DFPC Firefighter V: Battalion Chief - Big Thompson River Region

Full Job Description

Our Mission - Engaged employees working together to safeguard lives and to provide diverse public safety services to local communities

Our Vision - Creating safer and more resilient communities across Colorado

Our Core Values – Unity, Honor, Service

The State of Colorado strives to create a Colorado for All by building and maintaining workplaces that value and respect all Coloradans through a commitment to equal opportunity and hiring based on merit and fitness.

The State is resolute in non-discriminatory practices in everything we do, including hiring, employment, and advancement opportunities.

At CDPS we nurture a centric culture driven by our commitment of creating a safer Colorado, an inclusive workplace where everyone can be their own authentic self.

We model a culture of collaboration, support and growth to our employees. Our culture has public service focus, and we strive to provide innovative solutions and services to our fellow Coloradans!

If you are passionate about public safety service, and are eager to dedicate your career to serving Coloradans, this is the organization you want to join!

We are committed to providing public safety services to our fellow Coloradans in their times of greater needs such as: safety on our roads, preparing and mitigating environmental disasters, disaster recovery, combating crime, school safety, and victim recovery.

You’ll have the opportunity to challenge yourself and acquire new capabilities to build a rewarding and fulfilling career while making a difference in our community!

When you join CDPS, you are joining a team of exceptional individuals and together you will be inspired, motivated and supported to become the best you can be.

Unmatched Benefits

We highly value work life balance and offer excellent work-life programs, training and enriching professional development opportunities and a wide range of benefits.

• Medical and dental options are available for permanent employees and their dependents. We also offer short and long-term disability coverage, and life insurance that includes legal resources and discounts.

• State contribution into Health Savings Account when enrolled in HDHP.

• Job protected medical leave under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the State of Colorado Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program (FAMLI).

• Paid medical leave benefits provided by the State of Colorado.

• Eligibility for hybrid or other flexible work arrangements based on the nature of the role.

• We offer unmatched retirement benefits including mandatory PERA Defined Benefit Plan or PERA Defined Contribution Plan, plus optional 401K and 457 plans. For information on mandatory employee salary deferral (in lieu of contribution to Social Security), visit Colorado PERA for details.

• CDPS provides generous time off including 11 paid holidays annually and accrued annual and sick leave and annual wellness days.

• The Employee Assistance Program (C-SEAP) is available in every region of the state. It is our effort to support the well-being of employees and the workplace. EAPs provide short-term counseling, referrals and resources, as well as training and organizational development services.

• Additional benefits offered include tuition reimbursement and reduced college tuition at CSU Global and DeVry University.

• Credit Union of Colorado membership eligibility.

Requirements

The mission of the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC) is to serve and safeguard the people and protect the property, resources, environment, and quality of life in Colorado.

DFPC’s vision is to be the Nation's premier state fire organization by acting with foresight, providing bold leadership, enhancing our partnerships, and exemplifying the highest level of professionalism in fire prevention and protection, while building a safe and supportive work environment for our employees.

The Division achieves this mission and vision through its four (4) Sections: Center of Excellence, Fire and Life Safety, Professional Qualifications and Training, and Wildland Fire Management.

Each of the four sections serve Colorado’s fire community in a different capacity- from training firefighters to technological advancements in public safety, responding to and managing wildfires to building code enforcement, DFPC is dedicated to serving and safeguarding the people of Colorado while protecting property, resources, environment and quality of life.

One of the Wildland Fire Management Section’s (WFMS) primary roles is to assist and support local agencies with a range of wildland fire management programs including administrative, technical, preparedness, planning, response, and prescribed fire and fuels functions.

Wildland fire management in Colorado is a cooperative, interagency partnership between local, county, state, tribal, and federal entities.

Wildland fire protection responsibilities on non-federal lands in Colorado follow a hierarchy of: local jurisdiction > county sheriff > and finally to the State of Colorado (DFPC).

WFMS plays a crucial role in coordinating with external partners and representing Colorado at both regional (multi-state) and national levels.

About the Position

Under the general guidance of the Director of the DFPC, the Battalion Chief directs wildland fire management programs and related program assistance to state, county and local fire agencies within their respective region.

This position is a public safety officer as defined bv 42 U.S.C. § 3796b Sec.

1204 (9); reporting directly to the District Chief, and ultimately the Chief of the Wildland Fire Management Section (WFMS).

The Battalion Chief is a critical link in the provision of fire management in the State of Colorado by providing programmatic oversight and delivery, providing subject matter expertise (including but not limited to fireline operations, fire funding, training and qualifications, etc.), and managing assigned and temporary state fire resources within their assigned geographic area.

