Safety Emergency Preparedness Manager

Northwestern Medical Center; St. Albans, Northern (VT, KY); Hybrid; USD 71,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Northwestern Medical Center is hiring a Safety Emergency Preparedness Manager to lead the hospital-wide safety program and emergency readiness. The role requires coordinating with facilities, security, and external agencies while guiding staff education and policy development.

The position emphasizes proactive planning, incident command readiness, and regulatory compliance to support patient and staff safety in a dynamic healthcare environment.

Qualifications

• Education: Associate's degree required.
• Experience in organizational safety and emergency preparedness/response required.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills; able to lead in emergencies.
• Ability to coordinate with multiple agencies and stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Serves as Safety Officer overseeing hospital safety program and hazardous waste.
• Develops action plans, coordinates staff education and process improvements.
• Coordinates training on de-escalation and active shooter response.
• Authors and reviews policies on Security, Emergency Preparedness, Safety.
• Prepares emergency plans and coordinates drills, meetings, and records.
• Maintains regulatory readiness and interfaces with agencies.

Skills

Safety leadership

Emergency preparedness

Communication skills

Regulatory compliance

Education

Associate's degree

Tools

Access control systems

Environmental safety equipment

Job description

• Pay or shift range: $71,240 USD to $93,808 USD
  The estimated range is the budgeted amount for this position. Final offers are based on various factors, including skill set, experience, location, qualifications and other job-related reasons.

Description

NMC is currently recruiting a Safety Emergency Preparedness Manager. The position is full-time (80 hours bi-weekly), generally Monday - Friday 8am - 4:30 pm. Northwestern Medical Center’s mission is to provide exceptional health care to our community. Join our high reliability team! With “people” as one of our core values, valuing our employees is a top priority for Northwestern. We care about our employees, their families, and their overall health & well-being. We are proud to offer a generous benefits package, with recognized national carriers, designed to help our people stay healthy, balance work & life responsibilities, protect your assets & plan for a secure financial future.

Hiring Range: $71,240 - $99,528

Safety Emergency Preparedness Manager

JOB SUMMARY:

This position provides leadership and guidance to assure organizational emergency and disaster preparedness, environmental safety, security compliance, and regulatory adherence to federal, state, and accrediting agency requirements.

PRE-REQUISITES:

Education: Associate's degree required.

Experience: Experience in organizational safety and emergency preparedness/response is required.

Other Skills: Must have strong interpersonal and communication skills and have the ability to work cooperatively with a wide variety of people in various capacities in routine and emergent situations. Must demonstrate competent and calm leadership in emergency situations. Must have strong computer skills with the ability to use software applications for communications, committee organizational materials, reporting documents, tracking of equipment requisitions, etc. Must have strong organizational skills with the ability to organize agendas, track agenda action items, and maintain up-to-date communications with various private, local and state agencies, etc. Must have strong reading comprehension and analytical skills to understand safety regulations and other technical text.

Certifications: N/A

RELATIONSHIPS:

Reports To: Director of Facilities - Support Services

Supervises: Contracted security guards

Other Contacts: Employees, public, patients, community stakeholders. Hospital committees, managers, physicians, vendors, local/state/regulatory and health agencies.

SCOPE:

Machinery or Equipment Used: Computer, phone, fax, copier, personal protective equipment, equipment specific to security response situations and some environmental analytical safety equipment.

Physical Demands: Some sedentary work; light physical effort; continuous walking, standing, stooping, and climbing. Ability to move freely about building and grounds to conduct inspections. Occasional prolonged standing/walking.

Working Conditions: Subject to many interruptions; subject to pressure due to multiple calls and inquiries. Subject to varying and unpredictable situations; handles emergency or crisis situations; occasionally subjected to irregular hours.

