Role Responsibilities

Have you ever wondered what happens when the animals and crops that are an important part of our food supply and provincial economy get a new reportable disease or pest? Or, what happens if there is a structural problem in a government owned dam or reservoir?  While you may have thought “I have seen everything there is to see in emergency management”, we suspect you may not have worked through any of the above scenarios.  

The Emergency Management Team in the Department of Agriculture and Irrigation provides specialized emergency management support to the branches of the department that are responsible for managing animal diseases, crop/bee pest outbreaks, dam safety issues, province wide emergency events and disruptions to the department’s essential services.

Key Responsibilities:

• Ensure that Emergency Plans adequately address potential emergency events facing the department and agriculture industry. 
• Ensure that the Business Continuity Plan can assist with the resurrection/restoration any department services in accordance with established time lines.
• Assess/analyse events and risks for their potential impact on agriculture, agriculture stakeholders and the department.
• Develop sound strategic policy and program advice for the Executive Directors, Assistant Deputy Ministers (ADM), the Deputy Minster (DM) and other senior government officials as appropriate.
• Supervise and provide expertise to the lead division or agency during emergency event responses.  
• Deliver an integrated training and exercise program for management and staff enabling them to step into emergency team leadership roles during a response.
• Represent AGI and other agriculture stakeholders during province wide emergencies at the Provincial Emergency Coordination Centre at the Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services.
• Ensure AGI participation and integration in Critical Infrastructure Protection work that is led by other departments.
• Actively work to increase the level of personal preparedness for emergencies in AGI staff and rural Albertans through education sessions, integration with provincial communications initiatives and other training opportunities.
• Coordinate for AGI cross government initiatives focused on emergency planning and preparedness.
• Manage work with stakeholders to establish and strengthen relationships on joint and integrated projects.
• Manage issues to identify opportunities where collaborative partnerships (within and outside government) can work more effectively to resolve issues.

Role Responsibilities Continued

The team gets involved in work across all four pillars of emergency management: 

• Prevention/mitigation – Working with communities, livestock commodity groups and in some cases with individual agriculture producers to create/adapt/implement measures to reduce the severity or likelihood of an emergency incident affecting that individual or organization.
• Preparedness – This is the largest amount of work for the emergency management team.  With agriculture and dam safety being very scientific/specialized fields, the role of the emergency management team is to help prepare those branches to respond effectively to crises or emergencies in their technical areas.  The team does this through the delivery of training courses on how to use the Incident Command System, developing workshops and exercises in which those branches practise their response procedures and by working with other stakeholders across the provincial government, municipal governments and agriculture industry groups to leverage their skills and resources.
• Response – In Agriculture and Irrigation, an emergency or crisis response could occur in one of the agriculture/dam safety situations that have already been described, or it can come because of a large natural disaster affecting the agriculture sector. This could mean working with department veterinarians to manage a new disease outbreak in livestock somewhere in the province.  It could mean working at the Provincial Emergency Coordination Centre where you will be providing advice to Alberta communities on ways to support their local producers as they try to protect their operations from the ravages of a large wildfire or flood.
• Recovery – The department emergency management team works on tasks like how to manage dead livestock following a tornado, leading the internal business continuity team when there is damage to a department building, to providing information that supports the creation of financial support programs that assist rural Alberta residents who have been affected by a major disaster. 

This role is not for the faint of heart! As the emergency management team leader, you will need to be ready to apply all of your current skills and knowledge to these processes as well as be willing to learn about how the department's experts perform their roles.  

Please click on this link  to view the job description for this position.

APS Competencies

Competencies are behaviors that are essential to reach our goals in serving Albertans. We encourage you to have an in depth understanding of the competencies that are required for this opportunity and to be prepared to demonstrate them during the recruitment process.

This link will assist you with understanding competencies:
https://www.alberta.ca/system/files/custom_downloaded_images/psc-alberta-public-service-competency-model.pdf.

Agility: Workload priorities change often.  You need to be adaptable to quickly respond to emergencies as well as maintain day-to-day operations.  Ability to move from low level operational thinking (e.g. how to organize a department incident team for best effectiveness) to strategic level (assessing proposed changes in policy or legislation for its potential impact on AGI activities and operations/policy).

