Emergency Planning Consultant

Terms and Conditions: 37 hrs Full time, Term Time, Permanent
Department: Chief Executives
Closing Date: 15th October 2026
Interview date: 23rd October 2026Emergency Planning ConsultantBring your experience. Learn a new profession.We are looking for an Emergency Planning Officer to join our growing Civil Contingencies Team.This is a broad and varied role where you could be coordinating a response to flooding or wildfire one day, developing an emergency plan the next, leading a resilience project, working with partners across the Lancashire Resilience Forum or briefing senior leaders on an emerging risk.And you do not need to have worked in emergency planning before.You may already have experience in emergency planning, resilience or business continuity, or you may bring relevant transferable skills from another role or sector. Your background could include incident, crisis or operational management, working in complex or high-pressure environments, or coordinating people and organisations in response to challenging situations. What matters most is your ability to apply your experience, judgement and skills to help us prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies and disruption.If you have the right skills and experience, but have never worked in emergency planning, we would actively encourage you to apply.What we're looking forWe want someone who can take ownership and run with things. You will be expected to manage your own workload, juggle competing priorities and take projects from an initial idea through to delivery.We are looking for someone who is calm under pressure, confident, proactive and able to get things done.You will be someone who can take an issue, understand what is needed, bring the right people together and move it forward without needing to be given every step.You will ideally have experience of:

• Managing incidents, crises or complex situations under pressure.
• Making decisions with incomplete or changing information.
• Coordinating teams, organisations and stakeholders.
• Working confidently with senior leaders.
• Taking ownership of complex projects, workstreams or organisational improvements.
• Building strong relationships and working effectively with others.
• Leading meetings, exercises or training.

Experience in emergency planning, business continuity, resilience or multi-agency incident management would be highly desirable, but it is not essential.For those familiar with JESIP, our response often involves working at tactical or strategic level, so experience at these levels would be particularly valuable. Operational experience with the ability and ambition to step up is also welcomed.The role can move quickly. On one day you may be working on a longer-term resilience project and the next you may be helping coordinate a live incident. We are looking for someone who enjoys that variety and is comfortable changing priorities when circumstances require it.We can teach you the Civil Contingencies Act, Local Resilience Forum structures and the local authority emergency planning environment. What we cannot easily teach is judgement, initiative, confidence and the ability to perform when things get difficult.The opportunityYou will have genuine responsibility and influence from the outset, with the opportunity to take ownership of projects and develop areas of work as you become established.Our team is growing, and with significant change across local government there will be plenty of opportunities to develop, take on new responsibilities and shape what resilience looks like in the future.We are a close and supportive team with a flexible approach to working.We understand that people have lives outside work and aim to support our colleagues where we can. In return, when something significant happens and the pressure is on, we expect everyone to pull together and support one another.That balance is important to us.The role also includes participation in the Council's 24/7 Duty Officer rota, for which an additional allowance is paid. Full training and support will be provided. Due to the requirements of the rota, applicants must be able to live within 30 minutes of Blackburn Town Hall.If you are looking for a role where you can bring your existing skills, learn something new and make a real difference, we'd love to hear from you.Other requirementsYou must hold a full valid driving licence and have access to a vehicle for business use, with appropriate insurance. Business mileage will be reimbursed at the current agreed rate.For further information, please refer to the job description and person specification.Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council will require pre-employment checks as part of the offer process. Any unconditional offer will be subject to satisfactory checks.We reserve the right to close this vacancy early.Want to know more?For an informal discussion about the role, please contact: civil.contingencies@blackburn.gov.uk