COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST

City of New York • New York, NY

7d • $70,652 - $74,955 • Hybrid

About The Position

New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM) helps New Yorkers before, during, and after emergencies through preparedness, education, and response. NYCEM is responsible for coordinating citywide emergency planning and response for all types and scales of emergencies. We are staffed by more than 200 dedicated professionals with diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise, including individuals assigned from other City agencies. The Community Engagement Bureau helps communities become more resilient by providing guidance for community emergency planning for the most common hazards in New York City and connecting established community organizations and networks to the Emergency Operations Center. Through outreach and training, the Community Preparedness division brings together leaders from volunteer programs, community and nonprofit organizations, and government to promote preparedness at the local level. The Community Preparedness unit provides programming to help local nonprofit and faith-based organizations build capacity within their communities to be able to respond to and recover from emergencies. Through programs such as Strengthening Communities, the unit provides training, resources, and support to integrate community networks in the emergency management cycle. The Community Engagement Specialist position requires a creative and proactive individual who has demonstrated excellent community development and communication skills as well as cultural and religious literacy. The position requires someone who has knowledge of New York City and has shown commitment to developing community resiliency and working with vulnerable populations. This role supports the implementation and expansion of the Strengthening Communities program, and the training of community networks that enhance preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation capabilities across New York City.

Requirements

• A four-year high school diploma or its educational equivalent approved by a state's department of education or a recognized accrediting organization and six years of satisfactory full-time professional experience in one or a combination of the following: emergency management, fire, police, or military service, public safety, public health, public administration, urban planning, engineering, or another specialized area to which the appointment is to be made; or
• A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and two years of satisfactory full time professional experience in the areas listed in "1" above; or
• A master's degree from an accredited college in emergency management, public administration, urban planning, engineering, economics, political science, the physical sciences ,or related field and one year of satisfactory full-time professional experience in the areas listed “1" above, at least two years of which must have been in one of those areas, or another specialized area to which the appointment is to be made.
• Education and/or experience equivalent to "1", "2", or "3" above. However, all candidates must have a four-year high school diploma or its educational equivalent.
• Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States without employer support to be eligible for selection.
• The selected candidate will be required to be in person in the office location three days per week, with exceptions for extenuating circumstances.

Nice To Haves

• Ability to interact respectfully and professionally with persons who have different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds and work well independently as well as part of a team.
• Excellent written and oral communication and organizational skills.
• Knowledge of and experience in working with community-based organizations, government agencies, local department of social services sites, and city-wide coalitions.
• Experience organizing and managing community engagement events or programs.
• Ability to travel between and throughout NYC boroughs.
• Proficiency with virtual platforms such as Zoom, MS Teams, etc.
• Bilingual or multilingual skills a plus.
• Experience with ArcGIS or similar tools is desirable.
• Proven ability in the following areas: Knowledge, Work Ethic and Productivity, Strategic Problem Solving and Innovation, Effective Communication, Teamwork.

Responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate outreach to faith-based organizations, community-based organizations, networks, and coalitions throughout the five boroughs.
• Recruit, onboard, and support new partners participating in the Strengthening Communities program.
• Facilitate community emergency planning training classes to build the capacity of community-based organizations and houses of worship to prepare for and respond to emergencies.
• Lead data collection and data analysis for the unit. integrating existing data into a centralized database.
• Implement a data analytics framework to measure program impact, partner engagement, and changes in community capacity over time. Monitor and create reports captured in ArcGIS tools and other databases
• Plan and conduct special community emergency preparedness events including public presentations and training workshops.
• Support and enhance internal coordination among community outreach and volunteer programs and other emergency planning initiatives.
• Serve as a reliable NYCEM Community Engagement connection to community and faith-based organizations and houses of worship.
• Support community emergency networks through the entire emergency management cycle (preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation).
• Collaborate and contribute to the Community Engagement Bureau goals, priorities and programming by working with Ready NY, CERT, and other NYC Emergency Management units.
• Serve as an Emergency Support Function (ESF) Coordinator in the City’s Emergency Operations Center.
• Any other tasks assigned by the Director.

Benefits

• The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: High school or GED