The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) is on the search for a chief executive officer (CEO) to take on the challenge of shaping the technology and reinvestment strategy for FirstNet, the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN).
FirstNet Authority – developed and implemented under the Middle-Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 – is an independent authority within the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The FirstNet Authority in 2018 launched the initial five-year build-out of the FirstNet network.
“FirstNet is modernizing public safety communications to allow for improved response times and outcomes for first responders from coast-to-coast, in rural and urban areas, inland, and on borders, leading to safer and more secure communities,” the agency notes in the job posting.
Interested candidates must have experience in public safety or related areas of emergency operations, wireless communications systems, broadband technology, capital investment strategies, and coalition building at the Federal, state, tribal, and local levels.
The selected candidate will be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the FirstNet Authority as well as ensuring the success of FirstNet’s mission, including:
- Direct a staff of highly skilled and multi-disciplinary professionals;
- Support personnel and coordinate policy teams and projects;
- Provide periodic, accurate, and timely reporting to the FirstNet Board of Directors;
- Implement the policies and strategies approved by the Board; and
- Build trusting relationships with decision makers within the public safety community in cities, counties, tribal communities, states, Federal agencies, and Capitol Hill to ensure the success of the FirstNet Authority’s mission
In addition, the selected candidate – in coordination with the chief procurement officer – will oversee management of the FirstNet Authority’s contract with AT&T through which the NPSBN is deployed, maintained, and operated for public safety entities throughout the country. In this effort, the CEO will also maintain the private-public partnership that has enabled FirstNet to grow and succeed.
