Fire Behaviour Specialist

Role Responsibilities

Are you passionate about understanding wildland fire behaviour and making a real impact on wildfire management and safety? This is your opportunity to play a critical role in shaping how wildfire incidents are predicted, planned, and managed across the province. As a Fire Behaviour Specialist, you’ll be at the forefront of advancing tools, strategies, and knowledge that directly support safe and effective firefighting operations.

Reporting to the Provincial Fire Behaviour Specialist, this role provides expert advice, technical guidance, and knowledge transfer to support wildfire prevention, pre-suppression, and suppression activities. You will serve as a key subject matter expert, translating complex fire behaviour principles into actionable insights and decision-support tools for operational teams and senior leadership. This is a unique opportunity to influence provincial wildfire strategies, contribute to innovation, and support critical decision-making during high-impact incidents.

Your key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Providing expert advice and recommendations to leadership on fire behaviour systems, tools, and strategic direction
• Acting as a liaison between Fire Weather Program, Wildfire Operations, Prevention Officers, and Management Specialists
• Analyzing and documenting fire behaviour during major incidents and developing case studies
• Representing the Ministry as an expert witness in legal proceedings, including preparing reports and delivering testimony
• Conducting ad hoc analyses, studies, and reports to support operational and strategic needs
• Auditing and evaluating the effectiveness and sustainability of decision-support systems and tools
• Facilitating knowledge transfer through training, mentoring, and participation in research initiatives
• Liaising with research communities, including attending conferences, workshops, and advisory groups
• Delivering training programs at divisional and national levels
• Overseeing the development and maintenance of Alberta’s wildland fuel type layer (FBP classification)
• Developing tools, processes, and services to support accurate field identification of fuel types
• Directing the development of algorithms and models that convert data into Fire Behaviour Prediction fuel types

If you're ready to help shape wildfire strategy and support safer, smarter firefighting operations, this role offers a meaningful and impactful career opportunity.

Please click on this link to view the job description for this position.

APS Competencies

Competencies are behaviors that are essential to reach our goals in serving Albertans. We encourage you to have an in depth understanding of the competencies that are required for this opportunity and to be prepared to demonstrate them during the recruitment process.

This link will assist you with understanding competencies: https://www.alberta.ca/system/files/custom_downloaded_images/psc-alberta-public-service-competency-model.pdf.

Systems Thinking: Considers emerging trends when contributing ideas to the development of broader priorities, strategies and approaches, and considers inter-relationships among different aspects of an approach including how they relate to other programs

Creative Problem Solving: Finds ways to improve complex systems to better meet goals and outcomes, and continuously engages others to scope and solve issues

Drive for Results: Identifies and acts on opportunities to partner with other groups to achieve desired outcomes, and identifies ways to exceed performance expectations

Develop Networks: Considers how changes might impact colleagues, clients and stakeholders, and actively seeks their input and/or involvement regarding those changes, and maintains relationships even when no specific project/initiative is underway

Qualifications

Education and Experience:

A degree related to environmental and/or natural sciences plus 4 years experience in wildland fire planning and management.

Equivalency: 

A two-year diploma related to environmental and/or natural sciences plus 6 years experience in wildland fire planning and management.

Additional related education considered in lieu of experience on a one-for-one basis.

Requirements:

• Maintenance of a valid Class 5 Driver's License
• Willingness to work irregular hours, overtime, weekends and/or statutory holidays and provincial holidays, when required
• Willingness to work and/or travel in varied terrain, weather conditions, isolated locations and by various means of transportation

Assets:

• Extensive knowledge of the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS)
• Experience in spatial fire growth modeling
• Proven ability to analyze data and develop decision-support tools or models
• Experience preparing technical reports and delivering presentations to diverse audiences
• Involvement in research initiatives or collaboration with scientific communities
• Successful completion of S-590 Operational Fire Behaviour Analyst Skills & Calculations
• Successful completion of I-300 Intermediate Incident Command System

Minimum recruitment standards outline the minimum education and experience required for appointment to a job classification. 

Refer to https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-public-service-minimum-recruitment-standards.

Notes

This is a full-time permanent position with 36.25 hours per week, Monday to Friday. The incumbent may be required to work irregular hours, overtime, weekends and/or statutory holidays and provincial holidays due to the emergency nature of wildfires.

Travel within the area and throughout the province will be required as part of your responsibilities to coordinate with Ministry staff and colleagues, other government departments, clients, and other external stakeholders.

The position is based in Edmonton; however, subject to operational requirements, consideration may be given to an alternate Government of Alberta office location.

Any costs associated with obtaining the required documents/checks as noted or interview travel expenses will be the responsibility of the candidate. Out-of-province applicants can obtain the required documents/checks from the province they currently reside in.

Application information:

• Include a cover page detailing your interest and related experience.
• Include dates (including months and years) associated with all education and work experience
• Indicate whether your work experience is casual, part-time or full-time (e.g. January 15, 2006 - June 25, 2009: Assistant (PT three 8 hrs. shifts/week)
• Three (3) work-related references will be required for those selected for an interview

Links and information on what the GoA have to offer to prospective employees.

• Working for the Alberta Public Service - https://www.alberta.ca/advantages-working-for-alberta-public-service.aspx.
• Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP) - https://www.pspp.ca.
• Alberta Public Service Benefit Information - https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-public-service-benefits.

• Professional learning and development - https://www.alberta.ca/professional-development-support-directive.
• Research Alberta Public Service Careers tool – https://researchapscareers.alberta.ca.
• Positive workplace culture and work-life balance.
• Leadership and mentorship programs.