Director, Emergency Management

Special Instructions to Applicants: All interested applicants should attach a resume in the Supporting Documents section of the application preferably in PDF format to avoid any formatting issues.

About Rice:
Boasting a 300-acre tree-lined campus in Houston Texas Rice University is ranked among the nations top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has a 6-to-1 undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio and a residential college system that supports students intellectually emotionally and culturally through social events intramural sports student plays lecture series courses and student government. Developing close-knit diverse college communities is a strong campus tradition which is why Rice is highly ranked for best quality of life and best value among private universities.

Rice is also a wonderful place to work. Rice faculty staff and students share values that are essential to our success as a healthy community. Those values guide our decisions and behaviors and shape Rices culture. They come through in the way we treat each other and the welcome we extend to our visitors. These values can be recalled simply by our name RICE Responsibility Integrity Community and Excellence.

Position Summary:
Rice University seeks a visionary and community-oriented leader to serve as the next Director of Emergency Management. As the university advances its strategic vision anchored by excellence in research transformative undergraduate education and deep engagement with the city of Houston the Director will play a pivotal role in ensuring a campus environment where innovation and safety seamlessly coexist. This position is not merely about enforcement; it is about building a broad collaborative umbrella of protection that integrates traditional emergency management with policing and emergency medical services all while reflecting the culture of care that uniquely defines the Rice community.

The Director provides strategic leadership for university-wide emergency management. This executive leads and directs the universitys efforts to develop implement test document and maintain plans for emergency management institutional business continuity and comprehensive emergency response across all academic administrative and research departments. A critical component of this role involves managing complex cross-functional relationships on university-wide resilience initiatives. The Director interacts regularly with Executive Leadership Senior Management and Key Functional Areas to appropriately link all emergency response mitigation and recovery plans. This role reports directly to the Executive Director of Public Safety/Chief of Police.

Ideal Candidate Statement:
We are looking for a highly strategic diplomatic administrator who can design and execute sophisticated safety and resilience programs that protect our physical campus secure invaluable research assets and enhance the well-being of our community. If you are a collaborative leader who values equity embodies modern emergency management standards and champions a safe inclusive environment we invite you to help shape the future of Rice University.

Workplace Requirements:
This role is classified as an Essential On-Campus Position requiring on-site presence to effectively carry out its vital functions. During emergencies or crises the Emergency Management Director is required to report to campus as directed to ensure continuity of critical operations and must remain accessible to leadership to fulfill responsibilities necessary for maintaining institutional functions.

Workplace Location:
This position is exclusively on-site necessitating all duties to be performed in person at the Rice University Main Campus. The schedule may vary to fit the needs of the department and/or campus including holidays nights and Rice policy 440 work arrangements may be subject to change.

Hiring Range: $122496 - $140000 annually

*Exempt (salaried) positions underFLSA are not eligible for overtime.

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelors degree from an accredited institution. Preferred fields: Emergency Management Public Administration Homeland Security Public Safety Criminal Justice or a closely related field.

  • In lieu of the education requirement additional related experience above and beyond what is required may be substituted on an equivalent year-for-year basis.

• 4 years of progressively responsible professional experience in emergency management public safety or emergency coordination.

  • In lieu of the experience requirement additional related education above and beyond what is required may be substituted on an equivalent year-for-year basis.

Skills:

• Deep operational knowledge of safety and disaster/recovery procedures the Incident Command System (ICS) National Incident Management System (NIMS) and National Response Framework (NRF) structures (ICSand 800 certifications required upon hire)

• Experience managing and leading multiple projects and team members

• Exceptional interpersonal skills with a proven track record of building consensus among diverse stakeholder groups (faculty students staff law enforcement and civil officials)

• Ability to lead influence and earn the respect of cross-functional partners

• Strong leadership and executive presence

• Ability to analyze and resolve problems; action-oriented with the ability to make decisions and function effectively in stressful situations

• Ability to distill complex fluid situations into clear actionable and empathetic messaging for executive leadership and the public under intense pressure

• Knowledge of IT operations and familiarity with disaster/recovery operations

• Proficiency with emergency notification software (e.g. Everbridge) business continuity planning software and standard EOC management platforms (e.g. WebEOC)

Preferences:

• Advanced ICS training (ICS 300 and ICS 400)

• Prior emergency management experience at a higher-education research university with a demonstrated understanding of safeguarding sensitive laboratory research and navigating a residential campus culture.

Essential Functions:

• Provides strategic leadership to the university-wide emergency management team

• Plans coordinates and manages the activities of the Emergency Management Team (EMT) which is responsible for planning and preparation of the universitys emergency response plans

• Maintains the physical and virtual Incident Command Center (ICC) in a constant state of operational readiness; manages ICC activations and coordinates the Emergency Management Team

• Proactively identifies reports and leads the resolution of high-impact risks gaps and corrective action plans

• Ensures institutional alignment with FEMA NIMS Clery Act mandates (specifically emergency notifications and timely warnings) and Texas state safety standards

• Regularly reviews the universitys emergency response and business continuity plans

• Conducts periodic reviews of emergency notification processes and tools

• Leads governance of the universitys crisis management plans through the universitys incident response teams and overarching crisis communication plan

• Reviews the universitys effectiveness in responding to emergency situations and evaluates response plans and processes

• Designs and executes campus-wide tabletop functional and full-scale exercises and drills compliant with Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) standards for senior leadership staff and students

• Collaborates with incident response team leads to present resolve and implement potential emergency management issues to ensure a unified approach to mitigation and resilience

• Designs and develops operating procedures for incident command centers including locations standards equipment and processes

• Prepares incident command centers for immediate activation

• Serves within a dynamic NIMS-aligned command structure where the Chief of Police leads tactical and life-safety incidents while Executive Leadership directs high-level policy and institutional emergencies. During major activations this role transitions to Incident Command Center (ICC) Director to focus on resource coordination logistics and long-term recovery rather than front-line command

• Identifies university-wide business continuity and other vulnerabilities

• Provides consulting and guidance to key functional areas in the design development maintenance and implementation of business continuity plans

• Creates and documents business continuity activation processes

• Educates the university about business continuity issues and assists business areas in addressing these issues effectively

• Leads After-Action Review (AAR) processes following exercises or real-world events drafting formal Improvement Plans (IPs) to systematically improve institutional resilience

• Serves as the primary university representative to local regional state and federal emergency management agencies (e.g. City of Houston Office of Emergency Management Harris County OHSEM Texas Division of Emergency Management FEMA)

• Performs all other duties as assigned

Rice University HR Benefits: Mission and Values:Mission and Values Rice University

Rice University is committed to ensuring Equal Employment Opportunity and welcoming the fullness of diversity into our candidate pools. Rice considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race color religion age sex sexual orientation gender identity national or ethnic origin genetic information disability or protected veteran status. Rice also provides reasonable accommodations to qualified persons with disabilities. If an applicant requires a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process please get in touch with Rice Universitys Human Resources Office via email at for support.

If you have any additional questions please email us at. Thank you for your interest in employment with Rice University.