Watch Manager (External Transfer-in) – Essex County Fire and Rescue Service

Job Title: Watch Manager (External Transfer-in)

Contract: Permanent

Working Hours: 42 hours per week (2 days, 2 nights, 4 off working pattern in Response; 9-day fortnight Day-duty working pattern in our departmental roles)

Salary: Watch Manager B (Competent)

Location: Various stations and locations across Essex

Closing Date: 31 December 2024

We are currently looking for expressions of interest from Watch Managers looking to transfer into Essex County Fire & Rescue Service ahead of anticipated retirements and Watch Manager opportunities across the Service. These opportunities are both in our Response function (on stations) and in our various Day-duty departments.

Relocation expenses of up to £8,000 can be claimed if you relocate to Essex as part of this application (terms and conditions apply).

All Watch Managers transferring in, including into Day-duty roles, will be required to attend a Transfer-in course at our Service Training Centre, the next cohort of which is scheduled for January 2025. All our Watch Managers are required to maintain operational competence and provide operational cover in line with our Day-duty Officers Riding (DDOR) programme.

Depending on the awarding body of your qualifications, you may also be required to attend further operational courses on joining our Service.

The role

We are looking for existing Wholetime Watch Managers (or equivalent) who share our values and ethics and are looking to transfer into Essex County Fire and Rescue Service to further their careers with a Service with aspirations to the best in the country.

About us

To help us deliver our mission and to help us on our journey, we are looking for highly motivated individuals with an enthusiasm and aptitude for leading others as a Watch Manager in Essex.

About you

The right person for the role will be a role model to others, demonstrating professionalism, an inclusive approach to leading others, and maintaining high standards. You will be committed to the development of yourself and others, and will be prepared to support your colleagues, alongside the operational responsibilities of a Watch Manager.

If you are excited by the opportunities to lead and support firefighters in Essex, in a county with one of the most diverse risk profiles in England and think you could make a positive difference to our people and communities, we would love you to apply.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for these opportunities, you must:

How to apply

You will be required to complete an online application form, and upload a supporting statement of no more than 750 words that demonstrates how you meet the essential criteria of the Person Specification. You may submit this either as a word document, pdf, or an mp3 (voice note) or mp4 (video), however the word count must not exceed 750 words no matter which format you choose to present your application.

You may attach separate documents (such as qualifications, or a CV) should you wish. Your additional documents will be referred to in shortlisting to confirm eligibility (e.g., your current role and any existing qualifications).

Internal candidates looking to progress to Watch Manager should not apply through this route. Instead, please engage with the Leadership Resourcing & Succession programme, or wait for further internal opportunities to be advertised through the Recruitment Portal.

Assessment and selection:

The assessment and selection approach will be:

Stage 1

Application & shortlisting (assessment of your supporting statement will be made against the essential criteria)

Stage 2

Operational assessment and Skills-scan

Ethics, Values & Leadership presentation & discussion

Role specific interview

Assessments for the interview will be made against positive indicators taken from the Code of Ethics and the NFCC Leadership Framework.

You can find the NFCC Leadership Framework here: NFCC_Leadership_Framework_Final.pdf (nationalfirechiefs.org.uk)

And guidance around the Code of Ethics here:

Core Code of Ethics England Guidance May 21 V0.pdf (ukfrs.com)

Should you wish to have an informal discussion with regards to the role, please email recruitment@essex-fire.gov.uk in the first instance, indicating which station(s) or departments you would most be interested in, and we will arrange for the appropriate Station Manager to contact you.

Our Culture and Benefits

Here at Essex County Fire and Rescue Service we are committed to prioritising and promoting the wellbeing of our employees.

You can find out more about our benefits at https://www.essex-fire.gov.uk/recruitment/benefits

Safeguarding

Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Fire and Rescue Authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

It is our policy to require all applicants for employment to disclose if you are currently being investigated by any regulatory body or have any decisions or sanctions pending or in progress in respect of your suitability to work for the Service.

You agree to inform the Service within 24 hours if you are subsequently investigated by any agency or organisation in relation to concerns about your behaviour towards children, young people or vulnerable adults.

The information you provide will be treated as strictly confidential and will be considered only in relation to the appointment for which you are applying.

This role will be subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Disability Confident

We are an equal opportunity, Disability Confident, employer who welcomes applications from everyone and values diversity in our workplace. A commitment to promoting diversity and developing a work environment where all staff are treated with dignity and respect is central to our recruitment process and all applications will be considered solely on merit.

As part of our offer to support all our candidates to perform to the best of their abilities during our recruitment and selection processes and we would like to let you know about a couple of support options you can access, should you wish to, including our employee forums, who are keen and willing to support all of our potential colleagues.

Our employee forums and partners include:

Asian Fire Services Association (AFSA), BEING (our LGBTQ+ employee support network), Christian Fellowship, Ethnic Minority Forum, Men’s Forum, and our Women’s Forum. In addition, we also have a female firefighters operational group.

Further to the above, the Service has a Digital Accessibility Inclusion Group (DAIG) that supports all colleagues to improve their digital skills and provides additional support and guidance to colleagues with neurodivergent strengths and struggles as a result of dyslexia, ADHD, Autism, dyspraxia etc. We want everyone to thrive at work, and so we encourage and enable people to access digital tools to help them perform at your best. The DAIG is a group of colleagues from across the Service that unite to support others as a result of their lived experience and desire to make a difference. They support people with a range of visible and invisible disabilities to identify and access digital workplace adjustments and solutions and may be able to assist with your application too.

Should you wish to discuss support, or access further information, from one of these groups, please contact Equality.Diversity@essex-fire.gov.uk

You are also able to raise any queries or requests for support, including any adjustments you may require, at any stage of the process by email to recruitment@essex-fire.gov.uk

You can find out more about Essex County Fire & Rescue Service via www.essex-fire.gov.uk and about our vacancies and application processes via www.essex-fire.gov.uk/join-essex-fire