Head of Health and Fire Safety in City of London

Job Title: Head of Health and Fire Safety

Department: Community & Children's Services Department

Salary: £77,400 - £87,880 inclusive of all allowances

Contractual hours: 35

Work Pattern: Monday to Friday, 9:15am – 5:00pm

Basis: Full -Time, Permanent

Workplace category: Workplace Based (at the start of the contract) then moving into Hybrid

Workplace role categories describe our approach to workplace attendance.

Attachments: Job Description and Person Specification

Summary of Terms and Conditions of Employment

We reserve the right to close the advert earlier should we receive a high number of applications.

We are looking for an influential and forward-thinking leader to set the direction for health and fire safety across Community and Children’s Services. As a senior competent person and Head of Profession, you will provide trusted advice, strengthen assurance and lead a culture in which safety, wellbeing and continuous improvement are central to every service. This high-profile opportunity to make a lasting difference for residents, service users, colleagues and partners across a diverse, complex organisation, helping to shape safer homes, services and workplaces.

What you will do

• Develop and deliver an ambitious health, fire safety & wellbeing strategy & improvement plan.
• Provide authoritative advice and assurance to residents, colleagues, senior leaders and Members.
• Strengthen risk management, governance, incident reporting and legal compliance across housing and other services.
• Influence stakeholders, regulators, partners and suppliers on complex safety matters.
• Lead, develop and champion the Health & Fire Safety Team & wider professional community.
• Use insight, performance information and audits to drive improvement and embed a positive safety culture.
• Manage the service budget, contribute to emergency arrangements and take decisive action where there is an imminent risk to life.

About you

You will be a credible senior leader with the judgement, confidence and communication skills to turn complex requirements into practical action. You will bring:

Essential qualifications and expertise

• A recognised occupational health and safety qualification, such as the NEBOSH Diploma.
• BOHS P405 – Management of Asbestos in Buildings.
• BOHS P901 – Control of Legionella in Domestic Hot and Cold-Water Systems.
• Emergency Planning College qualification in Tactical Emergency Management.
• Strong knowledge of health and fire safety legislation, risk management and assurance in complex, multi-site services.
• Evidence of continuing professional development.

What you will bring

• A successful record of leading health, fire safety or comparable risk-based services in a large, complex organisation.
• Experience of shaping strategy, leading organisational change and improving services.
• Strong people, programme, performance and budget management skills.
• The ability to influence, negotiate and build trusted relationships at every level.
• Excellent judgement and communication and ability to present complex information clearly to a variety of audiences.
• A collaborative, customer-focused approach and the confidence to challenge constructively and act decisively.

Closing date: 23:59pm on Thursday 24th September 2026

Provisional interview date: First interview on 9th October (in person) & 2nd interview on 20th October 2026 (via MS Teams)

Level of DBS required for this role

Standard

Level of vetting required?

No security vetting is required

Is this a politically restricted post?

No

Does this post require a Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) check?

No

The City of London Corporation is committed to Equal Opportunities and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.

We reserve the right to close the advert earlier should we receive a high number of applications.

Because our roles are so varied, we don’t have a ‘one size fits all’ policy for workplace attendance. How many days a week you’ll be required to attend your workplace will depend on the requirements of your role. It’s important that you understand the requirements before applying to ensure you are able to meet them. We are committed to considering requests to work flexibly and job share. Requests will be considered by the recruiting manager in line with our policies and business needs.

For more information on our categories for workplace attendance, please view our guide here.

We will be reviewing this policy and approach at regular intervals to ensure we’re meeting our attendance needs.