Team: PPR - Emergency Planning

Job Family: Enabling - CBG10 - CBG12
Salary:  Enrty Level - CBG10-  £34,067 - £35,611 per annum pro rata 

              Experienced - CBG11 -  £36,554 - £39,707 per annum pro rata

              Advanced -      CBG12 - £40,705 £45,657 per annum pro rata

Hours:  37 hours per week

Base Location: Working from home and any CBC offices, including Priory House, Shefford. You will be expected to attend a CBC office location on a monthly basis, and as needed to carry out your role

Contract Type: Hybrid - Permanent 
Closing Date: 24th April 2023
Interview Date: Between 9th – 12th May 2023

About Us

Central Bedfordshire is an ambitious authority, determined to be an exemplary one. Our strategic location and high quality of life mean we are one of the fastest growing areas in the country.

As a council we face the same challenges every business does - investing in the right places and delivering great results. Except for us, it’s all about our 289,000 residents. We’re totally focussed on helping to improve their lives and making Central Bedfordshire a great place to live and work.

We have set values and principles to represent the way we work and how we operate as an organisation. You can view a list of these in detail on our website.

This is a great time to join us on our journey.

More about the role:

In Emergency Planning, we work to ensure that Central Bedfordshire remains as prepared as possible for a range of incidents and emergencies. Infectious diseases, floods, fires, accidents – whatever the emergency, we do all we can to keep people safe and council services functioning.

This is an exciting opportunity to undertake an extremely rewarding and diverse role supporting this planning and preparative work.  In this role your work will positively impact our area and protect our residents, communities, businesses and visitors. It is a golden opportunity to find your greatness and support our continued goal of making Central Bedfordshire ‘A great place to live and work’.

You will join a team that is respected in its field and is leading innovations within the voluntary sector and wider community. You will support the council to deliver its statutory duties under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and other relevant legislation. This will involve working closely with a range of partners including community groups, volunteers and Local Resilience Forum partners.  

Day-to-day work activities will include chairing meetings, dealing with stakeholders, writing emergency plans, leading projects, developing and delivering training and emergency exercises and ensuring strong business continuity arrangements are in place. Through your work, every council service will know their roles and responsibilities in the event of an emergency, will be adequately trained to respond and continue to provide critical public services.

The role also involves some out of hours working as part of a duty rota, and during emergency responses.

This role will perfectly suit a skilled Emergency Planner or Business Continuity practitioner looking for a new challenge, or a newly qualified graduate in this field looking to develop their knowledge and experience.  The ideal candidate will have a good awareness of emergency planning and business continuity in the public sector, however equivalent private sector and academic experience are greatly welcomed.  Your knowledge will cover current legislation, best practice and procedures.  Crucially, you are affable, well organised and have strong IT and administrative skills.  You can build strong working relationships, co-ordinate partners and manage a quickly changing workload.

What we can offer you 

As well as joining a friendly, dedicated, and hardworking team you will have access to numerous benefits, including:

• A hybrid working arrangement giving you the option to work from home and access any CBC office location. We recognise and value the importance of supporting our employees to balance their home and work life and to be able to work in the most efficient way.
• A £250 one-off hybrid worker payment to help you adapt your home for safe and suitable working conditions
• A comprehensive IT package to support you to work safely and effectively
• The ability to work abroad for up to a month a year
• Generous family friendly policies and practices
• A welcoming and inclusive environment that empowers differences
• Friendly and supportive staff networks
• Annual leave allowance 24 days + statutory holidays rising to 31 days with length of service.
• Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). This is a valuable part of our rewards package for employees and includes Life Assurance. You can find out more on the Bedfordshire Pension Fund website.
• An exceptional Employee Assistance Programme which helps support employees with workplace changes as well as other work, family and personal issues
• A huge variety of courses and role-specific training and learning to help you succeed and develop
• Access to discounts on top UK retailers and local retailers

Central Bedfordshire Council has its own vision and values that are integral to everything we do. Our area vision is to make Central Bedfordshire 'A great place to live and work’.

Sustainability matters to us. We aim to lead by example in tackling climate change. Read more about the action we’re taking on our website: Climate change – tackling it and our strategy

Our aspiration is to be a truly flexible employer.  We welcome discussion on location, hours and working pattern as part of the application process.

You will be expected to demonstrate how you meet the key accountabilities and competencies detailed within this Recruitment Pack; Emergency Planning Officer

 For an informal discussion about this position, please contact: Mark Conway at mark.conway@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk or call 0300 300 4439.

For queries related to the recruitment of this vacancy, please contact: The Recruitment Team at recruitment@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk  

Safeguarding:

Central Bedfordshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all employees, volunteers and contractors to share this commitment. This post is subject to the disclosure of criminal records.  

Central Bedfordshire Council is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to improving the diversity of our workforce to better reflect the communities we serve.  Therefore we welcome applications from everyone. In addition we are a  Disability Confident employer, we are working to become a Disability Confident leader in our community.

To maintain a fair and consistent approach for applicants, it is Central Bedfordshire Council's policy to only consider applications made via our online application system and we therefore thank you for not submitting your application offline.

If you require assistance to apply for our roles, help with writing your CV, interview techniques or careers advice please contact our team of careers advisors at ncs@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk Our service is confidential, impartial and free for all.