Emergency planning/management officer job profile

Emergency planning/management officers use their contingency planning and response expertise to handle a range of emergency situations

As an emergency planning/management officer, you'll play a key role in protecting and maintaining public safety. Working as part of a team, you'll anticipate and plan for major incidents and respond to threats to public safety. You can work in local or central government, or in a public body or agency tasked with responding to emergencies or disasters.

Your work may involve business continuity management, in which you'll support businesses operating in adverse conditions.

Alternative job titles include civil contingencies officer, civil resilience officer and emergency planning and resilience officer.

A related but distinct area is international relief and development. For more information, see international aid/development worker.

Types of emergency

You may respond to incidents such as:

acts of terrorism
epidemics and pandemics, such as swine flu and COVID-19
flooding
major industrial accidents
natural disasters
winter weather.

Responsibilities

As an emergency planner, you'll need to:

write and implement safety development plans and reports
provide advice and consultancy to businesses to ensure that they can carry on functioning in the event of an emergency
complete risk assessments for a diverse range of sites, such as chemical factories, nuclear factories, city centres and major sporting venues
analyse and plan for potential risks, such as outbreaks of infections or disease, technical failure of electricity networks, major gas leaks and severe weather conditions
act as duty officer as part of a 24-hour duty system, responding to emergency situations as they arise
prepare and conduct safety exercises
respond to incidents, such as natural disasters, and assess the situation and the level of response required
communicate with emergency services and other bodies in the event of an emergency
help to coordinate the response of all non-emergency service organisations
work with a range of agencies to ensure that normal support for local communities continues in the event of an emergency
support the recovery of local communities to their pre-incident state
deliver safety training to staff in local authorities, businesses, voluntary agencies and other organisations
raise awareness of public safety issues by developing information, presenting at events and conferences and delivering special projects
liaise with the police, fire services and the army
give presentations on a range of topics at conferences and other events
develop new policies and procedures in response to government legislation.

Salary

Starting salaries for emergency planning officers range from £22,000 to £28,000 in local authority or NHS-based roles.
With experience, those working in senior roles can expect to earn £35,000 to £50,000. Managers or consultants may earn more than this.

Salary levels vary for similar jobs. The public sector has set pay scales that you can progress through, but you may find higher salaries in the private sector.

Figures are intended as a guide only.

Working hours

Your standard working hours will be between 36 to 38 hours per week, although they can be longer in an emergency.

Operating an on-call rota is the norm for emergency planning departments, so expect to be regularly placed on-call to help cover any arising crisis situations.

What to expect

When visiting outside locations and industrial settings you may be required to wear protective clothing, such as a high visibility jacket and a hard hat.
This is often a high-profile role, so you need to dress smartly for meetings, presentations and some site visits.
The job is pressured, with elements of risk and a high degree of responsibility, not only when responding to emergency situations such as floods or terrorism threats but also when managing a varied workload and meeting strict deadlines.
Travel is a regular part of the role, with occasional overnight stays.
There are opportunities to work overseas for humanitarian organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Qualifications

A relevant first degree is required for emergency planning/management officer roles and suitable subjects include:

business continuity and security management
disaster management
environmental hazards and disaster management
international security and disaster management.

If you don't have a relevant first degree, you'll need to obtain a related postgraduate qualification. Masters courses are available in similar subjects to those listed above. Search for postgraduate courses in disaster management.

Entry without a degree will only be considered if you have extensive relevant pre-entry experience or a related professional qualification.

Specialised courses exist for professionals working in the voluntary, health, public and other sectors. While these do not necessarily qualify you to move into emergency planning roles, they do support a move into work relating to emergency planning and continued professional development (CPD).

You may also want to consider getting membership of relevant professional bodies such as the Emergency Planning Society (EPS). This will give you access to useful resources and networking events and help keep you up to date with news in the industry. The society offers a reduced rate for student members.

Skills

You'll need to have:

the ability to communicate with people at all levels
the capacity to stay calm in stressful disaster situations
attention to detail and a thorough approach
a logical approach and the ability to be creative in a high-pressure situation
a flexible attitude, with the ability to manage a range of tasks at once
the capability to work to deadlines and prioritise tasks
project management skills
analytical and problem-solving skills.

Work experience

Employers value relevant work experience and so a part-time job or a placement in an emergency planning role will be an advantage. If you can't find a specific work experience opportunity, focus on developing the skills essential to the job.

Practical experience, such as voluntary work for a humanitarian organisation, may also be useful.

Find out more about the different kinds of work experience and internships that are available.

Employers

Emergency planning officers are employed by public bodies, including:

government organisations, such as the Environment Agency (EA) and Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
local authorities
National Health Service (NHS)
the fire service
the police.

Charities are also key recruiters of emergency planners and provide opportunities throughout the UK and overseas.

On the commercial side, consultancies offer specialist risk management and business continuity management services to:

government
private sector developers
regional development agencies
small businesses
utilities companies.

Private employers range from small, specialist consultancies to large multinationals, offering business continuity as part of a package of services.

Increasingly, private companies are taking on business continuity specialists to protect their operations in the event of an emergency, particularly within the financial services. As with consultancy work, these roles usually require a good level of experience in the field, as well as a business continuity qualification.

Look for job vacancies at:

You can also look to the individual council website for your area for opportunities.

Professional development

Most employers carry out some on-the-job training and it's likely that you'll have the chance to learn from more experienced colleagues. You may also attend in-house training courses, and external training with a professional body. Training may cover specific emergency planning topics as well as soft skills such as project management, time management and communication.

The Emergency Planning College (EPC) is a provider of resilience training and offers various events and courses that are relevant to emergency planning/management officers. Training topics include:

community resilience, working with children and schools
developing and maintaining a business continuity plan
emergency shelter and evacuation planning
event and public safety
recovering from emergencies
risk management.

The EPC runs free evening lectures on related topics and has a knowledge centre, which provides online resources.

The EPS also runs conferences and events that will be helpful for furthering your knowledge, and as a member you can access its CPD scheme.

Health-related emergency planning courses are available from the relevant public health bodies.

It's important to keep up to date with emerging issues and developments in legislation, such as the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. Becoming a member of a relevant professional body such as the EPS can help with this.

Career prospects

Although you'll generally develop your career in either emergency planning and management or business continuity management, there is scope to move into another area after gaining experience.

With a relevant qualification, it's possible to move into:

international relief and development work
relief and development work
risk assessment and health and safety consultancy.

One of the more established career pathways exists within local authorities across the country, where you may progress from an assistant emergency planning officer to emergency planning officer, and then into a senior management role. In these roles, you may specialise in a specific area, such as human or animal health and severe weather planning.

Senior officers in local authorities tend to take on more staff management and development responsibilities, moving away from the direct planning and response aspects of the job.

Other career options include making a move from the public to the private sector or moving into an emergency planning role overseas - supporting the work of government organisations in other parts of the world.

Emergency planning/management officer