Project Specialist (Disaster Recovery & Redevelopment Plan)

Company Overview:

YA is an international professional services organization providing forensic consulting, engineering, risk mitigation, and related services. Founded over 25 years ago as a property damage consulting firm, YA has expanded through organic growth and strategic acquisitions. Today, YA has over 700 professionals dedicated to excellence, partnership, and driving innovation. 
 

YA’s Government Services division partners with government and corporations to protect the communities we love. Our team specializes in emergency management, disaster mitigation, grants administration, floodplain management, urban and regional planning, and community resilience for public, private, and non-profit sector clients. Government Services brings the insight and creative strategies needed to deliver outstanding results to clientele around the nation.

Summary:

This role will primarily support county officials, emergency managers, and community stakeholders in developing, refining, and implementing comprehensive disaster recovery plans. Occasional travel may be required to facilitate stakeholder engagement workshops and in-person meetings.

In addition, the role may also support federal and state grant programs throughout all stages of the project lifecycle from pre-award review to closeout - working closely with local, state, and federal partners to ensure compliance, monitor progress, and facilitate communication across stakeholders.

Candidates located in North Florida or Georgia are strongly encouraged to apply.

Roles & Responsibilities:

• Build and maintain strong working relationships with local governments and agencies to understand their disaster recovery needs.
• Lead stakeholder meetings, workshops, and planning sessions to shape detailed disaster recovery plans.
• Coordinate with different groups to ensure the planning process is fair, inclusive, and data based.
• Serve as subject matter expert on recovery plans, funding opportunities, and resilience strategies.
• Draft, edit, and finalize county-level Disaster Recovery and Redevelopment plans.
• Track engagement activities and provide regular progress updates to internal teams and clients.
• Stay current with state and federal disaster recovery policies, funding mechanisms (e.g., FEMA, HUD CDBG-DR), and planning best practices.
• Oversee the lifecycle of mitigation projects from pre-award review to award closeout, communicating and collaborating with all applicable parties (counties, cities, state, etc.).
• Review mitigation project applications submitted, ensuring proper procedures are followed during the application review process, and answering questions as needed.
• Submit completed project applications to FEMA for funding.
• Draft project agreements, reviewing requested modifications and updating as needed until a final agreement has been executed.
• Continuously monitor active projects, reviewing quality reports, processing payments, communicating with all involved parties and ensuring compliance regulations are met.
• Collect, analyze, organize, and summarize financial/grant data.
• Assist with federal and client-specific reporting requirements.
• Track and monitor budgets; communicate results with project and client management.
• Research and maintain fluency in rules and regulations associated with various federal programs, including but not limited to FEMA, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF), programs under the Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act (IIJA), or other federal funding workstreams with state and local clients.
• Assist client performance management of FEMA funds through routinely and proactively assessing the overall portfolio, anticipating challenges, and providing recommendations.
• Upon completion of projects, oversee final project inspections and closeout processes referencing the original project agreement.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Emergency Management, Hazard Mitigation, Urban Planning, Public Administration, Environmental Science, Economics, or a related field required.
• Minimum of 3 years' professional work experience required.
• Experience in stakeholder engagement, community planning, or disaster recovery.
• Familiarity with federal and state disaster recovery and mitigation programs, including HMA (HMGP, FMA, BRIC), hazard mitigation planning, Block Grants (CDBG, CDBG-DR), and FEMA/HUD recovery frameworks.
• Advanced written and verbal communication skills, with expertise in facilitation and conflict resolution.
• Proficiency with Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Office 365, including Word, Excel,
• Outlook, and Power Apps (BI, Query, Automate).
• Ability to work independently and manage multiple projects and timelines.
• Willingness to travel to counties for in-person meetings as needed. (Up to 20%)

Fraudulent Recruitment Alert:

Please be vigilant against fraudulent recruitment attempts. YA will never ask for personal financial information (such as bank account numbers or identification numbers) via social media or chat-based apps. We also will not request money for the purchase of business equipment or conduct interviews solely via text message.

All official email communications regarding your application will come from [email protected] or directly from a member of our talent team using an @yagroup.com domain name.

If you suspect any fraudulent activity, please contact us directly at [email protected].