About The Position
This is an open position with FirstEnergy Service Company, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. This is a full-time, on-site position located in either Holmdel, NJ; Morristown, NJ or Akron, OH. The Director, Emergency Preparedness is responsible for leading FirstEnergy’s emergency preparedness, response, and mitigation programs. This role ensures the organization adequately prepares for and appropriately recovers from severe weather events, natural disasters, and other emergencies by integrating real-time meteorology, data science, situational awareness, fire science, advanced technology, and operational intelligence practices. The Director serves as the strategic leader for emergency planning and response and provides oversight, consultation, and guidance to operating companies to ensure a cohesive and consistent approach to emergency preparedness and responding to major restoration events. The position coordinates closely with operations, executive leadership, regulators, emergency management agencies, and external partners to protect employees, customers, and critical infrastructure.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in emergency management, Engineering, Meteorology, Data Science, or a related field required.
- Minimum of ten (10) years of progressive experience in emergency preparedness, electric utility operations, or incident management.
- Demonstrated leadership experience managing major storm events and large-scale electric system restoration activities.
- Experience with utility mutual assistance networks and large event logistics.
- Strong working knowledge of electric utility operations, ICS/NIMS, and regulatory requirements.
- Proven ability to leverage weather data, analytics, and technology in operational decision-making.
- Strategic leadership during high-impact, time-sensitive events.
- Advanced situational awareness and analytical decision-making capability.
- Strong collaboration across operating companies and enterprise functions.
- Effective executive communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
- Ability to lead organizational change and drive continuous improvement.
Nice To Haves
- Master’s degree or advanced certification (CEM, PMP, Lean/Six Sigma, or similar) preferred.
Responsibilities
- Lead the development, execution, and continuous improvement of Emergency Operations Plans (EOPs).
- Direct preparedness and response activities for major system emergencies, including severe storms, wildfires, heat events, winter weather, and infrastructure failures.
- Oversee incident command activation and ensure compliance with Incident Command System (ICS) and National Incident Management System (NIMS) principles.
- Lead after‑action reviews and ensure corrective actions are identified, implemented, and tracked.
- Drive organizational change initiatives that embed preparedness, resilience, and continuous improvement into electric operations culture.
- Oversee the use of real-time and forecast meteorological data to anticipate electric system impacts and restoration challenges.
- Translate complex weather and operational intelligence into actionable guidance for electric operations leaders and executive leadership.
- Establish and maintain enterprise situational awareness capabilities integrating weather intelligence, outage management systems, crew status, and electric system conditions.
- Ensure accurate, timely, and consistent information flow during emergency events.
- Apply data science and predictive analytics to improve outage forecasting, crew staging, damage assessment, and restoration prioritization.
- Establish and track key performance indicators (KPIs) for preparedness, response, restoration, and resilience.
- Lead performance reporting, trend analysis, and executive-level reporting related to emergency preparedness and response.
- Develop executive dashboards, status reports, and briefings to support real-time operational and strategic decision-making.
- Provide strategic oversight of emergency preparedness and response technologies, including: Outage Management Systems (OMS), Weather intelligence platforms, Situational awareness and reporting tools, Emergency notification and communication systems
- Drive continuous improvement and adoption of emerging technologies that enhance electric restoration performance and grid resilience.
- Partner with analytics, GIS, engineering, and operations teams to identify asset vulnerabilities, risk trends, and mitigation opportunities.
- Coordinate emergency communications with Corporate Communications, Customer Experience, and Government Affairs teams.
- Establish and maintain effective business relationships with internal stakeholders, regulatory agencies, community emergency organizations, and public safety partners.
- Serve as the primary liaison for emergency preparedness with regulators, emergency management agencies, and governmental partners.
- Ensure compliance with regulatory standards, emergency preparedness requirements, and reporting obligations.
- Support post‑event regulatory inquiries, audits, and investigations using documented performance metrics.
- Establish governance standards and guidelines to ensure consistency across operating companies.
- Lead enterprise emergency preparedness training programs, drills, and large‑scale storm exercises.
- Ensure operations leadership and staff are trained on emergency roles, procedures, and tools.
- Align mitigation planning with capital investment, asset management, and long‑term system planning strategies.
- Identify and prioritize system vulnerabilities and resilience improvement opportunities across the electric grid.
Benefits
- competitive pay plus incentive compensation
- a company-sponsored pension plan
- 401(k) savings plan with matching employer contribution
- a choice of medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, and life insurance programs
- skills development training with tuition reimbursement
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
