Emergency Management Specialist (CEMA) - Planning

Emergency Functions And Responsibilities

• Serves as CEMA's lead planning specialist with primary responsibility for developing, maintaining, and coordinating the City of St. Louis Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) in accordance with FEMA Comprehensive Preparedness Guide (CPG) 101 and EMAP Standards 4.3-4.4.
• Leads a comprehensive review and update of the Basic Plan, ensuring alignment with current federal doctrine, state requirements, and local operational realities.
• Establishes and maintains a systematic plan review cycle that ensures all EOP components remain current, relevant, and actionable.
• Develops and maintains hazard-specific annexes addressing the full range of threats and hazards facing the City of St. Louis, including severe weather (tornado, flooding, winter storms), earthquake, hazardous materials incidents, terrorism, public health emergencies, and other identified risks.
• Ensures each annex includes concept of operations, organizational roles and responsibilities, direction and control protocols, and references to supporting plans and procedures.
• Captures and disseminates incident information and maintains situational awareness for the EOC.
• Produces situation reports, briefing materials, and common operating picture products that inform decision-making by the EOC Director and Command Staff.
• Facilitates planning meetings that bring together section chiefs to develop operational period objectives, resource requirements, and tactical assignments.
• Ensures IAP components including ICS-202 (Incident Objectives), ICS-203 (Organization Assignment List), ICS-204 (Assignment Lists), and supporting documents are completed accurately and distributed timely.
• Manages the Documentation Unit function, ensuring all EOC activities, decisions, and resource commitments are properly recorded for operational continuity and potential federal reimbursement.
• Coordinates technical specialists assigned to the Planning Section including GIS analysts, subject matter experts, and agency representatives.
• Leads demobilization planning as incidents transition toward recovery, ensuring orderly release of resources and transition to steady-state operations.
• Produces incident-specific after-action contributions documenting planning function performance and improvement recommendations.
• Supports grant applications by providing planning-related data, capability assessments, and project justifications.
• Maintains planning-related records and documentation required for federal audits and compliance reviews.
• Participates in state and regional planning initiatives, representing CEMA on planning working groups and committees.
• Coordinates with Missouri SEMA on state planning requirements, plan reviews, and technical assistance opportunities.
• Engages with FEMA Region VII on planning doctrine, guidance interpretation, and emerging best practices.
• Contributes to professional knowledge sharing through participation in IAEM, NEMA, and other professional association planning committees and workgroups.
• Provides planning expertise to support agency exercise program, contributing scenario development, planning assumptions, and technical content for exercises designed to test and validate emergency plans.
• Reviews exercise objectives to ensure alignment with planning priorities and capability gaps identified through risk assessment.
• Participates in exercises as a player, controller, or evaluator as assigned, with primary focus on validating planning products and procedures.
• Incorporates lessons learned from exercises, real-world incidents, and after-action reviews into plan updates and procedure revisions.
• Tracks planning-related corrective actions from improvement plans to completion, ensuring identified gaps are addressed through plan revisions, procedure updates, or training enhancements.
• Coordinates with Training and Exercise Coordinator to ensure exercise program addresses planning capability validation needs.
• Attends training, conferences, and professional development opportunities to maintain current knowledge of emergency planning best practices and professional standards.
• Pursues professional certifications as directed by agency leadership.

Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities

• Equipment to be operated: Computer workstation and standard office productivity software including Microsoft Office Suite; emergency management information systems including WebEOC or similar incident management platforms; geographic information systems (GIS) software for hazard mapping and risk visualization; planning and collaboration software; multi-line telephone systems and mobile communication devices; radio communications equipment including VHF/UHF portable and mobile radios; emergency operations center audio-visual systems including video conferencing platforms; document management and version control systems; City vehicle for planning coordination meetings and field assessments; and specialized equipment for hazard mapping and risk visualization.