Salary: $7,592.00 - $10,204.00 Monthly
Location : Pierce County - Lakewood, WA
Job Type: Full Time - Permanent
Remote Employment: Flexible/Hybrid
Job Number:
Department: Military Department
Division: Emergency Management
Opening Date: 09/23/2026
Closing Date: 10/7/2026 11:59 PM Pacific

Description
Accreditation and Strategy Program Manager

Emergency Management Division | Lakewood, Washington

Are you an experienced professional who understands how to assess an organization's capabilities, identify gaps, drive corrective action, and translate strategy into measurable results?

The Washington Emergency Management Division (EMD) is seeking an Accreditation and Strategy Program Manager to lead several of the Division's most important organizational improvement efforts. This position is responsible for leading EMD's Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP), managing the Division's Corrective Action and Continuous Improvement Program, and facilitating implementation of EMD's strategic plan.

The successful candidate will have demonstrated experience in:

• Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP) or a comparable organizational accreditation, assessment, or standards-based improvement process;
• Corrective action and continuous improvement, including identifying gaps, developing improvement plans, assigning and tracking corrective actions, and measuring progress;
• Developing and using performance measures and other data to assess organizational effectiveness and inform management decisions;
• Assessing an organization's programs and translating findings into actionable improvements;
• Organizational strategic planning, including facilitating the development, implementation, monitoring, and periodic revision of a strategic plan; and
• Facilitating work across multiple programs and stakeholders to achieve organizational priorities.

This is primarily an organizational strategy, accreditation, assessment, and continuous improvement position. It is not a military operations planning position and is not focused on tactical incident planning or field operations.

The position works directly with EMD leadership and program managers to ensure that the Division's programs, processes, and priorities remain aligned with EMD's strategic direction and national emergency management standards. The position will help EMD identify where we are today, where we need to be, and what actions are necessary to close the gap.

EMD's EMD33 Strategic Plan provides the long-term framework for this work and serves as the Division's guide for organizational priorities, program improvement, and future change. Applicants are encouraged to review the plan (linked below) before applying.

EMD33 Strategic Plan

Before You Apply

This position is best suited for a professional with experience in organizational strategy, accreditation, assessment, corrective action, and continuous improvement.

The three areas of experience most relevant to this position are:

1. EMAP / Accreditation
Experience leading or supporting an accreditation, assessment, standards, or compliance process.

2. Corrective Action / Continuous Improvement
Experience identifying gaps, developing corrective actions or improvement plans, tracking implementation, and determining whether changes improved organizational performance.

3. Strategic Planning
Experience facilitating or implementing an organizational strategic plan and translating strategic goals into measurable actions and outcomes.

Experience serving in an Emergency Operations Center or disaster field operation is valuable, but it is not the primary focus of this position.

Duties
The Accreditation and Strategy Program Manager serves as a key advisor and facilitator for organizational strategy, accreditation, assessment, and continuous improvement.
Primary responsibilities include:

Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP)

• Serve as EMD's lead for the Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP).
• Coordinate EMD's accreditation activities, including assessment, documentation, gap identification, corrective actions, and ongoing maintenance of accreditation standards.
• Work with EMD leadership and program managers to ensure Division programs and processes align with applicable EMAP standards and established best practices.

Corrective Action and Continuous Improvement

• Lead EMD's Continuous Improvement Program and Corrective Action Program.
• Facilitate the identification, analysis, prioritization, assignment, and tracking of corrective actions resulting from exercises, real-world incidents, assessments, evaluations, and other improvement activities.
• Develop and monitor improvement plans and ensure identified actions are translated into measurable organizational improvements.
• Coordinate related Stakeholder Preparedness Report (SPR) activities and other required improvement processes.

Strategic Planning

• Facilitate the development, implementation, monitoring, and periodic update of the EMD Strategic Plan (EMD33).
• Work closely with the Director, Deputy Director, senior managers, and program staff to translate strategic goals and objectives into actionable priorities.
• Monitor progress toward strategic objectives and identify issues, gaps, and opportunities requiring management attention.
• Facilitate cross-program collaboration to ensure organizational activities remain aligned with EMD's strategic direction.

Assessment and Performance Measurement

• Lead assessments of EMD programs, processes, tools, and organizational capabilities.
• Develop, collect, analyze, and communicate performance measures that inform organizational effectiveness and strategic decision-making.
• Use assessment findings, performance data, lessons learned, and stakeholder input to identify opportunities for improvement.

Emergency Management Operations

• Serve in the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC), Joint Field Office (JFO), or Disaster Field Office (DFO), as assigned, during emergency or disaster operations.
• Apply lessons learned from exercises and real-world incidents to EMD's continuous improvement and corrective action processes.

Qualifications
In addition to meeting the minimum qualifications for Emergency Management Program Specialist 4, the successful candidate must demonstrate experience in at least two of the following areas:

• Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP) or a comparable accreditation, assessment, certification, or standards-based organizational improvement program;
• Corrective Action or Continuous Improvement Programs, including developing, implementing, monitoring, and closing corrective actions or improvement plans;
• Organizational Strategic Planning, including facilitating the development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of strategic goals and objectives;
• Organizational or Emergency Management Program Assessment, including evaluating programs, processes, capabilities, or performance and identifying opportunities for improvement;
• Performance Measurement and Analysis, including developing or analyzing metrics used to measure organizational effectiveness and inform management decisions; or
• Program or Project Management, including coordinating multiple stakeholders, monitoring progress, evaluating results, and achieving defined organizational outcomes.

Highly relevant experience will include work that demonstrates the ability to connect assessment findings to corrective action, continuous improvement, strategic priorities, and measurable organizational results.

Experience with military or law enforcement operational planning is not required and, by itself, does not demonstrate the primary experience sought for this position.

Qualifications
REQUIRED

One year of experience as an Emergency Management Program Specialist 3;

OR

A Bachelor's degree AND five years of professional level experience in emergency management, financial management (grant, contracting, claims management, budgeting) training/education, public information/affairs, program/project management environmental analysis/planning, civil/structural engineering, legislative affairs, and/or urban planning.

AND (in additional to the experience listed above. This experience may be gained concurrently with the professional level experience listed above).

Two years of experience in two or more of the following:

• Strategic planning (developing, facilitating and/or monitoring).
• Identify, track, and analyze metrics to measure organizational effectiveness.
• Leading and administering an Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP) or similar program for an organization.
• Leading assessments of Emergency Management Programs.
• Facilitating and managing a Continuous Improvement Program (CIP) as the subject matter expert in exercise and real-world activations requiring the implementation of corrective actions, improvement plans, and Stakeholder Preparedness Report (SPR) activities.
• Program/project management - coordinating, monitoring, and evaluating a project or program having a specific goal to be achieved within a specific time frame.

Additional qualifying experience will substitute, year for year, for the education requirement. A Master's or Ph.D. degree will substitute for one year of the experience requirement.

DESIRED

Experience:

• Two years of applied experience in Program Management.

Knowledge of:

• EMAP standards
• Emergency Management Division and its programs.

Skills and Abilities to :

• Ability to take action to meet the needs of others
• Ability to take action to learn and grow.
• Use Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Access) to develop complex documents in support of program objectives.

Supplemental Information
Compensation: Wage/salary depends on qualifications or rules of promotion.

Work Hours: A choice may be available between a Tuesday through Friday (4/10 schedule): Monday through Thursday (4/10 schedule): or Monday through Friday (5/8 schedule). Actual hours will start no earlier than 6:00 am and end no later than 6:00 pm, and will include core business hours of 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.