DEPUTY DIRECTOR, PLANNING

Job Description

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. We are staffed by more than 200 dedicated professionals with diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise, including individuals assigned from other City agencies.

The Planning and Resiliency (P&R) Bureau’s mission is to prepare the City to respond and adapt to emergencies through collaborative, scalable planning; comprehensive interagency coordination; and innovative recovery and resilience. To executive this mission, the P&R Bureau includes Interagency Coordination with an assistant commissioner leading three units made up of subject matter experts in Health and Medical, Human Services, and Critical Infrastructure; Resiliency and Recovery with an assistant commissioner leading the Resiliency Implementation and Resiliency and Recovery Planning units; and the Planning unit.
The Planning Unit drives the creation, enhancement, and sustainment of comprehensive citywide emergency planning in NYC. The unit works with NYCEM staff and external partners to increase the City’s capacity for developing and maintaining flexible, effective, and actionable planning documents. Additionally, the Planning Unit also works with stakeholders to enhance the City’s preparedness for natural, human-caused, and technological hazards through planning initiatives, help identify emerging issues and current planning gaps, and assist with developing trainings and exercises based on planning documents.

NYCEM is seeking a seasoned candidate with experience in project management, emergency planning, and strategic planning for the Deputy Director of Planning position.

Reporting to the Director of Planning, the Deputy Director of Planning will work with staff and colleagues across the agency to oversee activities related to citywide emergency planning, including the planning process and management of planning portfolios. The Deputy Director is expected to lead, support, and track major emergency planning initiatives; facilitate intra- and interagency coordination and communication; define and promote standards and implements quality assurance to produce high-quality, actionable, and user-friendly documents; and support strategic planning and initiatives. Additionally, the Deputy Director will directly manage all Program Managers within the team.

Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to:
- Work with staff and units to support development, maintenance, and socialization of major planning documents, including planning process from conceptual development to finalization (e.g., chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives (CBRNE), extreme heat, coastal storm, flooding, cyber, winter weather, etc.).
- Build relationships with internal and external partners to increase collaboration, streamline planning efforts, and enhance citywide planning documents and processes.
- Advance and maintain tools and resources to support staff through planning processes and document development in collaboration with staff and units.
- Maintain a big-picture view of all Unit activities, while also supporting day-to-day tasks, ensuring proper support and resources are provided to meet all deadlines.
- Provide project management leadership and support to staff and assure production of deliverables.
- Manage staff and build interdisciplinary teams to support emergency planning needs.
- Collaborate with units to annually review all major planning documents, identify gaps, and catalog annual planning priorities.
- Develop, implement, and socialize quality assurance and maintenance mechanisms for citywide planning documents, including updating templates, tools, and resources for SMEs moving through the planning process.
- Support the Director of Planning with Unit-wide initiatives, coordination, and strategic planning, including the creation of a strategic vision for prioritizing updates, processes, and new initiatives with the Unit.
- Identify gaps with the Unit and work to improve them (ex: team-wide professional development, cross-training opportunities, bringing units together who have intersecting work, etc.).
- Support Deputy Commissioner of Planning & Resiliency and Director of Planning to advance bureau-wide strategic goals and in alignment with the agency’s strategic plan.
- Actively encourage and support the development of direct reports, and foster a culture of collaboration that is effective, equitable, and responsive to evolving situations.
- Review new and updated planning documents with an eye toward grammar, formatting, standardization, and accessibility.
- Become proficient in relevant NYCEM technological systems (in