Director, Emergency Management and Preparedness

Chemonics International•USA | Remote - Texas, TX

3d•$100,400 - $125,600

About The Position

The Director, Emergency Management and Preparedness leads Chemonics' market development, client engagement, and strategic positioning across Texas's emergency management and preparedness ecosystem. As the senior in-state representative for this market, the Director develops and executes the state emergency management growth strategy, builds trusted relationships with public-sector and community stakeholders, shapes a qualified pipeline of opportunities, and positions Chemonics for sustained work in preparedness, response, recovery, mitigation, resilience, and grant-funded programs. The Director maintains senior relationships with state, county, and municipal emergency management agencies; regional and special-purpose entities; healthcare coalitions; community-based organizations; private-sector partners; and other stakeholders. The position requires knowledge of the state's emergency management environment, field credibility, and the ability to turn client needs and market intelligence into actionable growth, partnership, and delivery strategies. The role is accountable for developing and maintaining Chemonics' emergency management portfolio in the assigned state. It recommends market priorities, identifies and shapes opportunities, advises leadership on investments and pursuit decisions, supports competitive team formation, and provides senior technical and contextual guidance to proposals and project delivery. It ensures pursuits reflect credible state-specific strategies, relationships, partners, operating realities, and technical approaches.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in emergency management, public administration, public policy, business, planning, homeland security, or a related field, plus at least eight years of progressively responsible relevant experience; equivalent combinations of education, professional training, emergency management credentials, and relevant experience may be considered.
Professional experience in the emergency management environment of the assigned state or a comparable state and local emergency management system.
Experience leading market development, client engagement, emergency management programs, public-sector initiatives, or complex stakeholder relationships.
Strong understanding of state and local emergency management structures, including state agencies, counties, municipalities, regional entities, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector.
Experience in emergency preparedness, response, recovery, mitigation, resilience, grants management, disaster operations, or related disciplines.
Ability to build and sustain trusted relationships with emergency management leaders, public officials, community organizations, technical partners, and private-sector stakeholders.
Experience identifying, shaping, or supporting public-sector business opportunities, procurements, grants, or contracts.
Ability to assess opportunities, develop strategic recommendations, and communicate risks and trade-offs to senior leadership.
Strong written, verbal, facilitation, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills.
Ability to work independently, set priorities, and coordinate effectively across distributed and multidisciplinary teams.
Ability and willingness to travel routinely throughout the assigned state and periodically elsewhere in the United States.
Ability to support time-sensitive or emergency-response activities outside normal business hours when necessary.

Nice To Haves

Ten or more years of progressively responsible experience in emergency management, disaster recovery, public-sector consulting, or a related field.
Leadership experience in a state or local emergency management agency, EOC, disaster recovery organization, or comparable public-sector environment.
Certified Emergency Manager (CEM), Associate Emergency Manager (AEM), or applicable state-level emergency management credential.
Advanced emergency management training in ICS/NIMS, EOC operations, FEMA programs, mitigation, recovery, instructional delivery, or exercise design and evaluation.
Experience with FEMA Public Assistance, Hazard Mitigation Assistance, Homeland Security Grant Program, Emergency Management Performance Grant, healthcare preparedness, or comparable programs.
Experience with state and local public procurement, cooperative purchasing, emergency contracting, or other government contracting mechanisms.
Experience developing partnerships with small businesses, community-based organizations, nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, and specialized technical firms.
Experience leading capture efforts, proposal strategy, oral presentations, or negotiations for public-sector contracts.
Demonstrated ability to lead teams or complex workstreams without relying exclusively on formal supervisory authority.

