Manager, Crisis Management

The purpose of this position is to manage the Crisis and Incident Management objectives for Southern Company Gas including Emergency Preparedness, Incident Investigations, and Business Continuity programs. With regards to Crisis Management, the position develops, trains, and executes the Crisis Management plan and Major Incident Support Team plan. These plans include incident specific actions for potential events such as hurricanes, mass outages, pandemics, gas system operations abnormalities, etc. The position coordinates the activities of the Incident Support Team (IST) and the Crisis Management Team (CMT) in real-time and tracks the Company’s performance against the Crisis Management Plan. With regards to Emergency Preparedness, the position develops and conducts drills and exercises that test all plans and prepares participants for incidents. In addition, this manager is responsible for identifying trends/needs across the enterprise related to tools and technology that enhance company abilities to effectively respond to emergencies. With regards to Incident Investigations, the position leads event learning activities by tracking, investigating, and facilitating improvement plans involving incidents and crisis while working with subject matter experts. With regards to Business Continuity, the position supports the development and maintenance of Business Continuity plans developed by the functional experts and assesses implications of the proposed technological or organizational changes. Also, develops and supports alternative communication protocols and methods. Through these activities, the position, develops liaison with key internal and external groups including Southern Company Enterprise Resilience and counterparts at AGA, SGA, PHMSA, DOT, DHS, OSHA, FEMA or other related agencies

 

MAJOR JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:   

• Oversees the Business Continuity Programs (BCP) for Corporate Departments and other Business Units.
• Serves as the Chief of Staff of the Incident Support Team (IST) in handling emergency situations according to the Crisis Management Plan (CMP). Also serves as back-up for the Crisis Mana t Team's CMT Chief of Staff.
• Oversees the continual update Of the Crisis Management Plan for Southern Company Gas and its subsidiaries; ensures the full integration into these plans for newly acquired companies. Implements the Business Continuity Plan (BCP) to ensure key corporate services continue to be provided in the event of loss of systems, facilities, etc.
• Facilitates information sharing where there are synergies between the Crisis Management and Operation Pipeline Safety Committee (OPSC).
• Reviews prospective legislation and regulations pertaining to Crisis Management and Business Continuity and works with company representatives and appropriate industry groups to prepare and submit comments, and work with multi-stakeholder groups to guide development of relations.
• Provides content for training of employees pertaining to Crisis Management, Business Continuity, Emergency Planning and Operations Risk Management, and other PSMS programs, and conducts training in some cases when a subject matter expert is needed.
• Responds to Safety emergency situations or incidents that trigger IST support (e.g. OSHA or Other regulator field inspections, injuries, employee field hazards, natural disasters, customer outages, etc. to facilitate an investigation or corrective actions.
• Provides 24x7 on-call support for any emergency which may require activation of all or part of the Business Continuity and/or Crisis Management plans.
• Evaluates existing emergency response and safety compliance programs for the applicable regions within control and determines and implements any corrections/modifications/improvements as needed.
• Serves as primary point of contact for sending or requesting mutual aid support with external peer utilities.
• Provides emergency response and BCP/CMP -related statistics and best practices data to internal and external groups (e.g., American Gas Association (AGA)). Collaborates with industry peers to bring best practices to the company.
• Represents the corporation at applicable association meetings on various Crisis Management, Business Continuity and other PSMS issues.
• Formulates, recommends and tracks the annual operating budgets for services, travel, training and other expenses related to the Crisis Management.
• Coordinates and facilitates both regulatory driven/mandated and proactive/best practice type Emergency Response Field Exercises and Tabletop Exercises. Documents the exercises, shares the lessons learned and tracks action items to completion.
• Ensures all personnel with specific Business Continuity and Crisis Management responsibilities are adequately trained to fulfill those responsibilities; ensures all employees are familiar w