Director, Emergency Preparedness and Safety

New England Aquarium•Boston, MA

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, Emergency Preparedness and Safety leads the Aquarium’s emergency preparedness, safety, security, and business resilience efforts to protect employees, volunteers, visitors, animals, facilities, and operations. The role provides organizational leadership in developing and maintaining programs that identify and mitigate risks, strengthen safety culture and emergency preparedness, ensure regulatory compliance, and enable the Aquarium to prevent, respond to, and recover from emergencies and operational disruptions. The Director collaborates across departments to make safety and emergency preparedness a shared responsibility and embed safe practices in everyday operations, organizational planning, and projects. This is a full-time regular position with a comprehensive benefits package. The schedule is Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with an option for a hybrid schedule. Remote work is available only to residents of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, New York, and Vermont.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in emergency management, Public Safety, Homeland Security, Public Health, or a related field.
5–7 years of experience in emergency management, crisis response, public safety, public health preparedness, or related operational leadership roles.
Direct experience in a workplace health and safety role with deep knowledge of OSHA, ANSI, and local regulatory standards.
FEMA Incident Command System (ICS) and National Incident Management System (NIMS) certifications, or ability to obtain them within a designated timeframe.
Knowledge of emergency operations, continuity planning, regulatory compliance, and risk mitigation practices.
Strong leadership, organizational, and crisis management skills.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including crisis communications, training, and public speaking.
Ability to evaluate and communicate operational risks to executive leadership and stakeholders clearly, strategically, and actionably.
Demonstrated ability to make rapid, sound decisions in high-pressure situations.
Strong collaboration and stakeholder relationship management abilities.
Ability to manage multiple priorities with professionalism, discretion, and sound judgment.
Analytical thinking, strong operational execution, and problem-solving capabilities.

Nice To Haves

Experience coordinating incident response and collaborating with EMS within large, complex, or public-facing organizations.
Certified Emergency Manager (CEM), CBCP, or related professional certification.
Experience in large campuses, public-facing institutions, museums, zoos, aquariums, healthcare, higher education, or similar complex environments.

Responsibilities

Serve as the Aquarium’s primary liaison, as appropriate, with local, state, and federal emergency management agencies, law enforcement, fire departments, public health agencies, homeland security agencies, and other emergency response partners.
Partner with departments to identify critical functions, dependencies, vulnerabilities, and recovery priorities.
Incorporate business continuity and resilience considerations into strategic and operational planning, capital projects, facility changes, technology initiatives, and other organizational decisions.
Oversee security and access-control practices for the Boston and Quincy campuses in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.
Lead development, maintenance, and continuous improvement of the Aquarium’s Emergency Management Plan and incident command system, including procedures, protocols, training, drills, exercises, and refresher activities.
Lead the Emergency Response Team, ensuring appropriate coverage, training, communications, and operational readiness.
Serve as a key organizational resource during emergency events and support the incident command system and decision-making.
Lead investigations and response following significant incidents, injuries, property damage, security events, or other incidents requiring investigation or insurance involvement.
Lead the Aquarium’s Safety Committee and establish priorities for hazard identification, risk reduction, employee engagement, training, communication, and continuous improvement.
Ensure effective processes for reporting, investigating, tracking, and mitigating workplace hazards, accidents, incidents, and near misses.
Ensure designated employees maintain required licenses, certifications, qualifications, and safety training in compliance with OSHA, the Department of Public Health, and other regulatory agencies.
Ensure accident and incident investigations identify contributing factors and root causes, and develop and monitor corrective and preventive actions.
Coordinate with Talent & Culture regarding workers’ compensation matters and required OSHA recordkeeping and reporting.
Identify emerging compliance requirements and coordinate implementation of changes.
Support executive leadership and the Board, as appropriate, with reporting on operational risks, trends, preparedness metrics, and mitigation efforts.
Promote management accountability for safety and emergency preparedness and provide leaders with tools and guidance to manage safety within their areas.
Develop and maintain an annual safety and risk-management work plan and report progress, trends, and significant risks to organizational leadership.
Evaluate the effectiveness of safety, emergency preparedness, and risk-management programs and implement improvements as needed.