Emergency Planning Officer | Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust

Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust; England; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare trust in England seeks an Emergency Planning Officer to support its emergency planning agenda. The ideal candidate will manage business continuity efforts while ensuring compliance with relevant legislation. Responsibilities include training staff, maintaining emergency plans, and collaborating with external stakeholders. The role offers flexible working options and aims to create an inclusive environment for all applicants.

Benefits

Flexible working options

Excellent training opportunities

Accredited Living Wage Employer

Qualifications

• Experience in emergency planning and business continuity.
• Ability to analyze risks and manage threats to services.
• Strong communication skills for training sessions.

Responsibilities

• Support the Emergency Planning Lead in achieving EPRR objectives.
• Assist in maintaining the Trust risk register.
• Develop training materials and conduct training sessions.

Skills

Emergency Planning

Business Continuity Management

Risk Assessment

Stakeholder Engagement

Education

Relevant degree or equivalent experience

Job description

Responsibilities

• Understand Emergency Planning and Business Continuity and support the Emergency Planning Lead in the delivery of the Trust’s EPRR agenda, ensuring that Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust (SCFT) fulfils its legal obligations and responsibilities under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, NHS England EPRR Framework 2015, Business Continuity Standard ISO 22301, the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and other government planning requirements.
• Have responsibility Trust wide to ensure the development and delivery of the organisation’s emergency planning and resilience function and improve standards of emergency preparedness across the organisation.
• Contribute to the management, coordination, development and delivery of service business continuity plans and incident response plans via the Trust Resilience Group and be heavily involved in the delivery of the EPRR training and exercise programme for the Trust.
• Partner with the Emergency Planning Lead to represent the Trust within multi‑agency emergency planning committees.
• Support in maintaining the Trust risk register by analysing and interpreting data to understand the threats to and vulnerabilities of its critical services.
• Maintain emergency plans to reduce, control and mitigate the effects of incidents that may impact upon the trust.
• Assist in the delivery of the Trust’s Business Continuity Management System, focusing on supporting teams to review their Business Impact Analysis (BIA) and Business Continuity Plans (BCP); support the Emergency Planning Lead to review the Trust‑wide BIA and BCP.
• Assist in the delivery of training sessions in line with the Trust’s Training Needs Analysis to a variety of SCFT staff, including the On‑Call team, Trust Executives and incident support staff, in relation to Emergency and Business Continuity Planning.
• Support the Emergency Planning Team in developing and delivering Table‑top, Live‑play and Communications Exercises to staff across the Trust, and multi‑agency partners, to ensure the effectiveness of Trust plans and procedures; attend multi‑agency Exercises across the NHS Sussex system and SRF.
• Prepare reports for internal and external use to provide updates on Emergency Planning work‑streams, including compliance reports for Training and Exercising and Business Continuity.
• Provide efficient, comprehensive and professional support to the Emergency Planning Lead.
• Undertake EPRR risk assessments with the National and Community Risk Register, developing and maintaining controls assurance for these risks and ensuring they are documented on the Trust Risk Register; report regularly to the Resilience Group.
• Provide specialist knowledge on matters relating to the emergency planning and business continuity within the Trust.
• Support the Emergency Planning Lead in developing new and revised plans related to EPRR.
• Support the development of Business Continuity Plans to minimise and address risks and hazards identified across the Trust and within the surrounding geographical area.
• Support the Emergency Planning Lead in developing and preparing training materials to contribute to organisational resilience by delivering an ongoing training and exercise programme; ensure robust processes that meet the needs of staff and raise EPRR profile and awareness.
• Review response to major incidents and disruptions to Trust services, assess adequacy of plans and make recommendations for improvement.
• Engage with internal and external stakeholders including NHS England, ICBs, UK Health Security Agency, other Health Providers, Emergency Services, Local Authorities; promote partnerships and co‑operative working.
• Engage with external suppliers, local, regional and national to advise and assist with ensuring business continuity plans are in place.
• In partnership with the Emergency Planning Lead, represent the Trust at health and multi‑agency meetings concerning emergency preparedness including exercise planning at local, regional and national levels.

Our Trust Vision

We are the main provider of NHS community services across East and West Sussex, with 6,000 staff serving 1.3 million people. We deliver essential care to adults and children, helping them manage their health, avoid hospital admissions, and reduce hospital stays.

Values

Compassionate Care, Working Together, Achieving Ambitions, Delivering Excellence

Why work for us?

• Positive 2024 NHS Staff Survey results, highlighting compassionate leadership and wellbeing.
• Varied environments: community hospitals, patients’ homes, and bases across Sussex.
• Flexible working options: part‑time, flexi‑time, annualised hours, and flexi‑retirement.
• Excellent training, development, and research opportunities.
• Accredited Living Wage Employer, we ensure fair pay for all our staff.
• Cost‑effective workplace nurseries in Crawley, Hove, and Brighton.
• Active EMBRACE, Disability & Wellbeing, LGBTQIA+, and Religion & Belief networks.
• Level 3 Disability Confident Leader and Veteran Aware Trust.

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

We embrace diversity and encourage applications from all backgrounds, particularly from ethnically diverse, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. We aim to create an inclusive environment and support reasonable adjustments during recruitment.

Closing date

This advert closes on Monday 29 Dec 2025.