Rapid Response Coordinator / Lead

IEM is looking to bring on a Full Time-  Rapid Response Coordinator /Lead who supports the Program Management Office in the timely tracking, coordination, and resolution of escalated issues within Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) programs. This role serves as a central point of coordination for complaints, at-risk applications, urgent applicant concerns, and inquiries received from elected officials, legislative offices, local government departments, partner agencies, and other arms of government regarding constituents. 

The Rapid Response Coordinator is responsible for ensuring escalated matters are documented, assigned, followed up on, and tracked through resolution. This position helps ensure that program leadership has clear visibility into sensitive or high-priority cases and that applicants, constituents, and external stakeholders receive timely, accurate, and policy-aligned responses. 

Primary Location:   

• Live anywhere that meets personal office/home work requirements in the United States including Puerto Rico. 
• Preference will be given to candidates who reside in the state of Florida. 
• Work will take place either in an office environment or from a personal office/ home location and will depend on the needs of the project.  

Travel Requirements: 

• This position may require travel to complete work assignments or attend meetings. 

Essential Functions: 

• Serve as the primary coordinator for escalated cases requiring additional review, follow-up, or cross-functional coordination.
• Track complaints, urgent applicant concerns, at-risk applications, and constituent inquiries from intake through final resolution.
• Ensure responses are factual, consistent with program policy, and appropriately coordinated with program leadership before release.
• Coordinate with case management, eligibility, duplication of benefits, construction, environmental review, quality control, appeals, compliance, and reporting teams to obtain information needed to resolve issues.
• Coordinate internal discussions to ensure complex cases are reviewed by the appropriate subject matter experts.
• Help clarify applicant status, outstanding documentation, eligibility issues, construction concerns, communication history, or next steps, as appropriate.
• Help distinguish between communication issues, documentation gaps, policy constraints, applicant misunderstanding, process delays, and potential program errors.
• Coordinate responses to inquiries received from elected officials, legislative aides, county or municipal departments, state or federal agencies, and other governmental offices regarding applicants or constituents.
• Maintain an escalation tracker that captures issue type, source of inquiry, assigned owner, required action, due date, current status, resolution notes, and closure documentation.
• Support development of escalation dashboards, aging reports, issue logs, trend summaries, and leadership briefing materials. Monitor cases to ensure timely follow-up, clear accountability, and completion of required actions.
• Identify cases at risk of delay, non-response, applicant dissatisfaction, or compliance concern and elevate them to the PMO Manager or program leadership as needed.
• Provide routine reporting to the PMO Manager on active escalations, complaints, aging items, high-risk applications, and resolved cases.
• Identify recurring themes, process breakdowns, training needs, or policy clarification needs based on escalated case trends.
• Recommend improvements to workflows, applicant communications, staff guidance, or escalation procedures to reduce repeat issues.
• Maintain confidentiality and ensure personally identifiable information is protected when handling complaints, applicant records, and constituent inquiries.
• Maintain a professional, responsive, and applicant-centered approach when supporting sensitive or urgent matters.
• Help ensure applicants and external stakeholders receive clear, respectful, and timely communication. 

Minimum Qualifications: 

• Degree: Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in project management, public administration, emergency management, business administration, communications, social services, planning, or related field. 
• Experience: Five (5) years of experience with project and/or program management and demonstrated experience interpreting local, state, and federal rules and regulations. 
• Five (5) years of experience supporting federally funded grant programs, disaster recovery programs, housing programs, infrastructure programs, or comparable public-sector implementa