FSSA Technical Director, Open Position
Apply by Tuesday, December 2, 2025
FSSA is beginning the search for our next technical director. Interested candidates are encouraged to apply by Tuesday, December 2, 2025. Details about the position can be found below.
Status: Part‑time consulting (approx. 20-23 hours per month) as an independent contractor
Location: Remote (U.S. preferred) with travel as required
Travel: Approximately 10–15 days per year
Compensation: Competitive consulting fee structure
Reports to: FSSA Board of Directors (through the President) and FSSA Executive Director
Position Summary
FSSA seeks an experienced technical leader to serve as technical director, overseeing the association’s technical initiatives, standards development activities, and industry advocacy. The role requires deep expertise in special hazard suppression systems and active engagement with national and international standards bodies.
- Reports to the FSSA Board of Directors and FSSA Executive Director.
- Supports all FSSA committees with technical/scientific information related to committee activities and projects as assigned by the board of directors, and may be requested by committee chairs.
- Supports chair of FSSA Technical Committee in conducting technical committee meetings and projects.
- Cooperates with FSSA Legal Counsel and FSSA Headquarters in development of various communications with FSSA membership as well as with industry and governmental bodies.
- Provides periodic updates to FSSA Board of Directors, headquarters, technical committee, committee chairs, and FSSA membership on topics of interest or concern via bulletins, webinars, reports, etc.
In addition to the above general responsibilities, the technical director has the following ongoing responsibilities and activities:
FSSA Technical Guides
- Provide assistance to task groups developing FSSA guidebooks, white papers, bulletins, etc.
- Responsible for review for accuracy of technical content and final edits of guidebooks prior to publication.
- Answer user questions regarding material in guidebooks.
- Responsible for final review of white papers and technical bulletins for accuracy of technical content and editorial aptness prior to publication.
- Works with legal counsel to vet content for clarity and precision.
- Draft bulletins to inform FSSA members of various code, regulatory, and technical issues that come to the attention of the technical director.
FSSA Training Program
- Assist FSSA Training and Development Committee in development of FSSA training course modules.
- Responsible for final review for technical accuracy and editorial excellence of FSSA training course modules.
- Final arbiter of answers to module questions for FSSA training course.
- Periodically update FSSA training course modules based on changes to codes, standards, standard practices for design, installation, maintenance and testing of systems covered by modules.
- Works with legal counsel to vet content for clarity and precision.
Codes and Standards
- Review of NFPA standards of special interest to FSSA members including but not limited to NFPA 1, 11, 11A, 11C, 12, 12A, 17, 25, 69, 72, 75, 76, 101, 200, 2001, 2010; update technical committee and board on issues which may impact member companies.
- Answer member questions on NFPA standards.
- Assist FSSA representatives to NFPA Technical Committees with voting and proposals; help representatives determine when advice of FSSA Technical Committee and board should be sought on voting.
- Develop and present proposals on behalf of the FSSA to the International Code Council (International Building Code, International Fire Code).
- Be aware of provisions in the standards promulgated by the International Standards Organization (ISO) which may impact FSSA members. ISO standards of current interest are ISO 14520 (entire series), ISO 6183, and ISO 21805.
- Review FM Approvals Data Sheets and report to technical committee on changes deemed likely to affect FSSA members.
- Address Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) (DOT) regulations during development of pertinent publications and training materials.
Presentations to Outside Organizations
- At times, presentations are made to outside organizations (e.g. SFPE, NFPA, ICC) by FSSA members under the auspices of the FSSA. The technical director is responsible for review of such presentations for correct technical content. The technical director works in conjunction with FSSA Headquarters and legal counsel to vet such presentations.
- At times, the technical director may be assigned by the board of directors to make such presentations.
Liaison with Industry Associations
Liaisons with industry groups and governmental groups such as, but not limited to:
- National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
- Underwriters Laboratories (UL)
- Factory Mutual Approvals (FM)
- International Code Council (ICC)
- US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- National Association of Fire Equipment Distributors (NAFED)
- National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA)
- Automatic Fire Alarm Association (AFAA)
- Halon Alternative Research Corporation (HARC)
- Compressed Gas Association (CGA)
- International Standards Organization (ISO)
- Fire Industry Association (FIA – UK)
- Fire Protection Research Foundation (FPRF)
- Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE)
Liaison with Regulatory Bodies
When FSSA is made aware of pending legislation from international, national, state, and local regulatory bodies that may impact FSSA members, assists FSSA Headquarters and legal counsel in drafting responses, when appropriate, to such pending legislation.
FSSA’s membership in HARC provides a primary vehicle for liaison with the US EPA and with international regulatory bodies. The FSSA technical director:
- Attends all HARC meetings.
- Files reports on HARC meetings with board; reports are published on FSSA website after approval by board and legal counsel.
- In cooperation with FSSA Headquarters and FSSA Legal Counsel, reviews and comments on HARC communications with regulatory bodies on issues affecting FSSA members.
Communicates with the public policy committee chair, headquarters, legal counsel, and board of directors on regulatory issues which come to the attention of the technical director from various sources.
Other
Outside the normal scope of work, the technical director may be assigned tasks by the board of directors. As an example, the technical director managed a research project in conjunction with FIA – UK to study the effects of high airflow on the discharge of clean agent (as defined by NFPA 2001) systems. The completed project report was published on both the FSSA and FIA – UK websites and approved for submittal to the NFPA GFE technical committee.
Development of and support for software (PRV software) to calculate pressure relief vent area following the guidance given in the FSSA Pressure Relief Vent Guide. The software has been developed and has run with no reported issues for roughly 15 years. FSSA periodically orders custom programmed HASP security keys to ship with each copy of the PRV software. It is expected that such keys will continue to be available from Guardian Services Inc. for the foreseeable future.
FSSA requires ALL candidates to submit an interest form which asks questions about their intent to serve, along with a copy of their resume. If you wish to be considered click on the link below to complete your interest form. The deadline for submission is Tuesday, December 2, 2025.
Select candidates will be interviewed by a FSSA panel in December. The technical director should plan to be in attendance for the 2026 Annual Forum, February 2026 in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Questions can be referred to Becca Stinner, CAE, FSSA Executive Director, via email: [email protected].
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