Fire Life Safety Program Administrator

San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART); Oakland (CA); On-site; USD 142,000 - 172,000; Full time

Job summary

San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) seeks a Fire Life Safety Program Administrator to manage emergency preparedness exercises, trainings, and familiarization programs across the District’s facilities and rail operations.

The role coordinates with local fire departments and external agencies, develops training materials, and evaluates emergency response capabilities; relates to NIMS/PTASP and EOC support as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Fire Science or related field.
• Four years of full-time rail operations safety experience, including two years of Fire Life Safety in rail transit.
• Certifications in HSEEP and ICS (100, 200, 300, 700, 800) preferred.

Responsibilities

• Ensures compliance with Fire Life Safety code and District facilities; tracks issues.
• Plans, coordinates, and documents fire life safety exercises and training with Fire Departments.
• Maintains records of fire code inspections and disseminates lessons learned and training updates.
• Partners with the Manager of Emergency Preparedness to align with NIMS and other regs.
• Investigates and documents Fire incidents, tracking corrective actions per PTASP.
• Supports development and maintenance of Emergency Plans and checklists.
• Assists with selecting and maintaining Fire Life Safety equipment; supports EOC activities.
• Engages with Maximo for inspection data tracking and reporting capabilities.
• Keeps abreast of regulations, trends, and innovations in Fire Life Safety for transit.
• Coordinates district participation in local/regional drills with stakeholders.

Skills

Rail operations safety

Emergency management

Communication & coordination

RWP & electrical safety

HSEEP & ICS certs

Education

Bachelor's degree in Fire Science or related field

Job description

Pay Rate AFSCME Pay Grade 17
Step 1: $141,668.80/annually - Step 5: $172,224.00/annually
Note: The negotiable salary offer will be commensurate with education and experience.

Reports To
Director of Fire Life Safety

Days Off
Variable

Who May Apply All current BART employees and Future BART employees

Current Assignment
San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) is seeking to fill a Fire Life Safety Program Administrator position within the Fire Life Safety Department. This critical role coordinates and manages emergency preparedness exercises, training, and familiarization programs to support system safety and emergency response readiness.

This position will be responsible for planning, conducting, and documenting full-scale and tabletop exercises, coordinating familiarization activities for local fire departments and first responders, developing training materials, and participating in safety and emergency preparedness committees. The incumbent will collaborate closely with BART departments, fire departments, and external agencies to evaluate emergency response capabilities, identify gaps, and implement corrective actions and lessons learned following exercises and incidents. They may also support the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) during planned and unplanned events.

Most qualified candidate for this position will have highly developed competencies beyond the minimum qualifications in the following areas, which will be reinforced with related work experience and will be clearly articulated during the selection process:

• Thorough knowledge of rail operations systems and its safety procedures in a rail transit environment.
• Comprehensive understanding of emergency management practices.
• Excellent communication and coordination skills with the ability to maintain accurate records in accordance with applicable Federal Transit Administration (FTA) requirements and the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP).
• Profound understanding of Roadway Worker Protection (RWP) and electrical safety is highly desired.
• Certifications in HSEEP and Incident Command System (ICS) courses 100, 200, 300, 700, and 800, is preferred.

1. Ensures compliance with code and best practices regarding Fire and Life Safety in all District facilities and works with various District work groups to track and address identified issues.
2. Develops, schedules and coordinates and documents fire life safety exercise, training and familiarization with Fire Departments to support the Districts safe operations.
3. Maintains records documenting fire code inspection resolve to findings throughout all District facilities and Fire Life Safety systems, documents and disseminates lessons learned, training updates, and post exercise and drill debriefings.
4. Partners with Manager of Emergency Preparedness to prepare for emergency operations and ensure District fire-related compliance with the National Incident Management System (NIMS), and other rules and regulations.
5. Participates in the investigation and documentation, including tracking corrective actions, after Fire incidents within the District in accordance with the PTASP requirements.
6. Supports, develops, reviews, and maintains conflagration related Emergency Plans, checklists, flowcharts, and other deliverables.
7. Assists with the selection, identification, purchasing and ongoing maintenance Fire Life Safety department equipment and supplies.
8. Provides support to the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). Ensures that Fire Life Safety department is represented at regular EOC training, drills and exercises.
9. Works with Maximo development team to develop inspection, data tracking, and reporting capabilities.
10. Attends and participates in professional meetings; stays abreast of regulations, trends, and innovations in the field of transportation Fire and Life Safety code and standard compliance and emergency preparedness.
11. Stays current with emerging and established technologies and products and evaluates both for suitability and effectiveness in addressing the District’s fire and life safety emergency preparedness needs.
12. Coordinates District participation in local and regional emergency preparedness drills and exercises with transit and first responder stakeholders.
13. Serves as the Fire and Life Safety liaison with other divisions, departments, and outside agencies; maintains positive relationships with authorities having jurisdiction who respond to emergencies in the BART system; negotiates and resolves issues.
14. Performs other duties as assigned.

Education

Possession of a Bachelor's degree in Fire Science or related field from an accredited college or university.

Experience

Four (4) years of (full-time equivalent) verifiable experience in rail operations system safety administration or related experience including (2) years of Fire Life Safety experience in a rail transit environment.

Substitution

Additional professional experience as outlined above may be substituted for the education on a year-for- year basis. A college degree is preferred.

Other Requirements

• Must possess a valid California driver’s license and have a satisfactory driving record
• Must be willing and able to travel and off-hours shift, holidays and weekends
• Possession of or ability to complete NFPA Certified Fire Inspector I within six (6) months of hire
• Possession of or ability to complete TSI PTSCTP certification course within one (1) year of hire
• Completion of IC S 100, 200, 700 and 800
• Ability to complete IC S 300 and 400 within two (2) years of hire

Knowledge of

• PrinciplesofacomprehensiveFireLifeSafetymanagementprogram,preferablyinatransitenvironment
• CPUCGeneralOrder164;NFPA 1;13; 25;72;101; and130; CFC; CBC; BARTFacility Standards
• Incident Command System (ICS)and NationalIncidentManagement Systems (NIMS)
• Principlesandpractices ofFire LifeSafety-relatedoversight, compliance, and enforcement
• Principlesandpractices ofpolicy development, implementation and administration
• Principles of Fire Life Safety Inspections
• Principlesof supervision, trainingand performanceevaluation
• Safetyand emergencyoperationsandprocedures
• Current and emerging Fire Life Safety technologies and products and best practices for their use on transit systems
• CurrentFireLifeSafetyrelatedstandards,protocols,andproceduresforemployeesandpatronsof amajormetropolitantransit system
• Relatedfederal, state andlocal lawsand regulations
• Incident Command Center(ICS)forms
• Implementing responseplanningandrecovery
• Emergency Preparedness

Skill/Ability in

• Managingandcoordinatingassignedprojects
• Developingandimplementingdepartmentalgoals,objectivesandprocedures
• Planning,organizing,scheduling,firstresponderfamiliarization,tabletopandfull-scaleexercises
• All-hourimmediateresponseand investigationof FireandLifeSafetyincidents
• Analyzingfindings discovered during investigations ofFireincidents; determines causeandcorrective action
• ConductingFireLife Safety inspections
• Interpretingandexplainingestablishedpoliciesandproceduresfor assignedDistrictprojects
• Preparingclearandconcisereports
• Operatingofficeequipmentincludingcomputersandsupportingwordprocessing andspreadsheetapplications
• Communicatingclearlyandconcisely,bothorallyandinwriting
• Establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work