Management · Holland code ECI

Emergency Management Directors

Plan and direct disaster response or crisis management activities, provide disaster preparedness training, and prepare emergency plans and procedures for natural (e.g., hurricanes, floods, earthquakes), wartime, or technological (e.g., nuclear power plant emergencies or hazardous materials spills) disasters or hostage situations.

Also called: Emergency Management Director, Emergency Management System Director (EMS Director), Emergency Planner, Public Safety Director, 911 Communications Manager, Emergency Management Coordinator, Emergency Manager, Emergency Preparedness Manager.

O*NET 11-9161.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $93,330; Middle half earn $67,910 to $126,490. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Bachelor's Degree; 59% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: +3% · As fast as average; 13,200 jobs in 2024, projected 13,600. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Emergency management directors".

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

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.
Prepare plans that outline operating procedures to be used in response to disasters or emergencies, such as hurricanes, nuclear accidents, and terrorist attacks, and in recovery from these events.
Develop and perform tests and evaluations of emergency management plans in accordance with state and federal regulations.
Collaborate with other officials to prepare and analyze damage assessments following disasters or emergencies.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Speaking4.1 / 5
Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
Active Listening4.0 / 5
Writing4.0 / 5
Critical Thinking4.0 / 5
Monitoring4.0 / 5

Knowledge areas

Public Safety and Security4.7 / 5
Administration and Management4.2 / 5
Law and Government4.2 / 5
Communications and Media4.0 / 5
English Language4.0 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.9 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic42
Investigative58
Artistic14
Social50
Enterprising68
Conventional62

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

fire commissioner · DE Brandinspektor/Brandinspektorin · FR chef de centre d'incendie et de secours
rescue centre manager · DE Leiter Rettungsleitstelle/Leiterin Rettungsleitstelle · FR chef de centre de secours
chief fire officer · DE Feuerwehrkommandant/Feuerwehrkommandantin · FR responsable de sécurité civile et de secours
emergency response coordinator · DE Notfallkoordinator/Notfallkoordinatorin · FR chargé hygiène sécurité environnement/chargée hygiène sécurité environnement

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Senior officers in fire, ambulance, prison and related services (1163)8,000 employed
Senior police officers (1162)11,000 employed
Chief executives and senior officials (1111)208,400 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Managers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Managers, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€96,629
Italy	€96,052
Germany	€90,192
Austria	€82,936
Netherlands	€69,857
Sweden	€60,369
France	€58,740
Ireland	€55,854
Spain	€54,121
Portugal	€39,189
Poland	€19,596

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.03. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (11-9161).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test