The Battalion Chief position is responsible for ensuring that fire programs and response are coordinated and implemented within their assigned region of the state.

The Battalion Chief provides supervision and direction to their assigned employees during day to day operations and can be assigned additional fire resources to supervise during emergency and incident response.

This position directly supervises Firefighter IV (Captain Positions typically assigned to Module, Engine, or Squad, but could be Helicopter or other resources) in addition to providing secondary supervision to Firefighter Trainees, I’s II’s, and III’s assigned to engines, helicopters, fire modules, and squads.

The Battalion Chief can commit State resources, including financial assistance, to the local government agencies.

The Battalion Chief acts as both facilitator and liaison between federal government agencies, other state government agencies, and local jurisdictions on wildland fire and all hazard fire incidents.

Primary focus areas include: representing the Colorado Department of Public Safety (CDPS), Division of Fire Prevention & Control (DFPC) in their assigned region, serving as subject matter experts to counties and local fire agencies; influence and implementation of state fire management policy, agreements, process, guidelines, and programs in assigned region; and coordinating with state and federal agencies in wildland fire and all-hazard fire incident response.

Program areas of emphasis include: wildland fire management including prevention, preparedness, hazard mitigation, prescribed fire, suppression, interagency fire agreements, federal cooperative fire protection programs, grants, and local cooperator agreements.

State Authority for Fire within Region

The Battalion Chief directs, manages, supervises, evaluates, organizes and provides technical assistance to fire management and operations within the region. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Directs the State’s wildland fire programs within their assigned region;
• Acts as State’s subject matter expert for wildland fire response, incident business management practices including State cooperator reimbursement process;
• Interprets existing policies, rules and legislation related to wildland fire and incident response and implements/communicates to external agencies and internal personnel; identifies issues and areas for improvement in policy, guidelines, and operating plans, and provides recommendations for changes as needed to maintain and improve effectiveness of programs.
• Determines need for specific resources, staffing, and equipment based on preparedness levels, develops a plan for utilization of needed and assigned resources;
• Represents DFPC in local and regional multi-agency operating plan(s) and mutual aid agreements; compiles input from local jurisdictions and federal agencies; reviews, updates and applies changes to the cooperative plans annually, facilitates signatures from all agency representatives, provides technical direction in the execution of plans, including implementation of the plans during fire incidents which dictate actions and use of available funding sources Secures and assigns adequate resources to meet region and district staffing needs and response configurations to support operations on a continual basis;
• Provides personally, or directs resources to provide operational and technical wildland fire assistance and coordination to federal, state, local agencies and DFPC staff in support of emerging incidents;
• Performs incident complexity analysis to determine needed resources and management levels;
• Provides DFPC leadership with recommendations for use of Enhanced State Assistance (ESA) resources and funding, Emergency Fire Fund (EFF) and/or State Responsibility Fire (SRF) declarations, and implementation of FEMA Fire Management Assistance Grants (FMAG) on fire incidents;
• Maintains and communicates situational awareness of fire conditions and potential, as well as local and large-scale emergency incidents in the State and Nation;
• Evaluates fire-based conflicts between federal, state, and local government agencies. Provides mediation where appropriate;
• Represents the DFPC, other state agencies, counties, and local fire agencies on interagency regional groups, committees, meetings etc;
• Is the first primary point of contact representing DFPC and its authorities for local agencies in the regions, maintains relationships with Interagency partners in assigned regions, including Federal, State, county and local fire representatives and agencies.

• Directs action and provides oversight to fire preparedness and prevention programs within their assigned region.
• Oversees overall readiness of response in region, including equipment, PPE, etc. Assists with repair/replacement of items as needed.
• Coordinates interagency, cooperative fire programs within the assigned region.
• Evaluates weather conditions, fire indices, and resource availability to determine local fire danger levels and needed number and location of response resources.
• Directs use of Incident Qualification System (IQS) and Incident Resource Ordering Capability (IROC) by external partner agencies, or their successor system utilization within the region, facilitates audits, provides technical assistance and communicates changes to regional cooperators as required.
• Oversees, plans, and implements mitigation (prescribed fire and fuels treatment) programs within the assigned region. Coordinates and plans within DFPC and with external agencies, assigns resources, and determines prioritization for project implementation.
• Develops, implements, and directs operations, training and professional development programs based on regional and agency needs. Implements annual operational preparedness training following the WFMS Resource Operations and Standards Guide.
• Coordinates with other agencies to determine training needs, coordinates with other DFPC sections and assists in the development and implementing effective fire training.
• Identifies and communicates regional and Statewide wildland fire protection issues.

