Police Controller

Location: Netley

Contract: Full-time and permanent. On successful appointment into this role, you will be able to submit a flexible working request to start after the training period. However, there is no guarantee that your request will be approved. Please note that you will be required to work the full-time standard shifts during the training period which will be approximately 13 weeks.

Salary: The starting total salary for this role is £35,000. This is made up of a basic salary of £26,106 and shift and weekend allowances of 20%. On completion of initial training and becoming an independent Call Handler (expected to be at around the 12-week point), the basic salary for this role will increase to £29,109, giving a total salary of £39,000.

Closing Date: Wednesday 15th October 2025 at 23:59. Please note that if your application is successful, the earliest you will start in role is June 2026, however, we cannot guarantee a June start date.

About the role: As a Police Controller, you will be on the front line of policing and responsible for receiving emergency 999 calls from members of the public and dispatching Officers to the scene. You will need to apply an investigative mind set to:

• Risk assess police incidents, prioritise deployment of resources and dispatch police resources via the radio;
• Communicate with Officers via the radio and provide them with information and support;
• Receive emergency 999 calls;
• Accurately record information;
• Ensure the public receives the required help and support, whilst handling sensitive and upsetting matters with empathy and a calm attitude.

The standard shift pattern for this role is 6 days on and 4 days off on a rotating 20 week pattern (averaging at 37 hours per week). Shifts are generally 10 hours long with a 1-hour meal break. However, you may work any variation of a 10 hour shift depending on our demand and resource levels.

Benefits of working for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary: In addition to the competitive salary and highly rewarding career, our benefits include, but are not limited to:

• Competitive pension scheme;
• Generous annual leave allowance;
• Retail, food and leisure discounts through Hampshire Police Leisure & Sports and Blue Light Card;
• Excellent wellbeing support;
• Gym facilities at a number of our buildings;
• Fantastic career progression including development and secondment opportunities.

What does it take to work in Contact Management? To succeed in this role, it is important that you have the following qualities:

• Able to remain calm and level-headed in high pressurised situations;
• Confident making difficult decisions;
• Able to manage multiple demands;
• Able to communicate clearly;
• Resilience.

Role specific training and support: Our roles are pivotal in helping us to achieve our Force Priorities of Relentlessly Pursuing Criminals, Putting Victims First and Delivering Exceptional Local Policing. Your training course will therefore be fast-paced and is designed to equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to excel in your role. The initial 6-week training period is classroom based and will include inputs on our computer systems and theory-based topics. This phase will be completed Monday to Friday, so no shift allowances will be paid. You will then progress to a tutoring phase, taking live calls with the support of a dedicated tutor for up to 6 sets of shifts.

The Emergency Services Call Handling Apprenticeship is an additional benefit of the role and is open to all new starters who do not have prior experience of working in an emergency call handling environment. The Apprenticeship will be completed during work time and will take approximately 13-18 months to complete. On successful completion, you will receive a nationally recognised certificate in Contact Handling.

Application criteria: There are no essential education requirements for this role but it is desirable that candidates are educated to QCF Level 2 or higher in Maths and English. Candidates should have good customer service, communication and typing/IT skills. You must be 18 years or older to apply for this role and appointment will be subject to satisfactory clearance of pre-employment checks. If you have previously been unsuccessful for a role within Contact Management, you must wait 3 months before reapplying.

Returning to the role of Police Controller: If you have previously worked for HIOWC as a Police Controller and wish to re-join us, please send an email stating that you wish to re-join and include the following information: the date on which you left employment, your collar number, what shift you were on, and who your Line Manager/Supervisor was. Your eligibility to bypass the recruitment process/initial training as a re-joiner will then be assessed and someone will be in contact with you to provide an update on your application.

HOW TO APPLY: Please follow the online application link to apply. You will be required to enter personal details, complete our screening questions, and provide examples of when you have displayed the competencies of We are emotionally aware Level 1 and We analyse critically Level 1. Your answers to these competencies will be used to shortlist applications and reading the linked College of Policing webpages will assist you in completing your application. We also recommend you read through this Candidate guidance for completing an application form. Your answers to these competencies should be specific examples (from work, education, social, or home life) and should be a true account of events. To structure your answers, we recommend using the STAR technique which is explained in the above guidance document. Your answers should be typed into the relevant section on the application form. Please do not write 'refer to CV/covering letter' as any attached documents will not be reviewed and what you type in the answer section is what will be scored. We recommend that you write your answers in MS Word before copying them into your application, to avoid the system timing out and you losing your progress. Our recruitment system uses a character counter for your answer to each competency, but please do not use MS Word as a character count guide.

Next steps in the recruitment process: After the closing date, all applications will be reviewed and shortlisted using the answers to the above competencies. If you are successful at shortlisting, you will be required to attend an online awareness session and an in-person assessment centre. The Recruitment Team will send you further information if you are successful at the application shortlisting stage.

If you would like to have an informal discussion about this role, please contact the Recruitment Team. Please note that the email address you supply when submitting an application will be used for contact throughout the full lifecycle of that vacancy. You will not be able to amend your contact details. You should therefore ensure that you choose an appropriately accessible email address, being mindful that the process may take several months for some roles.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary is an inclusive employer and strives to have a workforce representative of the communities we police and serve. We recognise that we are not fully representative and are working to address this imbalance through a variety of initiatives. Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary is an equal opportunities employer that positively promotes flexible working, enabling officers and staff to achieve a healthy work-life balance whilst meeting operational requirements of the constabulary. We actively encourage applications to be made on a full time, part time or flexible working basis. The Equality Act 2010 allows us to promote equality within Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary by adopting Positive Action to support people from under-represented groups. Our aim is to recruit talented people with a diverse range of skills and experience and welcome applications from all sections of the community. Our Positive Action team are available to provide support through the application and assessment process. The Disability Confident campaign aims to remove barriers, increase understanding and ensure that people have opportunities to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations. We will accommodate requests for reasonable adjustments where possible throughout our recruitment and promotions processes and encourage anyone requiring reasonable adjustments to disclose this at the earliest opportunity.