Develop Networks: You will work with internal and external stakeholders, department staff, and partnering ministries to source and research information for best practices and to address ongoing emergency management requirements. Agriculture is a shared jurisdiction from a regulatory perspective.  Agriculture emergency management must understand when national stakeholders like the Government of Canada must be engaged in responding and when it is solely in the provincial or community area of responsibility.

Systems Thinking: You will proactively identify issues and recommend options for resolution while at the same time consider how the resolution impacts the bigger picture of government services. Understand how this work compares to the 4 pillars of Emergency Management (Prevention/Mitigation, Preparedness, Response, Recovery).

Creative Problem Solving: You will use your creativity to think “outside the box” to create innovative and realistic solutions. With the accelerated timelines required by emergency events, different perspectives and information sources need to be integrated into the assessment early in the process.  There is rarely sufficient time for a deliberate consultation with all stakeholders prior to implementing response actions.

Qualifications

Qualifications:

•  University graduation in a field related to the position assignment, supplemented by six years progressively responsible related experience.
• Related experience or education may be considered as an equivalency on a one for one basis. 

A preference will be given to those with:    

• Knowledge and training in emergency management principles, standards, techniques, leading practices, issues and trends (including mitigation, planning, preparedness response and recovery) and their impact on business operations.
• Experience in project planning, development, and evaluation along with strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to co-ordinate and lead staff through business disruption and emergency events to resume critical and vital services as quickly as possible.
• Knowledge of regulatory obligations under federal and provincial legislation related to business continuity and emergency planning and response.
• Extensive knowledge of the process and best practices for developing emergency management plans.  This includes knowledge about Business Continuity planning, risk management, mitigation strategies and techniques.
• You have an overall understanding of how the Emergency Management Framework for Canada, and the Alberta Emergency Plan applies to the team. This is important as we can be called to respond to the impact of natural disasters on Alberta’s agriculture industry and rural communities.

Assets:

• Certification in Emergency Management or Business Continuity.
• Knowledge of agriculture industry and food processing sector.
• Knowledge and/or experience in classroom instruction and exercise development.
• Incident Command System 100 – 300 and position specific courses.
• Certification from an appropriate Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) to instruct classes on the Incident Command System. 

Minimum recruitment standards outline the minimum education and experience required for appointment to a job classification. 
Refer to https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-public-service-minimum-recruitment-standards.

Notes

•    Office located in Edmonton, J.G.O’Donoghue Building (7000-113 Street) 
•    Hours of Work: 36.25 hours per week (permanent full time)
•    Monday to Friday (08:15 am-16:30 pm)
•    Work hours may differ based on emergency responses and Managers are expected to work the hours needed to fulfill their responsibilities
•    Travel: valid Driver’s License is required for travel within Alberta

Other Application Information:
•    A cover letter is required with your application, outlining how your education and experience aligns with the role.
•    This position will require final candidates to undergo a security clearance.
•    Final candidates may be required to undergo a written test demonstrating writing skills and abilities pre or post interviews.
•    Please indicate employment duration for all roles listed on your resume and whether you worked part-time or full-time. For example, January 15, 2006 - June 25, 2009
•    Any costs associated with obtaining the required documents/checks as noted or interview travel expenses, will be the responsibility of the candidate. Out-of-province applicants can obtain the required documents/checks from the province they currently reside in.

Links and information on what the GoA has to offer to prospective employees.

•    Working for the Alberta Public Service - https://www.alberta.ca/advantages- working-for-alberta-public-service.aspx
•    Pension plan: Management Employees Pension Plan (MEPP)  https://www.mepp.ca/page/mepp-home
•    Alberta Public Service Benefit Information - https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-public-service-benefits
•    Professional learning and development - https://www.alberta.ca/professional-development-support-directive
•    Research Alberta Public Service Careers tool – https://researchapscareers.alberta.ca
•    Positive workplace culture and work-life balance
•    When operational requirements allow, there is an opportunity to participate in flexible work arrangements such as working from home up to two days per week.
•    Leadership and mentorship programs