Career
Emergency management directors
Plan for disasters, and lead when they happen.
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Consult with officials of local and area governments, schools, hospitals, and other institutions to determine their needs and capabilities in the event of a natural disaster or other emergency.
- Develop and maintain liaisons with municipalities, county departments, and similar entities to facilitate plan development, response effort coordination, and exchanges of personnel and equipment.
- Coordinate disaster response or crisis management activities, such as ordering evacuations, opening public shelters, and implementing special needs plans and programs.
- Prepare emergency situation status reports that describe response and recovery efforts, needs, and preliminary damage assessments.
- Maintain and update all resource materials associated with emergency preparedness plans.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on persuasion & leadership, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Consult with officials of local and area governments, schools, hospitals, and other institutions to determine their needs and capabilities in the event of a natural disaster or other emergency.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Service Orientation, Speaking, Complex Problem Solving, Writing.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
4 years of education after high school (bachelor's degree), for a median of $93,330 a year and 1,100 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Criminal JusticeSee the degree →
- Critical Incident Response/Special Police OperationsCIP 43.0119
- Protective Services OperationsCIP 43.0120
- Homeland SecurityCIP 43.0301
- Crisis/Emergency/Disaster ManagementCIP 43.0302
- Critical Infrastructure ProtectionCIP 43.0303
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Business Continuity Planners
- Security Managers
- Security Management Specialists
- Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors$115,160 · +5.4%
- Medical and Health Services Managers$123,860 · +24.2%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
Not sure this fits who you are? Start with Vocational Finder →
Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.