Emergency Management and Business Continuity Program Manager

Avista•Spokane, WA

2h•$88,336 - $162,614•Hybrid

About The Position

This position leads and supports the company’s enterprise Emergency Management and Business Continuity programs to strengthen organizational preparedness, resilience, and operational continuity. It develops, implements, sustains, and continuously improves an integrated all-hazards framework encompassing emergency preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery; business continuity; crisis and incident management; business impact analysis; IT disaster recovery alignment; training and exercises; and corrective action management. The role partners across all lines of business and with external agencies and community partners to help the company sustain critical operations and recover effectively from disruptive events. Hybrid work options are available. The successful candidate must work at the Spokane, Washington headquarters at least three days per week, including Mondays and Tuesdays, with additional days determined by the manager. The position offers multiple levels, Program Manager I and Program Manager II, depending on the candidate’s knowledge, skills, and experience.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree from a regionally or nationally accredited college or university in Information Technology, Business Administration, Emergency Management, Security, or a related field.
Effective and flexible written and verbal communication skills, including presentation and public speaking.
Demonstrated skill in organizing resources and establishing priorities.
Ability to establish goals and objectives, effectively plan work activities, schedules, priorities, and utilization of resources, and use appropriate technology to organize, synthesize, and communicate data.
Program Manager I: Three years of progressively increasing responsibility in areas such as business continuity, disaster recovery, emergency management, security and technology contingency planning, including risk assessment and resilience planning activities, and project/program management.
Program Manager II: Seven years of progressively increasing responsibility in areas such as business continuity, disaster recovery, emergency management, security, and technology contingency planning, including risk assessment and resilience planning activities, and project/program management.
Program Manager II: Comprehensive knowledge of budget principles, development, and administration.
Other combinations of education and experience may be considered.

Nice To Haves

CFCP (Certified Functional Continuity Professional) and/or CBCP (Certified Business Continuity Professional) certification.
Project Management or Program Management experience.
Understanding of utility operations.

Responsibilities

Develop, implement, maintain, and continuously improve enterprise Emergency Management and Business Continuity plans, standards, tools, and documentation.
Support all-hazards preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery while maintaining alignment with Incident Command System and Emergency Operations Center frameworks.
Develop program strategy, governance, priorities, performance measures, reporting practices, and multi-year improvement plans.
Conduct business impact analyses and risk assessments; identify critical processes, dependencies, recovery requirements, limitations, and emerging risks.
Align business continuity strategies with IT disaster recovery and cyber incident response capabilities, including recovery time and recovery point objectives.
Design and evaluate training, tabletop, functional, and full-scale exercises; conduct after-action reviews and track corrective actions.
Maintain program records, metrics, schedules, reports, and communications; provide leaders with readiness assessments and recommended actions.
Oversee program tools and technologies, develop enterprise training resources, support plan administrators, and drive adoption across business units.
Build relationships with internal leaders, plan owners, vendors, agencies, first responders, utilities, industry groups, and community partners.
Represent the company in external forums, exercises, and regional initiatives; provide coordination or advisory support during significant incidents.
Monitor requirements, leading practices, and industry trends, and implement improvements that strengthen resilience, safety, and operational continuity.