Public Warning Specialist

City of New York • Brooklyn, NY

11d • 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. The Public Warning Unit operates 24 hours per day and seven days per week out of Watch Command, NYCEM’s operations center. Public Warning staff work in conjunction with the Interagency Coordination and Monitoring staff to monitor citywide radio frequencies; local, national, and international media; and social media to identify incidents impacting NYC and are responsible for the corresponding dissemination of Notify NYC alerts and notifications. The NYCEM Public Warning unit is also responsible for activation of the City’s Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) and Emergency Alert System. Public Warning Specialists (PWS) work within Watch Command, NYCEM’s 24/7 Operations Center. PWS’s are responsible for the monitoring of incidents throughout the City, issuing Notify NYC messages as needed, and activating FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS) during major emergencies.

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 (6) 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
• A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and two (2) years of satisfactory full-time professional experience in the areas listed in "1" above
• 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 (1) year of satisfactory full-time professional experience in the areas listed “1" above, at least two (2) 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

• Bilingual writer/speaker
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Excellent analytical and organizational skills
• Strong technology skills with proficiency in Microsoft Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, and Power Point
• Report writing skills
• Ability to work in high stress, fast paced environments
• Demonstrates or has the ability to develop the knowledge necessary to perform the responsibilities of the position.
• Produces consistently high quality, accurate, and on-time deliverables; takes responsibility, is dependable, and accountable, and follows through; is responsive to requests from leadership.
• Is thoughtful and deliberate in approach to solving problems; demonstrates innovation and creative thinking.
• Demonstrates the ability to communicate information clearly and effectively to diverse audiences, including during time-sensitive and high-pressure situations.
• Encourage collaboration and motivate others; is able to both lead and follow when necessary; is an active listener and consider a broad range of perspectives.

Responsibilities

• Prepare and disseminate notifications, alerts, and messages for Notify NYC, the City of New York's official source for information about emergency events and important City services
• Provide ongoing system monitoring
• Ensure that public safety communications are properly processed
• Ensure that data is correctly formatted; Perform quality assurance assessments of data
• Perform testing and maintenance of notification systems
• Prepare operational reports and analysis
• Monitor multiple sources of information related to data telecommunications
• Communicate with various agencies and organizations to confirm the scope and impact of data relating to incidents
• Support the collection and analysis of data utilizing multiple sources of information, including GIS, to develop reporting systems
• Participate in telecommunications testing and coordinate special projects as assigned
• Assist with Ready New York presentations to external groups
• Participates on an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) team. During emergency activations, team members may be required to work evenings, weekends, holidays, or extended shifts in support of City response operations.
• Outside of activations, EOC members participate in periodic training and exercises to maintain operational readiness, and may volunteer to assist with Ready NY emergency preparedness presentations to external groups.
• EOC teams are on call for three weeks at a time, with six weeks off in between.

Benefits

• New York City residency is generally required within 90 days of appointment. However, City Employees in certain titles who have worked for the City for 2 continuous years may also be eligible to reside in Nassau, Suffolk, Putnam, Westchester, Rockland, or Orange County through a waiver process.

What This Job Offers

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