Emergency Management & Business Continuity Officer (L4Z2)

Working on behalf of a Local Authority, Aatom Recruitment has a new opportunity for an Emergency Management & Business Continuity Officer on a 2 months contract with a possibility of further extension. STANDARD DBS BOTH BARRING LISTS CHECKS REQUIRED.

To lead on the council’s planning, testing and response arrangements for business continuity and emergency incidents, in line with the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. To take an active role in the council’s response to an emergency/business continuity incident, coordinating council services in a collaborative response with emergency responders and other partners. To lead on engagement and maintain effective working relationships with key stakeholders – chief officers, elected members, council services, Category 1 & 2 responders, volunteer members of the Crisis Support Team and other groups.

Example outcomes or objectives that this role will deliver (this is not an exhaustive list):

• To manage a challenging workload with conflicting priorities, this will include delivering and testing response and recovery plans for the council and external partners and to support colleagues to work collectively to this end.
• To participate in the out of hours Duty Emergency Planning Officer rota.
• To lead and facilitate council’s initial response and support to emergency responders in relation to an incident.
• To lead on identification, design and delivery of projects that improves the council’s and communities response to risks related to emergency or business continuity incidents.
• To assess and develop training and exercising of Crisis Support Team and other Council staff in relation to their response roles.
• The role will be expected to build and sustain effective partnership relationships with colleagues and a range of stakeholders (internal and external to the council) acting as a point of expertise.
• This could include but would not be limited to the following work areas: Identification, assessment and reduction of risks. To include the maintenance of the Borough Risk Register on behalf of the Borough Resilience Forum.
• Work with emergency planning/business continuity professionals across London to ensure that adequate response plans and resources are in place when responding to an incident.
• Facilitating decisions and action plans through partnership working, e.g. Borough Resilience Forum, London – North Central sub region resilience forum.
• Work with businesses and the voluntary sector to promote business continuity.
• Using data and information to assist with response decisions during an emergency/business continuity incident.
• Provide advice and support to senior managers and officers across the Council, requiring the ability to communicate effectively to different audiences and to provide timely responses to a wide range of enquiries, often relating to complex matters.
• The post holder will be expected to be on call out of hours 1 week in every 3 for which a stand by allowance is payable, to undertake the Duty Emergency Planning Officer role covering both emergency and critical incidents.
• The post holder may occasionally be required to work at weekends, early mornings or in the evenings particularly if the working model for the service includes out of hours arrangements.
• The post holder will work in an “agile” way in line with the council’s move to flexible and paperless work environment, prioritising their own work within the empowered and enabled team culture, recognising and utilising the expertise of others where appropriate.
• Post holders are expected to work on their own where it is safe to do so and have regard to the Council’s lone working policies working with colleagues and partner agencies where appropriate.

Technical Knowledge and Experience

• Detailed knowledge of emergency planning and business continuity.
• Understanding of pan London and local government responsibilities and arrangements under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.
• Ability to engage effectively with politicians and senior decision makers from across the Council and Community Safety Partnership.
• Capacity to show resilience and tenacity in the face of problems and work effectively to resolve these.
• Strong communication and influencing skills, including writing reports and letters.
• Ability to analyse, assess and present data and information effectively.
• Knowledge and experience of risk within the context of emergency planning and business continuity.
• Ability to make decisions under pressure often based on limited information, with wide ranging implications for the Council, its partners and community.