National Incident Management Assistance Team is Now Hiring

The Field Leadership Directorate, within the Office of Response and Recovery at FEMA, is searching for experienced disaster management leaders for the launch of a new National Incident Management Assistance Team (IMAT) focused on Homeland Security Incidents. This team will be tasked with responding to incidents that fall outside of the authorities of the Stafford Act but require a coordinated federal or DHS response.

The duty station for these positions is Washington, DC and the pay scales and grades for these positions are between GS-13 – GS-15 with the starting salary of at least S106,823 (GS-13) to $148,484(GS-15). Review the General Schedule on OPM.gov.

Positions Available

This team will consist of 18 permanent, full-time employees who are experienced emergency management leaders. Ideal candidates for these positions will be familiar with national emergency management systems and structures (e.g., National Incident Management System, Incident Command System, etc.), have experience working with and across other federal agencies and be comfortable in ambiguous situations involving a wide range of threats and complex authorities.

The following positions are available:

Closes Oct. 31, 2022

• Operations Branch Director(x2) (closed)

Closes Nov. 1, 2022

• Support Branch Director (closed)

Closes Nov. 2, 2022

• Logistics Section Chief (closed)
• Planning Section Chief (closed)
• Situation Unit Lead (closed)

Closes Nov. 4, 2022

• Contracting Specialist

Closes Nov. 9, 2022

• External Support Branch Director
• Operations Section Chief

Closes Nov. 10, 2022

• Field Leadership Analytics Advisor
• Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Unit Lead
• Program Analyst (Policy)

Closes Nov. 11, 2022

• External Affairs Officer
• Deliberate Planning Advisor

Application Process

Due to the leadership capacity that this team will fulfill, the application process for the National IMAT consists of several distinct stages:

1. Candidates must complete a full application online via USAJobs, and submit supporting documents as outlined in the job announcement.
2. Once the application is submitted, candidate will be invited to complete an online candidate leadership evaluation.
3. Top candidates who are found qualified for the position must then participate in an onsite skills assessment simulation led by the Office of Personnel Management, along with a panel interview process with FEMA subject matter experts. This is currently expected to occur in early 2023.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is eligible for these roles?
  Any individual eligible for a permanent full-time (PFT) role is eligible to apply for a position on this team.
• How is this team different from existing FEMA IMATs?
  This team is designed to respond primarily to disaster events that fall outside of the authorities of the Stafford Act. As such, the team composition reflects the typical support needs of such events.
• Are relocation benefits available?
  Relocation benefits are not available at this time.
• What are some examples of events to which this team could respond?
  Examples of past events that FEMA has supported include the Flint Water Crisis, Operation Vaccinate Our Workforce, Unaccompanied children at the Southwest border, and Operation Allies Welcome.