SMC EM Supervisory Emergency Coordinator (Departmental Promotional Only)

Description



About the Role
The Supervisory Emergency Coordinator role is within the operational leadership tier of SMC EM. The seat bridges the Emergency Coordinators and senior leadership, and it is where standards are held, quality is enforced, and the department's operational tempo is set.

This is a working supervisor role. You will lead and develop a team of Emergency Coordinators, and you will personally carry out some of the most complex operational work in the department. You will be the person who makes sure plans get exercised, exercises get evaluated, lessons learned get implemented, and the team is ready when the phone rings at 2 a.m.

The job is to make the team better, the work tighter, and the department more ready than it was when you took the chair.
What This Role Actually Involves
Team Leadership and Supervision (Primary Focus)
You will lead and develop a team of Emergency Coordinators. That means setting clear direction, holding regular check-ins, providing meaningful feedback, and building the kind of trust that lets people raise problems early. You will manage performance with both rigor and care, recognizing strong work, addressing concerns promptly, and creating equitable workload distribution. You will model the professional standards the department is committed to, because the team will take its tone from you. And you will be the quality control backstop, reviewing complex deliverables and making sure what leaves the department is something we are willing to put our name on.
Operations Leadership
You will own the on-call rotation, ensure continuous emergency coverage and serving as the duty officer escalation point. You will lead operational readiness across the department: equipment, systems, EOC posture, and the procedural knowledge that makes activations go smoothly. During incidents, you will serve in advanced EOC positions, often as a section chief or unit lead, scaling response with judgment and pace. Between incidents, you will coordinate the operational integration of programs that often run in parallel, making sure the left hand and the right hand are working off the same picture.
Programs, Exercises, and Continuous Improvement
You will personally lead the most complex emergency management initiatives in the department, the work that requires advanced technical knowledge, cross-jurisdictional coordination, and a steady hand. You will be a senior voice on the exercise and training program, helping shape what gets exercised and why, ensuring HSEEP standards, and owning the evaluation discipline that turns lessons identified into lessons learned. You will lead after-action reviews, push improvement plans through to closure, and make sure the team is trained, exercised, and ready before they are tested.

The mechanics behind that work include:

• Project oversight discipline. Charters, timelines, scope, and accountability across the team.
• Cross-functional coordination. Alignment across SMC EM programs and with external Operational Area partners.
• Performance analysis. Metrics, AARs, and stakeholder feedback driving evidence-based program improvement.

Who We Are Looking For
This is a leadership tier role. The right person brings both the technical depth to be credible as a subject matter expert and the people skills to develop a team that performs under pressure. Both halves matter; one without the other is not enough for this seat.
Leadership Mindset
You are a force multiplier . You measure your success by what your team produces, not just what you produce yourself. You are crucible-tested, with real reps in real activations, and you bring calm and judgment when things move fast. You hold the standard, including when it is uncomfortable, and you do it without making it personal. You build trust by being prepared, discreet, and consistent. You receive feedback as well as you give it. You ask for help when you need it, you verify before you act, and you treat the work and the people doing it with the seriousness both deserve.
Knowledge and Experience

• Demonstrated progression in emergency management, disaster operations, homeland security, public safety, or military operations, with experience handling increasingly complex assignments.
• Demonstrated supervisory or team lead experience, with a track record of developing people and managing performance in a complex operational environment.
• Strong command of the planning cycle, including leading the development of operational plans, annexes, and frameworks from scoping through exercise and revision.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience preparing executive-level briefings, reports, and after-action products.
• Ability to maintain 24-hour readiness and participate in on-call rotation, including extended hours, weekends, and holidays during activations.

Preferred but Not Required

• Master's Degree in emergency management, public administration, public policy, homeland security, public health, or a related field.
• 7 years of professional experience, with at least 5 years dedicated to emergency management or emergency response operations, and at least 2 years in a supervisory or team lead capacity.
• Familiarity with the five Emergency Management Sections (Management, Operations, Planning, Logistics, Finance/Admin) and the Incident Command System.
• Completion of ICS Courses 100, 200, 300, 400, 700, and 800 (or ability to complete ICS 300 and 400 within the first year).
• HSEEP certification and exercise design and evaluation experience.
• Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) or California Specialized Training Institute (CSTI) Master Exercise Practitioner credentials.
• Multi-jurisdictional or Operational Area-level coordination experience.
• Formal project management experience or credential (PMP, PgMP, or equivalent).
• A valid California Driver's License.

Qualifications

Any combination of education and experience that would likely provide the required knowledge, skills, and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to qualify:

Education: Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in emergency management, public administration, public policy, homeland security, public health, communications, or a related discipline.

Experience: Three years of increasingly responsible experience performing a wide variety of duties related to emergency services management in a military, public and/or private safety related organization.

Application/Examination

Departmental Promotional Only. Only current County of San Mateo employees in the Department of Emergency Management with at least six months (1040 hours) of continuous service in a classified regular, probationary, or extra-help/limited term position prior to the final filing date may apply.

The examination process will consist of an application screening (weight: Pass/Fail) based on the candidates' application and responses to the supplemental questions. Candidates who pass the application screening will be invited to a panel interview (weight: 100%). Depending on the number of applicants, an application appraisal of education and experience may be used in place of other examinations or further evaluation of work experience may be conducted to group applicants by level of qualification . All applicants who meet the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement through any subsequent phase of the examination. All examinations will be given in San Mateo County, California and applicants must participate at their own expense.

IMPORTANT: Applications for this position will only be accepted online. If you are currently on the County's website, you may click the "Apply" button. If you are not on the County's website, please go to https://jobs.smcgov.org/ to apply. Responses to the Supplemental Questionnaire must be submitted in addition to the standard County employment application form. A resume will not be accepted as a substitute for the required application materials. Online applications must be received by the Human Resources Department before midnight on the final filing date.

To apply for this opportunity, the following materials must be submitted in addition to the standard Employment Application form:

• Resume
• Letter of Interest
• Responses to the Supplemental Questions (attached to the application form)

Tentative Recruitment Schedule :
Final Filing Date: Tuesday , May 26, 2026 at 11:59 PM PST
Application Screening: Wednesday, May 27, 2026
Panel Interviews: Week of June 1, 2026

About the County

San Mateo County is centrally located between San Francisco, San Jose, and the East Bay. With over 750,000 residents, San Mateo is one of the largest and most diverse counties in California and serves a multitude of culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse communities.

The County of San Mateo, as an employer, is committed to advancing equity to ensure that all employees are welcomed in a safe and inclusive environment. The County seeks to hire, support, and retain employees who reflect our diverse community. We encourage applicants with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences to apply. Eighty percent of employees surveyed stated that they would recommend the County as a great place to work.

The County of San Mateo is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion at all levels.

HR Contact: Lealoa Numera (05122026) (Supervising Coordinator - Department of Emergency Management - Q005)

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• County of San Mateo Human Resources Department

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