. Reviewing or evaluating multi-hazard mitigation plans for compliance;
  2. Gathering, managing, and analyzing data, such as Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) or risk analysis to reduce vulnerability to potential hazards; and
  3. Coordinating with external stakeholders such as State, Tribal, or local officials to meet program goals.

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.

Your application must show that you meet all requirements for this position. You may be found “not qualified” if you do not possess the minimum competencies required for the position.

NOTE: Qualifications are based on breadth/level of experience. In addition to describing duties performed, applicants must provide the exact dates of each period of employment (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY) and the number of hours worked per week if part time. As qualification determinations cannot be made when resumes do not include the required information, failure to provide this information may result in disqualification. Applicants are encouraged to use the USAJOBS Resume Builder to develop their federal resume. For a brief video on How to Create a Federal Resume, click here. NOTE: If you are using the USAJOBS Resume Builder, please insert the dates of employment in MM/DD/YY format at the top of the “Duties, Accomplishments, and Related Skills” text field for each period of employment included on your resume.

Current or former FEMA Reservists/DAE employees: To accurately credit your experience for these intermittent positions, make sure to list the dates (from MM/DD/YY to MM/DD/YY) of each deployment, along with the job title and specific duties you were responsible for during each deployment.  Failure to provide this information may result in disqualification.

Education

NOTE:  If you are qualifying based on education and/or are selected for a position which requires a college degree to meet minimum qualification requirements, you will be required to submit your official college transcript(s) at time of selection. 

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