Required Protective Equipment: Eye protection, face protection, mask, gown, lab coat, or apron, non-sterile medical gloves, sterile medical gloves, utility gloves, ear protection, and hard hat. Other protective equipment necessary to respond to situations as they occur.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Serves as the Safety Officer for the organization, including oversight for the hospital safety program, environmentally safe practices and the hazardous waste program.
• Develops, plans, and coordinates action plans to address needs, including process improvement and staff education.
• Coordinates training and provides in-service when appropriate on topics such as de-escalation and active shooter response.
• Authors and reviews policies related to Security, Emergency Preparedness, Safety, and Environmental Safety.
• Integral member of the Emergency Preparedness and Environment of Care committees as well as the Workplace Violence subcommittee.
• Prepares action plans for Safety, Environmental, Security and Emergency events as needed.
• Provides oversight and tracking of Hospital Emergency Preparedness activities, including departmental emergency/disaster contingency plans. Plans, executes and documents organizational preparedness drills including post event education and assessment. Oversees interventional efforts to improve coordination in emergency situations, including facilitating the Decontamination Team. Provides training, guidance and oversight for the Incident Command structure, ensuring that IC standards are maintained. Maintains and keeps up to date records of these activities for review upon request.
• Facilitates the Security Response Team (Code Green Team), personally manages security incident response when on site, and plans, oversees, and documents regular meetings, drills, and training for the Security Response Team.
• Conducts regular documented reviews of security and safety systems. Including but not limited to cameras and access control, and makes recommendations for improvements based on these assessments. Takes the lead on security threat assessments, in conjunction with other stakeholders.
• Executes assignments in a timely manner, communicating collaboratively and frequently with stakeholders so that they are aware in advance of projected timelines and potential changes in plans.
• Maintains an up-to-date knowledge of regulatory reporting requirements from government and other agencies. Prepares, submits manages and tracks reports and permits to appropriate agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services among others, regarding Emergency Preparedness, Hazardous Materials, Safety, Environmental Safety and others.
• Fosters external state and local agency relationships, including but not limited to local police and other emergency responders.
• Coordinates and assures compliance with environmental assessments according to regulatory agency standards.
• Works closely with Facilities to meet safety agency standards and data monitoring requirements and to maintain regulatory readiness.
• Provides coordination and oversight to security operations and activities including planning, assessing, and directing security resources throughout institution.
• Author, manage and oversee the Safety Management Plan, Security Management Plan, and Hazardous Waste Management plan.

MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS:

Effectively Manages Change

• Provides an active support mechanism during times of change including but not limited to reaffirming goals/values, considering concerns as they arise, and an open door policy
• Detects and resolves team/individual isolation and other breakdowns resulting from change
• Communicates excessively to quell rumors and work through barriers to change
• Remains flexible and responsive to new information during change

Manages and Improves Processes

• Analyzes service and quality metrics to identify areas where corrective action can be taken within the department.
• Questions the status quo to seek more efficient ways to accomplish department functions
• Seeks out industry benchmarks and stays aware of emerging technology and best practices to exceed quality standards
• Actively seeks opportunities to improve own leadership skills through education and job shadowing.

Understands the Financial Impact of their Department

• Proficient in interpreting the meaning of various organizational financial reports and able to communicate this meaning appropriately with staff
• Demonstrates an understanding of the components of productivity and expense management that pertain to their department
• Proactively identifies opportunities for market share enhancements, expense reductions, and outcome improvements
• Exhibits ability to assess the risks, effort, benefits, impact, results, and costs involved in any proposed new course of action or current activity

Builds Effective Networks

• Demonstrates a willingness to create win‑win situations with other departments
• Seeks and is open to others’ viewpoints
• Establishes rapport with other NMC connections without motive
• Rounds on important internal customers with regularity

Drives Operational and Service Excellence

• Sets and communicates clear, legitimate standards of performance with credible metrics
• Prioritizes the department’s activities to achieve long and short term organizational goals; clearly communicating goals so employees understand what they are working toward achieving
• Committed to NMC Service Standards; holding self, team, and colleagues accountable for AIDET and other must‑haves
• Willing to reorganize roles and responsibilities to align with strategy, including cross training when appropriate and allowed

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Equal Opportunity Employer
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