Responsibilities

Develop and implement Chemonics' emergency management and preparedness market strategy in the assigned state, establishing annual and multi-year objectives for positioning, relationships, pipeline growth, partnerships, and portfolio expansion.
Monitor state emergency management priorities, funding, procurement, policy, operational needs, and competition; translate market intelligence into recommendations for investments, capabilities, partnerships, and business development.
Advise unit and divisional leadership on opportunities, risks, market conditions, strategic choices, and pursuit decisions; monitor portfolio performance and adjust strategy as needed.
Maintain a balanced state portfolio across preparedness, response, recovery, mitigation, resilience, exercises, training, planning, logistics, grants management, and related services, aligned with Chemonics' mission, capabilities, risk posture, and growth objectives.
Serve as the senior relationship lead for state emergency management and preparedness stakeholders; build trusted relationships with state and local agencies, regional entities, healthcare coalitions, public safety organizations, community organizations, and other relevant stakeholders.
Engage public officials, emergency management leaders, procurement officials, program leaders, technical specialists, and community partners to understand priorities and identify opportunities for support.
Represent Chemonics at conferences, association meetings, exercises, workshops, professional forums, and other events; coordinate executive-level stakeholder engagement and maintain relationships beyond individual procurements.
Lead development and management of a qualified pipeline of state and local emergency management opportunities; identify, assess, and advance opportunities aligned with Chemonics' capabilities, priorities, and risk posture.
Direct early capture activities, including client intelligence, stakeholder mapping, competitor and incumbent assessment, procurement forecasting, and opportunity positioning; develop preliminary win strategies and recommend pursuit priorities, investments, teaming, and go/no-go decisions.
Develop opportunity-specific relationship and information-gathering plans; assess opportunity maturity, funding, addressability, and strategic and competitive fit; advise leadership whether to pursue, defer, reshape, partner, or decline.
Facilitate the transition from market development and capture to formal proposal development while remaining a senior market and technical resource.
Develop and manage a strategic network of state and regional firms, consultants, nonprofits, community organizations, academic institutions, and technical specialists across emergency management disciplines.
Evaluate prospective partners for strategic fit, client relationships, qualifications, delivery capacity, geographic reach, compliance, past performance, and reputation; recommend teaming structures and partner roles.
Support strategic partnership negotiations and implementation with contracts, legal, compliance, and business-development functions; connect clients, partners, communities, and Chemonics technical resources.
Serve as a senior capture and technical advisor for priority pursuits; provide state-specific market intelligence, stakeholder analysis, competitive context, client insight, and technical guidance to proposal teams.
Participate in capture planning, solution development, partner selection, staffing strategy, and proposal reviews; review proposals for technical credibility, operational realism, client responsiveness, and state and local relevance.
Help identify qualified personnel, subject-matter experts, consultants, and subcontractors; support oral presentations, interviews, demonstrations, and client engagements for priority procurements.
Use lessons from proposals, debriefings, awards, losses, and project delivery to inform future market and capture strategies.
Provide technical guidance on state and local emergency management systems, EOC operations, preparedness planning, response coordination, disaster recovery, FEMA programs, mitigation, exercises, training, and grant-funded programs.
Advise teams on jurisdiction-specific structures, authorities, terminology, operational practices, and stakeholder expectations; support technically sound, realistic, and locally appropriate solutions.
Identify capability gaps and recommend investments in personnel, partnerships, systems, tools, training, and technical resources; participate in project startup, emergency deployments, quality reviews, AARs, client problem-solving, and corrective action when relevant expertise is needed.
Serve in a technical, advisory, project leadership, or emergency-response role when appropriate and authorized; promote access and functional needs, community engagement, equity, resilience, and whole-community principles.
Shape Chemonics' external positioning on state and local emergency management; identify opportunities for conferences, presentations, panels, association engagement, publications, and other thought leadership.
Work with communications and growth colleagues on capability statements, presentations, case studies, and marketing materials; provide subject-matter input for external communications and represent Chemonics professionally.
Coordinate state market activities across the unit, division, technical practices, proposal and project teams, and corporate support functions; establish priorities, responsibilities, and follow-up actions.
Contribute to portfolio reviews, pipeline discussions, resource planning, budgeting, and annual business planning; guide and mentor staff, consultants, and project personnel supporting the portfolio.
As the portfolio develops, may manage employees, consultants, project teams, or workstreams; support recruitment, onboarding, performance management, and professional development.
Promote collaboration, accountability, sound judgment, and consistent application of Chemonics' policies and values.
Identify reputational, operational, contractual, financial, political, and compliance risks; elevate material risks and sensitive issues to the Principal, SLED, and appropriate corporate stakeholders.
Ensure market-development, capture, and partner-engagement activities comply with ethics, procurement integrity, conflicts-of-interest, gifts, anti-corruption, confidentiality, and information-security requirements.
Maintain accurate records of client engagements, partner discussions, opportunity intelligence, decisions, and follow-up actions in corporate systems.
Support annual operating plans and budgets for state market activities and manage approved resources in accordance with corporate policies and delegated authorities.
Travel routinely throughout the assigned state and periodically elsewhere in the United States, and support time-sensitive or emergency-response activities outside normal business hours when necessary.