Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response

Title:

Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response

Reports To:

Senior Director of I&RStatus:
Exempt Department: I & R

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response oversees and coordinates the agency's emergency preparedness and response functions. This includes spearheading the development, maintenance, and continuous testing and evaluation of 211 LA's emergency response training, protocols, resources, data reporting, and other disaster-related systems. The Director serves as the primary point of contact for government agencies, agency leadership, and surge partners on all emergency preparedness and response matters.

This individual also represents 211 LA in disaster-related collaboratives and mutual aid agreements, ensuring the agency stays connected to critical information, resources, and support during emergency events. Lastly, the Director coordinates the activities of 211 LA's Emergency Management Group during activations and disaster response.

Note:

This position requires residence in Los Angeles County. While primarily remote, it requires occasional in-person meetings and on-site, public-facing presence across multiple activation sites during disasters. The individual must be available on limited notice to work outside normal business hours, including evenings, weekends, holidays, and extended shifts, during emergency activations and other critical events. The ability to respond to emergency assignments with limited notice is an essential function of the position.

Primary Duties These specifications are general guidelines based upon the minimum experience normally considered essential to the satisfactory performance of this job.

Serves as the primary point of contact during an activation for government agencies, agency leadership, and external surge partners.

Leads strategic planning activities related to emergency response services, program expansion, operational capacity, and long-term sustainability, and supports implementation of agency-wide initiatives and priorities.

Identifies new opportunities, funding sources, and strategic partnerships aligned with agency goals and community needs, and supports implementation of agency-wide initiatives and priorities.

Maintains ownership of existing disaster intake systems, Emergency Operations Plans (EOPs), and related response infrastructure, while continuously developing and advancing agency planning and readiness capabilities beyond current baselines.

Proactively identifies gaps in emergency preparedness and response systems, protocols, staffing models, and technology infrastructure, and leads the development and implementation of solutions to close them.

Regularly evaluates and stress-tests operational and programmatic processes through drills, tabletop exercises, and after-action reviews, and recommends improvements to enhance efficiency, service delivery, and response performance.

Partners with the Technology team to design, build, and continuously refine the technical infrastructure needed for disaster response, including real-time dashboards, data reporting tools, and system integrations, maintaining an ongoing collaborative relationship to identify tweaks, fixes, and enhancements as response needs evolve.

Provides regular training to ensure all staff are aware of their roles and responsibilities during emergency events and have a plan in place for their own safety preparedness.

Designs and leads pre-emptive, routine disaster response training and drills on a recurring basis for internal staff who can be leveraged during disaster activations, and for external volunteers when applicable, building organization-wide readiness ahead of activations rather than training reactively once an event has already occurred.

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