Specialist - Emergency Preparedness Services - Temporary full-time 2025-12663

Summary of Duties

Reporting to the Manager of Emergency Preparedness, the Emergency Preparedness Specialist is responsible for designing, developing, implementing, evaluating, and improving policies, plans, training, and education for disaster risks and hazards within their assigned portfolios, according to current and emerging best practices in disaster and emergency management. The Emergency Preparedness Specialist also helps to grow and maintain a positive and productive culture of Emergency Preparedness at Sunnybrook and across the regional hospital sector.

A temporary, full-time vacancy (until August 2026) exists for the Specialist portfolio most responsible for:

• Mass casualty incident (Code Orange) and Hazardous Materials/Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives (CBRNE) incident preparedness
• Medical emergency response codes (Codes Blue, Pink, OB and Transfusion)

The Specialist will lead the design, execution, and evaluation of a full-scale, multi-agency CBRNE-focused Code Orange exercise in fall 2025.
 

Specific Responsibilities Include

1. Specialized Planning

• Responsible for specialized emergency planning according to assigned portfolio.
• Provide Emergency Management expertise, assessment, and consultation during project and hazard planning cycles.  

2. Committee Leadership & Work Planning

• The incumbent will provide leadership (in co-chair model) for Sunnybrook’s Code Orange Steering Committee (COSC) and the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives (CBRNE) Preparedness Sub-Committee, including annual work planning and member engagement.

3. Education, Training & Exercise Design

• Design, implement, and evaluate appropriate competency-based education and training offerings for frontline staff and leaders according to assigned portfolio and in line with the overarching Emergency Preparedness education strategy.
• Design, implement, and evaluate emergency preparedness workshops, drills, tabletop exercises, and functional or full-scale exercises to validate plans, procedures, and processes.

4. Emergency & Incident Management

• Provide incident management support during emergency response activations at Sunnybrook or across the region.
• Lead debriefs, after-action reviews, and After Action Reports and Improvement Plans for exercises and true emergency responses.

5. Monitoring, Tracking & Reporting

• Monitor regional and provincial activities for situational awareness reporting.
• Track and maintain a history log of incidents requiring Hospital Emergency Operations Centre (HEOC) activation or system-level coordination.
• Monitor and track the status of recommendations, barriers, and challenges.
• Monitor the Emergency Management Communication Tool (EMCT) for situational awareness reporting (rotating responsibility).
• Develop and distribute the Weekly Briefing Report for on-call leaders (rotating responsibility).

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in a related discipline is required. A Master’s Degree with an emphasis on disaster and emergency management is an asset.
• Minimum of four (4) years of experience with disaster planning, emergency management, or business continuity planning is required.
• Completion of Basic Incident Management/Command System (i.e. IMS 200, ICS 200) is required. Completion of intermediate or advanced courses is an asset.
• Experience in project management is required.
• Clinical experience is required for this role.
• The following technical skills are required:
  • Exercise design, implementation, and evaluation
  • Academic research and writing
  • Stakeholder engagement
• In-depth knowledge of hospital operations and/or a good functional knowledge of the health sector is required.
• Demonstrated ability to advise on and implement operational plans in a large, complex organization is an asset.
• Experience leading qualitative research and/or data analysis is an asset.

Skills

• Self-motivated with exceptional facilitation, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Excellent conflict resolution, attention to detail, organizational, and time management skills.
• Knowledge about a wide range of natural and technological hazards impacting hospital and health sector operations.
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal/written communication, and presentation skills.
• Ability to meet deadlines and work effectively in a fast-paced, high-activity work environment.
• Ability to establish and maintain good working relationships with a variety of organizations and multidisciplinary individuals.
• Builds trust with key stakeholders and peers through honesty, integrity, professionalism, and accountability.
• Promotes an anti-racist, anti-oppressive, diverse, and inclusive work and team environment, consistent with Sunnybrook's Anti-Racism Policy and equity and social accountability strategy.