• Position coordinates, facilitates and assists with other State Departments, DFPC & WFMS programs activities in the region, maintains awareness of other sections, programs and operations within the region.
• Position assists and coordinates assigned employees to assist with other WFMS programs, and may be assigned other duties and special projects to support the mission of DFPC.
  • May serve as or represent the WFMS District Chief in the district during their absence.
  • May be assigned other duties or special projects as needed.

DFPC personnel may be relieved of regular duties and assigned to wildfire and/or all-hazard incidents in a National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG), Incident Command System (ICS), or support position to perform incident management, firefighting, or emergency incident support activities.

When assigned to an emergency incident, the position will be: working outside of regular job duties; working under the operational control of the incident; and compensated per the current DFPC emergency and incident guidelines and procedures.

Supervision
The Battalion Chief supervises assigned personnel and serves as second level supervisor to assigned units in personnel actions and day-to-day operations. This includes, but is not limited to:
• Provides direction, oversight, support and training to assigned Captains; evaluates assigned resource’s projects, schedules and work load;
• Based on general guidance from the DFPC Director, by and through the WFMS Chief, develops professional development plans for assigned employees and oversees implementation of the goals and mission from the District leadership to support all WFMS programs and incident response;
• Develops work plans and schedules for subordinate staff including, but not limited to, training programs for staff and customers, community outreach and education, statistical reporting, and overall preparation for emergency response;
• Oversees the coordination of assigned resource’s schedules, prioritizes tasks and logistical needs, provides project context and background, and provides training and support to assigned staff.
• Ensures training and understanding of safety practices is in place, provides oversight & training to assigned employees;
• Conducts performance evaluations of all assigned employees, makes recommendations on remediation or advancement;
• Initiates the hiring process, including interviews of applicants, makes recommendations to hire, promote or transfer;
• Facilitates resolution of informal grievances, provides documentation to support corrective actions when needed;
• Oversees and reviews work products and employee health, and adjusts deadlines and plans of work accordingly, communicates background and intent;
• Ensures all required incident documentation including but not limited to tracking Crew Time Reports, Equipment Shift Tickets, resource orders are completed for each incident; provides training as needed;
• Approves time in state timekeeping systems, verifies employees are following best practices related to time entry, incident documentation, receipts, travel documents etc; signs and approves all overtime, travel and purchase forms.

Qualifications

Required Minimum Qualifications and Experiences
This must be specifically documented in your application submission. Additional information submitted after the closing date of this announcement will not be considered in the review of your application. Please note, your application will not be considered if documentation to support this qualification is not provided.


• Currently or previously qualified to National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) standards as a Single Resource Boss qualification or higher in the Operations Section.

• Eight (8) years of documented experience in professional wildland or structural firefighting, or a combination of related education and/or relevant experience can be substituted:

  • Bachelor's Degree AND Four (4) years of documented experience in professional wildland or structural firefighting.

  • Associates Degree AND Six (6) year of documented experience in professional wildland or structural firefighting




Required Competencies


• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, able to communicate effectively with varying levels of an organization




Preferred Qualifications and Experience

• Ten (10) or more years documented experience in professional firefighting, with increasing program management, supervisory responsibility, and documented leadership skills and abilities.

  • Five (5) or more of those years supervising multiple personnel and sub-units.

• Currently or previously qualified to National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) standards as:

  • Task Force Leader (TFLD) or higher in the Operations Section;

  • Incident Commander, Type 3 (ICT3) or higher;

  • NWCG Unit Chief or higher in one of the other Incident Command System (ICS) Sections;

  • Prescribed Fire Burn Boss, Type 3 (RXB3) or higher.

• Bachelor’s Degree or higher in Forestry, natural resource management, rangeland management or related field.

Experience with interagency, cooperative fire management programs including, but not limited to operating plans, agreements, cost sharing, management of multi-jurisdiction fires, etc.

Experience with Colorado interagency, cooperative wildfire management programs is preferred, including documented experience and relationships working with local fire departments and counties.

• Experience in writing operating plans, governmental agreements, and technical papers.

• Demonstrated commitment to public service and community involvement.



Complete Applications Must Include the Following

• A complete CDPS Application for announced vacancy (please submit online using the link in this announcement).

• A complete supplemental questionnaire (must submit online as a part of the application).

• A copy of your NWCG qualifications (IQS or IQCS master record and/or incident qualification card).

• Detailed, chronological resume of experience.
  
  

Conditions of Employment


• Upon initial employment, individuals will be required to provide a complete training file to DFPC that contains all necessary qualification documentation (course certificates, position task books, personnel evaluations, and incident experience history) to demonstrate that NWCG and other requirements have been met.

