Community Disaster Program Specialist

American Red Cross•Des Moines, IA

3d•$51,200 - $52,253

About The Position

The Community Disaster Program Specialist guides, leads, and supports trained volunteer teams delivering comfort and care during disasters. The role builds and maintains strong volunteer engagement, helps prepare communities to respond, and supports disaster cycle services in an assigned geographic area. The specialist works with volunteers, community partners, and local organizations to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters, with particular attention to frontline communities and accessible, equitable services. Regional disaster employees are required to deploy to disaster relief operations outside their region at least once a year. Employees must meet applicable training and physical-capacity requirements for deployment. Candidates within 50 miles of the Des Moines, Iowa chapter are preferred; relocation assistance is not available. Chapter-based employees are expected to work daily in their assigned geographic area, while regional employees work daily within their region.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree, or an equivalent combination of education and related experience.
At least 3 years of related experience.
Current valid driver's license and good driving record.
Ability to coordinate staff and volunteer activities.
Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills.
Demonstrated collaboration with diverse groups and individuals representative of the community, management of multiple priorities, facilitation, problem solving, marketing, leadership, and partnership management.
Intermediate proficiency with Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
Ability to work outside regular duty hours, including nights and weekends.
Ability to meet training and physical-capacity requirements for disaster deployments.
Ability to work daily in the assigned geographic area or region, as applicable.

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated ability to inspire and coordinate volunteers and foster a sense of purpose and community impact.
Experience building strong relationships with diverse community groups to drive participation and support.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including public speaking, presentations, and group facilitation.
Proficiency with digital tools, databases, and the full Microsoft Office Suite to streamline processes, support data accuracy, and produce documentation, reports, and presentations.

Responsibilities

Facilitate and support diverse volunteer teams implementing volunteer-led disaster cycle services, ensuring services are rapid, accessible, equitable, and culturally and linguistically appropriate.
Assist with implementation of specific disaster cycle services program activities or functions in an assigned geographic area.
Engage disaster volunteers, who are the primary workforce, and support representation of the communities they serve.
Support local efforts to prepare and mobilize communities and engage partners in disaster and emergency preparation, response, and recovery.
Implement plans to meet assigned volunteer-engagement and volunteer-led Disaster Action Team response targets for local home fires, or support assigned functional tasks.
Serve as a local point of contact for partners and communities, partnering with organizations and leaders to support frontline communities and community resiliency before, during, and after disasters.
Participate in regional disaster response operations after completing required training.
Deploy to disaster relief operations outside the employee's region at least once a year, subject to applicable requirements.