Senior Emergency Planning Officer

Wirral Council; Wirral; Hybrid; GBP 44,000 - 48,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Staff discounts

LGPS pension

Life cover

Ill-health protection

Job summary

Wirral Council's Community Safety service is seeking two experienced Senior Emergency Planning Officers to lead civil protection and resilience arrangements for the borough. You'll drive compliance with the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, develop, test and maintain emergency plans, and represent the Council in Merseyside Resilience Forum groups.

The role is hybrid, combining remote work with office days twice weekly.

Qualifications

• Strong knowledge of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and resilience frameworks.
• Experience in emergency planning, civil contingencies or business continuity.
• Proven ability to lead multi‑agency partnerships with blue light services.

Responsibilities

• Lead compliance with Civil Contingencies Act duties and develop emergency plans.
• Represent the Council at Merseyside Resilience Forum groups and workstreams.
• Manage 24-hour emergency response arrangements and lead multi‑agency exercises.
• Deputise for the Strategic Corporate Resilience Manager as required.

Skills

Emergency planning

Civil contingencies Act 2004 knowledge

Multi-agency partnership working

Blue light collaboration

Job description

Excellent people, working together to deliver brighter futures.

• Salary: £44,253 to £47,665 plus benefits
• Location: Wirral, Mallory, 2 Alice Ker Square, Hybrid Working
• Contract: Permanent
• Working Pattern: Flexible Hours/Full Time
• Hours: 36 hours per week.
• DBS Check: No
• Closing Date: 11/10/2026 at 23:59
• Reference: NS/26/345094

Wirral Council is a values‑driven organisation where employees are empowered to “#BeTheDifference” and help create fairer opportunities for residents. Set in one of the happiest and most scenic areas in the UK, the Council offers an inspiring place to live and work, with a strong commitment to supporting staff and delivering ambitious plans for the borough’s future. Joining Wirral Council means becoming part of a dedicated, forward‑thinking team that is truly valued and encouraged to thrive.

Senior Emergency Planning Officer

We're looking for two experienced emergency planning professionals to join Wirral's Community Safety service and take a leading role in the Council's civil protection and resilience arrangements.

About the Role

You’ll help lead the Council's compliance with its statutory duties under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, developing, testing and maintaining the emergency plans that keep Wirral prepared to respond to, and recover from, major incidents. You'll represent the Council at Merseyside Resilience Forum groups and workstreams, help manage the Council's 24-hour emergency response arrangements, and act as a senior point of contact - deputising for the Strategic Corporate Resilience Manager as required.

It's a varied, hands‑on role at the heart of the Council’s resilience function: one day you might be updating a hazard‑specific plan or briefing elected members, the next you could be supporting a live incident response or leading a multi‑agency exercise.

About the Candidate

The successful candidates will possess sound knowledge of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, and relevant national and regional resilience frameworks, with experience of working within emergency planning, civil contingencies or business continuity. You will have substantial experience of multi‑agency partnership working, including with blue light services and other Category 1/2 responders.

These posts are subject to Non-Police Personnel Level 2 (NPPV2F) clearance.

Shortlisting will take place on 12 & 13 October 2026, and interviews will take place on Monday 26 October & Tuesday 27 October

We believe in giving you the flexibility to work where you’re most productive. This role offers a hybrid working arrangement, combining the benefits of remote work with the collaboration and connection of in-office days, twice a week.

We welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates. For this vacancy, candidates must have an existing right to work in the UK before commencing employment. Skilled Worker visa sponsorship is not available for this post. Eligibility to work in the UK will be verified in the final stages of the selection process.

This is not legal advice, and we advise you to seek your own independent legal advice tailored to your own personal circumstances.

If you are a Wirral resident, are unemployed or out of work, and require help with your application, please contact Involve Northwest’s employment and skills team on [e-mail] or contact 0151 644 4500 or 0151 652 4349.

If you’re already a Wirral Council employee, as part of our Talent Strategy, we’re committed to strengthening opportunities for our people to learn, grow, progress and thrive. For many of you, this may be preparing and applying for your next role with us, and we're passionate about ensuring you feel supported throughout your internal recruitment experience. Please get in touch if you want to know more about some of the ways in which we could support you by emailing [e-mail]

Working at Wirral

You’ll also want to know what it’s like to work here so, as a start:

Our values are more than just pieces of paper on our walls! We’ve all played a role in developing these, so they reflect the immense pride we have in what we do, what matters to us, what inspires us and inform how we think, approach things and behave.

We believe in ensuring staff are well looked after, staff wellbeing is a priority for us. We’re serious about recognising and rewarding people for the great things they do. You’ll benefit from our track record of developing, growing and investing in our people.

• staff discounts
• enrolment into the local government pension scheme (an excellent defined benefit scheme)
• immediate life cover
• ill-health protection

We have a strong flexible working approach, hybrid working, family‑friendly employment initiatives and an annual leave package starting with 28 days leave plus public holidays.

We have an inclusive, engaged culture, everyone has a voice, everyone is valued for their contribution and understands the role they play in delivering our strategic priorities.

Each voice is heard, each contribution valued. We embrace diversity in our workforce and recognise it is critical to our success. We support an inclusive culture that champions differences and nurtures a sense of belonging. We encourage people from diverse backgrounds, who share our values and our commitment to inclusion to apply for roles with us.

We want you to be your best at work, we create the conditions to help you thrive and we mirror this in our recruitment process. If you’d like us to do anything differently during the recruitment process to make it barrier‑free and as accessible as possible please contact [e-mail]

Please note that in accordance with the Council’s policy, employees who are in a formal redeployment situation will be considered in the first instance for all vacancies.

It is Council policy not to re‑appoint any employee who has left under the terms of the Council's Early Voluntary Retirement (EVR) scheme or who have left with a voluntary severance (VS) package, unless in exceptional circumstances.