FirstNet Authority CEO job posted officially, application deadline set for Oct. 24

Donny Jackson, Editor

September 23, 2022

2 Min Read
FirstNet Authority CEO job posted officially, application deadline set for Oct. 24

Candidates interested in leading the FirstNet Authority can submit applications through the federal government’s online job portal during the next month, according to information released yesterday.

Applicants for the FirstNet CEO post must submit a resume for the job at this listing on the USAJOBS web portal by Oct. 24, according to the job overview. The FirstNet CEO’s annual salary can range from $135,468 to $203,700.

Anyone can apply, but candidates are urged to demonstrate “that they possess the Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) and Professional Technical Qualifications (PTQs) listed within the job announcement.”

FirstNet Authority Acting CEO Lisa Casias—who has said she will not apply for the job and plans to return to her deputy CEO role when a new CEO is hired—outlined the job responsibilities of the FirstNet Authority CEO in an announcement about the job posting.

“The CEO is responsible for shaping the technology and reinvestment strategy for FirstNet, the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network, and overseeing all operations of the FirstNet Authority,” Casias wrote.

“More specifically, we are looking for a CEO who will:

  • “Direct a staff of highly skilled, multi-disciplinary professional and support personnel, and coordinate policy teams and projects.

  • “Provide accurate, timely reporting to the FirstNet Authority Board of Directors, and implement the policies and strategies approved by the Board.

  • “Build trusted relationships with decision makers within the public safety community and on Capitol Hill.

  • “Manage the FirstNet Authority’s public-private partnership with AT&T, that has enabled FirstNet to grow and succeed.”

In seeking a successor to former CEO Ed Parkinson, the FirstNet Authority has hired a recruitment firm to conduct a search, Casias said during the APCO 2022 event in August.

This is not the first time that the FirstNet Authority has been without a permanent CEO or leader of the organization’s staff—in fact, the situation has occurred often during the past 10 years.

Parkinson, who left the FirstNet Authority in May to take a position with RapidSOS, served as permanent CEO for a little more than two years, but that followed a period of 17 months in which Parkinson either was acting CEO or shared CEO duties with CTO Jeff Bratcher.

Mike Poth was hired as CEO in August 2015 and continued in that capacity for more than three years. However, Poth’s hiring followed an 18-month period in which TJ Kennedy served as the FirstNet Authority’s acting general manager—at the time, the top staff position in the organization.

Kennedy became acting general manager when General Manager Bill D’Agostino resigned in April 2014 after being in the job for less than a year.

 

About the Author

Donny Jackson

Editor, Urgent Communications

Donny Jackson is director of content for Urgent Communications. Before joining UC in 2003, he covered telecommunications for four years as a freelance writer and as news editor for Telephony magazine. Prior to that, he worked for suburban newspapers in the Dallas area, serving as editor-in-chief for the Irving News and the Las Colinas Business News.

Subscribe to receive Urgent Communications Newsletters
Catch up on the latest tech, media, and telecoms news from across the critical communications community