• Position may be required to attain additional training and/or certifications within a specified period of time, per current DFPC qualifications and professional development Standard Operating Guidelines and Policies.

• Current valid driver's license at time of hire, and must obtain a Colorado-issued driver's license within 1 month of hire. Ability to operate motor vehicles and to travel extensively throughout the state in a variety of weather conditions.

• This position is a public safety officer as defined by 42 U.S.C. § 3796b Sec. 1204 (9).

• Must be willing to travel to wildfire incidents, severity assignments, and pre-position assignments throughout Colorado, and across the nation at times. Assignments may last for two weeks or longer.

• Firefighters need to be familiar with and frequently use flammable liquids and solids in the performance of various prescribed fire and tactical firing tasks. This includes the preparation, implementation and storage of drip torch fuel, Aluma Gel, Phosphorus, and gunpowder.

• Requires successful completion of a background investigation that includes a polygraph exam, a fingerprint based criminal history search, reference checking, driving history, medical physical exam, and drug screen.

Position must maintain the NWCG required fitness levels for the employee’s NWCG wildland fire qualifications throughout the employment period. Required fitness levels will vary based on qualifications.

Actual qualifications and currency, including fitness levels, will vary based on supervisor input, employee’s professional development plan, and current agency needs.



Appeal Rights
If you receive notice that you have been eliminated from consideration for the position, you may protest the action by filing an appeal with the State Personnel Board/State Personnel Director within 10 days from the date you receive notice of the elimination. Also, if you wish to challenge the selection and comparative analysis process, you may file an appeal with the State Personnel Board/State Personnel Director within 10 days from the receipt of notice or knowledge of the action you are challenging. Refer to Chapters 4 and 8 of the State Personnel Board Rules and Personnel Director's Administrative Procedures, 4 CCR 801, for more information about the appeals process. The State Personnel Board Rules and Personnel Director's Administrative Procedures are available at www.colorado.gov/spb. A standard appeal form is available at: www.colorado.gov/spb. If you appeal, your appeal must be submitted in writing on the official appeal form, signed by you or your representative, and received at the following address within 10 days of your receipt of notice or knowledge of the action: Colorado State Personnel Board/State Personnel Director, Attn: Appeals Processing, 1525 Sherman Street, 4th Floor, Denver, CO 80203. Fax: 303-866-5038. Phone: 303-866-3300. The ten-day deadline and these appeal procedures also apply to all charges of discrimination.

Additional Information

Are you in need of an accommodation?
If you have a disability and require reasonable accommodation to ensure you have a positive experience applying or interviewing for this position, please direct your inquiries to Human Resources at cdps_hr@state.co.us .


Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Statement
The State of Colorado believes that equity, diversity, and inclusion drive our success, and we encourage candidates from all identities, backgrounds, and abilities to apply. The State of Colorado is an equal opportunity employer committed to building inclusive, innovative work environments with employees who reflect our communities and enthusiastically serve them. Therefore, in all aspects of the employment process, we provide employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, medical condition related to pregnancy, creed, ancestry, national origin, marital status, genetic information, or military status (with preference given to military veterans), or any other protected status in accordance with applicable law.

Colorado Department of Public Safety is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, our agency will assist individuals who have a disability with any reasonable accommodation requests related to employment, including completing the application process, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, participating in the employee selection process, and/or to perform essential job functions where the requested accommodation does not impose an undue hardship. If you have a disability and require reasonable accommodation to ensure you have a positive experience applying or interviewing for this position, please direct your inquiries to our Human Resources department at cdps_hr@state.co.us .



Notifications
All correspondence regarding your status in the selection/examination process will be via email. Include your current working email address on your application and check your email frequently as you could receive time sensitive correspondence regarding this position. We highly recommend that you set up your email to accept messages from "state.co.us" and "info@governmentjobs.com" addresses. It is your responsibility to ensure that your email will accept these notices and/or review your junk mail and spam filtered email.

Recruitment Timeline Information

• Applications are considered complete and accurate at the time of submission. Therefore, additional information may not be solicited or accepted after your application has been received.

• All applications that are received by the closing of this announcement will be reviewed against the Minimum Qualifications in this announcement.

• Candidates who meet the minimum qualifications will advance to the comparative analysis process. However, if fewer than six candidates meet the minimum qualifications, all applicants will be referred directly to interview, and a numerical comparative analysis will not be conducted.

• For those candidates referred to interview, tentative timeframe will be the end of March.

• Colorado Revised Statutes require that state employees are hired and promoted based on merit and fitness through a comparative analysis process.