Job Description:
I. Position Summary:
The Life Safety & Incident Command Advisor serves as a senior subject-matter resource supporting Hebrew SeniorLife’s organization-wide approach to life safety, emergency preparedness, incident command, and operational resilience.
Working in partnership with Security, Facilities, clinical and operational leadership, the Advisor provides practical guidance informed by extensive public-safety and emergency-response experience. The position helps HSL evaluate existing plans, identify vulnerabilities, strengthen emergency procedures, and ensure that organizational preparedness translates effectively from written plans to real-world operations.
A central focus of the role is supporting the continued development and functional readiness of HSL’s Executive Incident Command framework. The Advisor will participate in planning, exercises, drills, tabletop discussions, and after-action reviews; advise leadership during complex preparedness and life-safety initiatives; and help ensure that roles, communications, decision-making structures, and response procedures are clear and executable before an emergency occurs.
The position is intentionally structured on a per diem basis, allowing HSL to deploy the Advisor across existing communities, major projects, and new developments where specialized experience can provide the greatest value. By developing an ongoing understanding of HSL’s people, facilities, operations, and culture, the Advisor provides continuity and institutional knowledge beyond that typically available through project-specific consulting engagements.
II. Position Responsibilities:
Serve as a senior advisor to HSL leadership on life safety, emergency preparedness, incident command, fire safety, and related operational-readiness matters.
Evaluate and help strengthen fire and life-safety preparedness, including staff and resident procedures, evacuation and shelter-in-place strategies, fire-alarm response, drills, documentation, and emergency communications.
Support the continued development, implementation, and evaluation of HSL’s Executive Incident Command framework, including activation criteria, command structure, leadership roles, communications, operational coordination, and continuity considerations.
Review and assess emergency operations plans, fire and evacuation procedures, response protocols, and facility-specific preparedness practices; identify vulnerabilities and recommend practical improvements to strengthen operational readiness.
Assist with the design and facilitation of tabletop exercises, drills, functional exercises, and other preparedness activities involving leadership, staff, residents, and external public-safety partners as appropriate.
Functionally test emergency plans and procedures to determine whether established processes, communications, staffing assumptions, and decision-making structures will perform effectively during actual events.
When requested, provide advisory support to HSL leadership during significant incidents or emergency activations, offering subject-matter expertise related to incident command, responder coordination, life safety, operational priorities, and transition to recovery.
Facilitate and participate in post-incident and post-exercise after-action reviews; identify lessons learned, emerging trends, and practical improvement actions, and support responsible departments in strengthening preparedness based on those findings.
Support engagement and operational coordination with local fire departments, emergency medical services, law enforcement, emergency-management agencies, and other public-safety partners, including facility familiarization, joint preparedness activities, emergency access, responder staging, command-post considerations, evacuation, and other practical response needs.
Serve as a public-safety resource during new construction, major renovations, campus changes, and new HSL developments, advising on emergency access, responder…