Fire Safety Officer & Protection

Networking Women in the Fire Service; Essex; Hybrid; GBP 38,000 - 41,000; Full time

Job summary

A community safety organization is seeking a passionate individual for a fixed-term role focused on enhancing fire safety in Essex. The position requires conducting safety audits, providing fire safety training, and engaging with the community. Ideal candidates will have excellent time management skills and a Level 3 standard of education. A full driving license is essential. The office offers a hybrid working model, balancing in-person engagement with remote flexibility. Salary ranges from £38,220 to £40,777 annually.

Benefits

Flexible working hours

Professional development opportunities

Qualifications

• Must have a full driving license.
• Experience managing workloads and working in teams.
• Required to complete Level 4 Diploma in Fire Safety.

Responsibilities

• Carry out fire safety audits in accordance with ECFRS Risk Based Intervention Programme.
• Provide advice on fire safety to the community.
• Deliver fire safety training to operational firefighter teams.

Skills

Time management

Interpersonal skills

Knowledge of fire safety

Education

Level 3 standard of education (e.g. A-Level)

Job description

Overview

Contract: Fixed Term / Permanent

Working Hours: 37 hours per week

Salary: £38,220.00 – £40,777.00 (Grade 7, Green Book)

Location: TBC

Closing date: 4 February 2026

*We are open to discuss flexibility over hours; however the expectation is that, as a hybrid role, your work will be balanced between home and Service facilities. You will be expected to attend the Service premises for at least 3 days of a 5-day working week. Hybrid working will not normally be available until such time that your skill level allows.

This role is a fixed-term opportunity. If the role is extended or made permanent, the extension or permanent position may be offered to the successful applicant ahead of any further recruitment process.

The Role

Do you share our passion for making our communities safer? Can you provide practical advice on how to make our buildings and workspaces safer places? Are you excited to learn more about making Essex a safe place to live, work and travel, putting your knowledge and skills into practice in a diverse and challenging county?

If so, then the right opportunity for you has arisen within our Protection team (formerly known as Fire Safety). As part of our Prevention and Protection strategies we are committed to undertaking more safety audits than ever before, and we are looking for the right people to represent us in the community, providing the right advice and responses to fire safety challenges.

The role will involve working within the Community, inspecting a variety of buildings, providing advice to the responsible person and where necessary taking enforcement action, assessing statutory consultations including a requirement to assess the design of new or extended buildings against the Building Regulations to ensure the design is compliant. You may be required to deliver fire safety training to our operational firefighter teams.

What You Will Be Working On

• Carry out fire safety audits in accordance with ECFRS Risk Based Intervention Programme
• Carry out statutory consultations on a wide range of premises ranging from low to very high complexity
• Alleged fire risks
• Protection support to operational colleagues

What Are We Looking For?

This role will be perfect for you if you are passionate about (or learning about) fire safety and are motivated by what you can bring to ECFRS and the people of Essex.

You will have experience of managing your own workloads as well as being part of a team, you must have excellent time management and prioritising skills as you will be required to meet statutory deadlines.

We would love to find someone that has strong interpersonal skills and experience of working with people from all walks of life with an aim of achieving a common goal.

You will be required to attend formal courses both in person and remotely, that on successful completion will eventually culminate in you obtaining a Level Four Diploma in Fire Safety. It is a requirement that you sign a pre-learning agreement prior to undertaking your formal training.

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

• Hold a full driving licence.
• Whilst considered desirable, the provision of associated qualifications in Fire safety are not essential for this role. Any successful candidate will be enrolled on the Level 3 Certificate in Fire Safety, which upon completion will subsequently be followed by completion of the Level 4 Diploma in Fire Safety.
• Level 3 standard of education (e.g. A-Level) or equivalent experience, demonstrating a high level of numeracy and literacy.
• Should candidates who are successful in being offered a role subsequently not be able to attain qualification (where courses have been reasonably available), the Service’s Performance Management policies will be applied, which could result in redeployment.

If you are an internal candidate, you must have discussed your application with your line manager and confirmed there are no outstanding issues of conduct or performance. This will be verified prior to shortlisting.

How to apply

You will be required to submit a CV detailing a minimum of five years employment and/or education history, along with a supporting statement of no more than 750 words that demonstrates how you meet the essential criteria detailed in 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 of your supporting statement should not exceed 750 words no matter which format you choose to present your application.

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

The assessment and selection approach will be:

• Stage 1 – Application and shortlisting (assessment of your supporting statement against the essential criteria of the person specification)
• Stage 2 – Role-specific interview and a short report writing exercise to demonstrate the applicant’s ability to provide a report in a relatively concise and logical sequence

Further details will be given at the time of interview. Interview assessments 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 and guidance around the Code of Ethics here. Guidance on Safeguarding policies can be found here.

If you have any queries about the process, please contact recruitment at the Essex Fire and Rescue Service.

Our Culture and Benefits

We are committed to prioritising and promoting the wellbeing of our employees. You can find out more about our benefits at the organisation’s recruitment page. Important information for Firefighter Pension Scheme Pensioners: if you are currently in receipt of a pension, taking up this role may affect your pension under pension abatement rules.

For further guidance, please contact our Pensions team.

Safeguarding: the Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Fire and Rescue Authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults.

Disability Confident: We are an equal opportunities, Disability Confident employer who welcomes applications from everyone and values diversity in our workplace. All applications will be considered on merit.

Our employee forums and networks include: AFSA, BEING, Christian Fellowship, Ethnic Minority Forum, Men’s Forum, Women’s Forum, and a Digital Accessibility Inclusion Group (DAIG) to support colleagues with diverse needs. If you wish to discuss support or access further information, please contact Equality.Diversity at the organization.

You can also raise queries or requests for support at any stage of the process by emailing recruitment at the organization. You can find out more about the service on the organization’s website.