Director – Emergency Management Recovery

Responsibilities

• Lead delivery of Recovery programs and projects, ensuring technical quality, schedule, budget, and client satisfaction across the service line.
• Establish and maintain delivery standards, SOPs, and quality control processes for FEMA PA, IA, HMGP, 404/406 Mitigation, HUD CDBG-DR and other work supported through federal grants.
• Set portfolio-level performance metrics (utilization, margin, client retention, deliverable quality) and provide accountability to executive leadership.
• Oversee project staffing, surge capacity, and deployment planning across active and pending projects.
• Serve as the senior escalation point for project issues, client concerns, and technical disputes.
• Serve as a senior subject matter expert on federal recovery programs, with strong knowledge of and practical experience with the FEMA Public Assistance Program.
• Provide technical guidance on HMGP project development, to include BCA, and Environmental and Historic Preservation (EHP) compliance.
• Advise on CDBG-DR program requirements.
• Stay current on Stafford Act amendments, FEMA policy updates, and state-level recovery program changes.
• Review complex, high-risk or high-visibility deliverables prior to client submission.
• Directly supervise senior project leaders (Deputy Directors, Managing Consultants, Senior Consultants) within the Recovery division.
• Develop staffing plans, career paths, and credentialing programs for portfolio personnel.
• Mentor consultants on FEMA program technical skills, client engagement, and deliverable quality.
• Conduct performance management, including goal setting, regular feedback, and performance reviews for direct reports.
• Foster a culture of accountability, technical excellence, and continuous improvement.
• Serve as the senior client-facing leader for Recovery engagements, including state recovery offices, local applicants/subrecipients, and FEMA regional/other federal staff.
• Lead recurring client status meetings and executive briefings on major engagements.
• Build and maintain relationships with state emergency management agencies, FEMA regional offices, and applicant communities.
• Represent the Recovery practice in industry forums, professional associations (e.g., NEMA, IAEM), and conferences.
• Contribute subject matter expertise to capture planning, proposal development, and oral presentations for Recovery pursuits.
• Provide technical win themes, past performance content, and staffing plans for proposals.
• Maintain client relationships in a way that supports organic growth and follow-on work.
• Identify emerging client needs and policy changes that may inform BD strategy, and surface them to the BD team.
• Participate in go/no-go decisions for Recovery pursuits as a technical reviewer.
• Ensure portfolio engagements comply with applicable federal regulations (2 CFR 200, Stafford Act, Program Policy Guides, etc.) and state-specific requirements.
• Oversee documentation standards sufficient to withstand FEMA, OIG, and Single Audit review.
• Identify, escalate, and mitigate technical, financial, and reputational risks across the portfolio.
• Coordinate with corporate Contracts, Finance, and Legal on contract compliance and modifications.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Emergency Management, Public Administration, Public Policy, or a closely related field. Years of directly relevant experience may substitute for the education requirement on a year-for-year basis, in addition to the minimum experience requirements below.
• 7+ years of progressive experience in disaster recovery consulting, FEMA grant management, or state/local recovery program administration.
• 5+ years of leadership experience, including direct supervision of project teams.
• Demonstrated experience leading FEMA Public Assistance engagements at the state, subrecipient, or applicant level.