What does an emergency management director do?
An emergency management director must maintain liaisons, prepare plans and procedures in responding to natural disasters and calamities or any emergencies. They organize training for volunteers, staff, and responders to emergency response operations. They also lead the emergency response team during and after a crisis. They will coordinate with government officials, agencies, nonprofit organizations, and public safety officials to procure the necessary funds for an emergency. After any catastrophe, they assess hazards to create a proper plan to minimize risk and damage to people and properties. They also maintain facilities for emergencies.
Emergency management director responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real emergency management director resumes:
- Manage first aid clinic using EMT skills for injury's clinic visits, lose time, and light duty incidents.
- Manage the strategic oversight and operational performance for the department.
- Relay information to the appropriate first responder agency.
- Communicate OSHA, NFPA and NIOSH standards to customer.
- Participate in control burns as well as wildland firefighting.
- Assist in training new ERT members in their initial classes and training.
- Align all policies to be adjunct with state, federal and OSHA requirements.
- Perform monthly fire extinguisher, emergency lighting and a inspections for the project client.
- Conduct daily training for ERT personnel on tactics, responsibilities, rules of engagement and rules in theater.
- Monitor the correction of fall/trip hazards and potential OSHA violations during normal day to day activities and during phases of construction.
- Develop hospital hazmat training program.
- Provide immediate crisis assessment, early intervention, referral and linkage for patients present with acute psychiatric and/or emotional crisis.
- Develop station response to NRC and IEMA directives.
- Act as radiological and chemical hazardous material specialist in emergency operations center cadre.
Emergency management director skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Emergency Management Directors are proficient in Emergency Preparedness, Emergency Management, and Public Safety. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Interpersonal skills, and Leadership skills.
We break down the percentage of Emergency Management Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Emergency Preparedness, 10%
Facilitated emergency management activities such as fire drills, regional drills, evacuation equipment training, and documentation of emergency preparedness.
- Emergency Management, 8%
Assisted in developing emergency management budget and prioritizing expenditures for equipment and supplies used by emergency management and specialized response teams.
- Public Safety, 8%
Coordinated disaster operations of the town's fire, police, EMS, and public safety agencies.
- Emergency Response, 7%
Ensured compliance with emergency response protocol by adjudicating, interpreting, and applying policy guidance for local operations.
- Emergency Services, 6%
Assembled and dispatched outgoing distribution in accordance with instructions or established procedures set forth by Directorate of Emergency Services.
- Disaster Response, 6%
Complete management of disaster response, mitigation, and recovery activities, and related grant applications and administration.
Most emergency management directors use their skills in "emergency preparedness," "emergency management," and "public safety" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential emergency management director responsibilities here:
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for an emergency management director to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "emergency management directors must be able to clearly convey their emergency preparedness plans, both orally and in writing, to a variety of audiences." Additionally, an emergency management director resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "assisted with all levels of emergency response, communication and logistics during catastrophic impact and recovery phases. "
Interpersonal skills. Another essential skill to perform emergency management director duties is interpersonal skills. Emergency management directors responsibilities require that "emergency management directors must work with other government agencies, law enforcement and fire officials, and the public to coordinate emergency responses." Emergency management directors also use interpersonal skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "manage offender security and safety maintaining order through interpersonal communication emergency response shield team leader acting correctional facility shift supervisor"
Leadership skills. This is an important skill for emergency management directors to perform their duties. For an example of how emergency management director responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "to ensure effective responses to emergencies, emergency management directors need to organize and train a variety of people." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an emergency management director: "advise the executive leadership and the media on hazardous materials and consequence management operations. ".
The three companies that hire the most emergency management directors are:
- Bank of America5 emergency management directors jobs
- LifePoint Health2 emergency management directors jobs
- Universal Health Services2 emergency management directors jobs
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Compare different emergency management directors
Emergency management director vs. Radiological defense officer
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an emergency management director are more likely to require skills like "emergency preparedness," "emergency management," "public safety," and "emergency services." On the other hand, a job as a radiological defense officer requires skills like "radiological," "dod," "customer service," and "interagency." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
The education levels that radiological defense officers earn slightly differ from emergency management directors. In particular, radiological defense officers are 2.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than an emergency management director. Additionally, they're 1.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Emergency management director vs. Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear officer
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that emergency management director responsibilities requires skills like "emergency preparedness," "emergency management," "public safety," and "emergency response." But a chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear officer might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "decontamination procedures," "cbrn," "nco," and "nuclear biological."
Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear officers earn lower levels of education than emergency management directors in general. They're 5.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Emergency management director vs. Civil preparedness officer
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an emergency management director is likely to be skilled in "emergency preparedness," "emergency management," "public safety," and "emergency response," while a typical civil preparedness officer is skilled in "humanitarian assistance," "construction projects," "local governance," and "civil rights."
Most civil preparedness officers achieve a similar degree level compared to emergency management directors. For example, they're 3.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 3.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Emergency management director vs. Hazard mitigation officer
Even though a few skill sets overlap between emergency management directors and hazard mitigation officers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an emergency management director might have more use for skills like "emergency preparedness," "emergency management," "public safety," and "emergency response." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of hazard mitigation officers require skills like "foreclosure," "provide technical assistance," "loan modifications," and "technical assistance. "
Hazard mitigation officers reach lower levels of education compared to emergency management directors, in general. The difference is that they're 5.9% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Updated January 8, 2025
