CO - P0487 - PREP Program Manager

The Office of Pollution Response & Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Program is the Commonwealth's primary capability for responding to oil and hazardous materials incidents. Operating under federal authority derived from CERCLA, the Clean Water Act, and OPA 90, and under Commonwealth authority derived from Title 10.1 of the Code of Virginia, the PREP Program receives and triages pollution reports 24 hours a day, deploys to incident scenes statewide, directs responsible parties and state-funded contractors, and coordinates Virginia's environmental response with federal partners including EPA Region 3 and the U.S. Coast Guard. This effort is accomplished through a combination of regional office staff and program manager who ensure consistent, decisive agency responses.

The Manager of the Office of Pollution Response & Emergency Preparedness leads the program statewide and partners with regional offices to deliver the program at the local level. This role combines statewide program governance, on-scene coordination authority, and agency-level emergency management leadership. The Program Manager is responsible for the doctrine, plans, annexes, policies, training framework, and state and federal partnerships that establish how the program operates statewide; may serve as the Commonwealth's lead State On-Scene Coordinator (SOSC) for complex incidents; and serves as DEQ's designated Emergency Management Coordinator and VEST Liaison Officer under the Commonwealth of Virginia Emergency Operations Plan.

This position requires that the selected candidate complete a Statement of Personal Economic Interests as a condition of employment, per the Code of Virginia § 2.2-3118.2.

Please note this position follows a hybrid work schedule to include both in-office and telework. Candidates must be able to work from the assigned work location in Virginia.

• Statewide Program Consistency Through Structured Framework and Support. Establishes program-wide standards, doctrine, qualifications, and procedures applicable to PREP staff in all six regional offices, works with Regional Directors to ensure consistent and decisive pollution response activities.
• State On-Scene Coordinator (SOSC) for Complex Incidents. Serves as the Commonwealth's designated lead SOSC for complex oil and hazardous materials incidents, including incidents with multi-regional scope, Unified Command activation, Governor's emergency declarations, and Spills of National Significance. Represents DEQ and the Commonwealth in Unified Command structures with federal partners.
• Federal and State Partnership Coordination. Participates in semi-annual federal partner meetings, contributes to the Regional Contingency Plan and Area Contingency Plan, and represents Virginia’s environmental interests in regional policy decisions.
• Cross-Program Capacity Building Within DEQ. Builds and maintains working relationships with other DEQ media programs (water, solid and hazardous waste, air, land protection, environmental justice, communications, and others) to ensure the agency can mobilize the full range of technical expertise and personnel needed to meet its responsibilities under ESF #3 (Public Works and Engineering), ESF #8 (Public Health and Medical), ESF #10 (Oil and Hazardous Materials, co-lead with VDEM), ESF #11 (Agriculture and Natural Resources), and ESF #15 (External Affairs) under the Commonwealth of Virginia Emergency Operations Plan and the DEQ Agency Support Plan.
• Agency Emergency Management Leadership. Serves as DEQ's Emergency Management Coordinator (EMC) and as DEQ's VEST Liaison Officer under the Executive Order 41, Commonwealth of Virginia Emergency Operations Plan, and DEQ’s Agency Support Plan. Coordinates DEQ’s ESF #10 co-lead obligations during Virginia Emergency Support Team (VEST) activations.
• Planning and Program Development. Develops short- and long-term program objectives along with strategies to achieve them. Maintains a program operating plan and a business improvement plan. Identifies and tracks new and potential federal and state requirements and initiatives, assesses their impacts, and translates them into updates to the Base Plan, annexes, and supporting procedures.
• Fiscal, Grants, and Contracting Authority. Develops, administers, and monitors the program budget. Provides strategic oversight of grants administration for federal and state grants supporting program operations and capacity-building. Exercises emergency procurement and contracting authority for incident response operations. Authorizes expenditures from the Virginia Environmental Emergency Response Fund (VEERF) and the Virginia Petroleum Storage Tank Fund (VPSTF) consistent with DEQ Policy 4-2023. Coordinates cost recovery activities for state-funded response actions.
• On-Call and Incident Response Duty. Participates in a 24/7 Central Office PREP on-call rotation. Is reachable for SOSC escalation at all times except during defined off-duty periods covered by the rotation. Deploys to incident scenes statewide on short notice. May function as on-scene incident commander or operations section chief during extended incidents (24-hour active management is plausible; multi-day deployments occur).
• Reporting and Communications. Reports to the Deputy Director of Operations on program status. Develops reports on program functions to apprise DEQ executive leadership of program status, accomplishments, and effectiveness. Communicates with elected officials, media, regulated parties, federal partners, and the public during high-visibility incidents. Maintains program presence on DEQnet and the public-facing DEQ website.
• Special Assignments. May be required to perform other duties as assigned. May be required to assist the agency or state government generally in the event of an emergency declaration by the Governor

• Knowledge of federal and state environmental statutes, regulations, and policies governing pollution response, including CERCLA, the Clean Water Act, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90), and the National Contingency Plan (40 CFR Part 300)
• Comprehensive knowledge of Virginia environmental statutes including the Virginia Waste Management Act, the State Water Control Law, and statutes establishing the Virginia Environmental Emergency Response Fund (VEERF) and the Virginia Petroleum Storage Tank Fund (VPSTF)
• Knowledge of the Incident Command System (ICS), the National Incident Management System (NIMS), the National Response Framework, and Unified Command doctrine
• Demonstrated knowledge of program planning and evaluation, personnel management, policy analysis, resource management, and government operations
• Demonstrated ability to build and sustain working relationships across program boundaries within a complex agency, mobilizing technical expertise and personnel from multiple programs in support of shared agency obligations
• Demonstrated ability to communicate orally and in writing with all levels of management, federal and state agency partners, the public, elected officials, and environmental and business leaders, including under conditions of incident-related public scrutiny
• Demonstrated ability to analyze and resolve complex environmental and emergency management issues, including decision-making under time pressure with incomplete information
• Ability to obtain and maintain State On-Scene Coordinator (SOSC) qualification under the PREP Program qualification framework, including HazWoper First Responder Awareness Level Training, ICS-300, ICS-400. Initial SOSC-R qualification is expected within approximately 12 months of hire and full SOSC qualification within approximately 24 months of hire, depending on incident exposure and exercise availability
• Must complete or provide certification of previous completion of the following NIMS courses: IS-100, IS-200, IS-700, and IS-800
• Ability to participate in a 24/7 on-call rotation, including holidays, and to deploy statewide on short notice during major pollution incidents
• Must complete an annual Statement of Economic Interest and Virginia State and Local Conflict of Interest Act Training (bi-annually)
• A combination of experience, training and education in environmental science, environmental engineering, emergency management, public administration, or a related field
• This position may require you to operate a state owned or leased vehicle. Therefore, a valid driver's license is required.

Additional Considerations:

• Prior service in a state emergency operations center (VEOC or equivalent), as ESF #10 lead, or in a comparable Emergency Support Function role
• Prior experience representing an agency on a Regional Response Team, Area Committee, or comparable interagency planning body
• Direct experience with Virginia DEQ programs, or multi-media knowledge of the agency. the Commonwealth of Virginia Emergency Operations Plan, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM), or other Virginia emergency management partners