About the Department
San Mateo County Emergency Management (SMC EM) is not your typical government agency. We are actively building innovative programs, forging cross-sector partnerships, and redefining what modern emergency management looks like for a county of 775,000 residents across 20 cities and 18 unincorporated areas.
Our mission is to build resilience by empowering our communities, strengthening operational capabilities, and coordinating support before, during, and after emergencies.
To learn more about SMC EM, visit: https://www.smcgov.org/dem
About The Role
This is not an entry-level role, and it is also not a senior position. This is a role for someone who has already worked through real crisis, learned hard lessons, adapted under pressure, and is eager for more.
The Emergency Coordinator sits within the operational center of SMC EM. You will plan. You will write. You will brief. You will execute. You will move between strategy and the tactical detail of getting things done, across a complex Operational Area and the partners who serve it.
This work requires range. One day, you are facilitating a planning cycle that will shape the next twelve months of countywide preparedness. The next, you are translating policy into a one-page brief or presentation deck for a city council, then coordinating an exercise design with fire and law partners, then back at your desk drafting a memo that will move across the Op Area.
The throughline is judgment. We need someone who can prioritize, pivot, and produce. Someone who has thrived in uncertainty before and is energized to do more of it here.
What This Role Actually Involves
The Daily Rhythm and Duty Officer Rotation
Most weeks, this job runs on steady program work. You plan, coordinate, brief, write, and move projects forward across the Operational Area. That is the baseline. Sitting on top of it is the obligation that defines emergency management, and it comes first: the readiness to respond the moment something breaks or crisis unfolds.
Every Emergency Coordinator shares the duty officer rotation and maintains daily situational awareness. When your week comes up, you carry the duty phone around the clock. You are the one who answers at 2 a.m., assesses what is unfolding, makes the early notifications, briefs leadership, makes necessary calls to partners, and supports on scene if that is warranted. The rotation means you are not on call every night, but when you are up, you are the county’s first point of contact and the early judgment that shapes everything that follows. We treat that responsibility seriously, and we expect you to as well.
Disaster Operations
When the county activates for a real event, the routine work shifts to disaster operations. Every Emergency Coordinator is expected to deploy into the response, in the EOC or in the field, in whatever section role the incident demands. That can mean long shifts, nights, weekends, and holidays for as long as the activation runs. This is the work that everything else prepares you for. If standing up an EOC for days during a regional disaster is not the kind of challenge that draws you in, this is not the role.
Planning
You will lead and contribute to the full planning cycle, from scoping through drafting, coordinating, executing, exercising, and updating operational plans, annexes, and frameworks across the Operational Area. The work means translating federal and state guidance (FEMA, CalOES, SEMS, NIMS) into plans that are usable on a Tuesday and survive a Saturday at 2 a.m. It means coordinating reviews and revisions with internal staff and external partners, building consensus around standards while protecting quality. Asking how this could be better, more practical, and more useful in the moment. And it means maintaining a working understanding of the threat and hazard landscape facing San Mateo County, so the plans on the shelf actually reflect the risk on the ground.
Communication and Coordination
This role requires someone who excels in communication and coordination. You will brief and present to varied audiences on a regular basis and on demand: senior county leadership, elected officials, fire and law chiefs, Operational Area partners, community organizations, and the public. The substance has to hold steady; the delivery has to flex for the room. Alongside the briefing work, you will produce clear, accurate written products on tight timelines: memos, briefings, plans, talking points, after-action reports, and correspondence that moves at the speed of decision-making. You will represent SMC EM credibly in working groups, advisory committees, tabling events, and external meetings at all levels of government, and you will maintain steady, professional communication with partners across the op area.
Project Management and Execution
- Carry assigned projects from initiation through completion. Own timelines, deliverables, and stakeholder coordination.
- Manage multiple concurrent priorities without dropping quality or letting partners go silent.
- Identify obstacles early, problem-solve collaboratively, and escalate when needed.
- Document the work. Hand off cleanly. Build for the next person.
Exercise, Training, and Operational Readiness
- Contribute to the design, development, facilitation, and evaluation of exercises (tabletops, functional, full-scale) aligned with HSEEP standards.
- Support training programs for staff, partners, and the broader Operational Area.
- Participate in after-action reviews and improvement planning. Treat lessons learned as a discipline, not a deliverable.
Who We Are Looking For
We are looking for someone with real operational experience who is still eager to grow and learn. This is a mid-level role, not entry-level and not senior, so you should be able to work independently and deliver without being managed step by step, though you do not need to be a twenty-year veteran. What matters most is that you have been through crises or high-pressure situations and have the proven grit and resilience to show for it. You are known for working hard, for figuring things out when no one hands you the answer, and for not waiting to be told what to do. When you see a gap, you move toward it and find a way to add value. You stay composed when priorities shift, the information is incomplete, and the stakes are high. You stay curious and keep learning, never settling for the way it has always been done. And you carry yourself with integrity: you speak up when something is wrong, you ask for help when you need it, and you verify before you act. Our expectations are high, and we want someone who is energized by this and levels up accordingly.
The Ideal Candidate will possess:
- Minimum of 5 years of professional experience, with at least 2 years dedicated to emergency management, disaster operations, homeland security, public safety, or military operations.
- Master’s Degree in emergency management, public administration, public policy, homeland security, public health, communications, or a related field.
- Working command of the planning cycle. You have led or contributed substantively to plan development, from scoping through publication and exercise.
- Strong communicator across audiences. You can hold the room with senior executives, political leaders, Operational Area partners, chiefs, and the public, with demonstrated experience adapting message and tone for each.
- Demonstrated problem-solving. A track record of identifying issues, generating options, and driving toward resolution under pressure.
- Ability to work across a wide variety of settings (field, office, EOC) and disciplines (law enforcement, fire services, emergency medical services, public health).
- Exercise design and execution experience (tabletops, functional, full-scale) aligned with HSEEP.
- Formal project management experience, including managing scope, schedule, and stakeholders across complex initiatives.
- Hands-on experience with alert and warning systems (IPAWS, WEA, EAS, mass notification platforms).
- Experience working across multiple jurisdictions or within a complex multi-agency operational environment.
- Training instruction or curriculum development experience.
- Excellent written communication skills, including reports, briefings, plans, and professional correspondence.
- Familiarity with the five Emergency Management Sections (Management, Operations, Planning, Logistics, Finance/Admin) and the Incident Command System.
- Completion of ICS Courses 100, 200, 700, and 800 (or ability to complete within the first 90 days).
- A valid California Driver’s License or the ability to obtain one upon residency within California.
Tentative Recruitment Schedule:
Final Closing Date: Thursday, July 30, 2026, by 11:59 PM PST
Application Screening: Week of August 3, 2026
In-Person Panel Interviews: Week of August 10, 2026
