Fire Safety Technical Lead in Ferndale

To provide strategic and operational technical leadership on fire safety, fire engineering, and associated building safety risks across the Council's housing portfolio. The postholder supports the Council, as Accountable Person and Principal Accountable Person for its Higher-Risk Buildings (HRBs), by providing specialist technical advice, assurance, and oversight in relation to fire safety compliance, design standards, refurbishment activities, fire protection systems, contractor performance, and incident investigation. The role provides independent technical assurance in relation to fire and building safety risks, supports the development of safe systems of work, contributes to incident management, and ensures technical compliance with relevant fire safety, building safety, and health and safety legislation.

The role does not ordinarily hold primary operational responsibility for building-level risk management, which remains with the Building Safety Management function. Whilst the role primarily provides technical leadership, assurance, and professional oversight, the postholder may undertake limited technical involvement in strategically significant Higher-Risk Buildings (HRBs) where required to maintain operational competence, support organisational resilience, or provide specialist technical leadership.

Key Accountabilities

• Providing strategic technical leadership and independent professional challenge across fire safety, design compliance, contractor assurance, and building safety risk management.
• Providing assurance to the Head of Fire & Building Safety on emerging technical risks, systemic compliance issues, and organisational fire safety performance.
• Providing professional fire safety leadership, technical assurance, and expert advice across the housing portfolio.
• Ensuring fire safety design, construction, refurbishment, and maintenance activities comply with statutory requirements, recognised guidance, and relevant technical standards.
• Providing independent technical assurance, through risk-based sampling, that Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) actions, fire safety works, and other life safety control measures across the Council's non-HRB housing portfolio are completed, verified, and compliant, with systemic non-compliance formally escalated where required.
• Leading fire incident investigations, technical reviews, and lessons learned activities.
• Ensuring fire-related incidents, Mandatory Occurrence Reporting events, and relevant statutory notifications are identified, escalated, and managed appropriately.
• The effective leadership, performance, and development of direct reports.
• Escalating significant fire safety, contractor, compliance, or systemic risks to senior management.

Key Responsibilities

Technical Fire Safety Assurance

• Review drawings, specifications, fire strategies, design submissions, and technical proposals to ensure compliance with relevant legislation, approved guidance, and standards including Approved Document B, BS 9991, BS 5839, and BS 5266.
• Identify design defects, fire safety non-compliance, compartmentation failures, and technical risks associated with refurbishment, repairs, or existing buildings, providing formal technical recommendations.
• Review findings from intrusive investigations, compartmentation surveys, fire stopping inspections, structural fire safety reviews, and Fire Risk Appraisals of External Walls (FRAEWs).
• Provide technical advice to project teams, Housing, Asset Management, Repairs, Capital Works, Direct Labour Organisation (DLO), Voids, and contractors on corrective actions and risk mitigation.

Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) Assurance

• Provide independent technical assurance of completed Fire Risk Assessment actions across the Council's non-HRB housing portfolio using a risk-based sampling and verification approach.
• Undertake targeted audits and physical verification inspections of completed FRA actions to assess quality, compliance, workmanship, and effectiveness.
• Identify systemic issues, recurring defects, contractor underperformance, or weaknesses in action close-out processes, ensuring findings are formally reported and escalated.
• Work collaboratively with the FRA Manager and associated compliance teams to improve completion assurance, contractor performance, data quality, and organisational learning.
• Provide technical advice and recommendations where sampled FRA actions are found to be incomplete, non-compliant, or ineffective.

Site Inspections & Contractor Assurance

• Undertake targeted, risk-based site inspections during live works to provide independent technical assurance.
• Review and provide technical input on RAMS, permit-to-work arrangements, temporary fire precautions, and high-risk activities including hot works, compartmentation breaches, isolations, and fire stopping works.
• Provide technical assurance of contractor performance and escalate non-compliance, unsafe practices, or defective works where identified.

Fire Protection Systems

• Provide technical assurance on the performance, design, maintenance, and remediation of fire protection systems including fire alarms, emergency lighting, sprinklers, AOVs, smoke control systems, and fire doors.
• Escalate technical failures and support resolution through project teams, contractors, and the Fire Door Project Manager where required.

Building Safety Support

• Provide specialist technical advice to the Fire & Building Safety Team on Building Safety Cases (BSCs), fire engineering matters, design compliance, and regulatory evidence requirements.
• Support BSR submissions, gateway requirements, audits, inspections, and regulatory responses where required.

Incident Investigation & Regulatory Reporting

• Lead technical reviews of fire incidents, near misses, and significant safety events across the housing portfolio.
• Maintain oversight of fire incident recording, analysis, root cause investigation, lessons learned, and corrective actions.
• Act as technical liaison with the London Fire Brigade and other enforcement or regulatory bodies where required.
• Ensuring serious fire-related incidents are technically investigated, escalated, and managed appropriately, and providing specialist support where potential Mandatory Occurrence Reporting (MOR) events are identified within HRBs.

Resident Safety & Complex Casework

• Provide technical input to resident engagement, safety communications, complaints, and complex resident vulnerability cases where specialist fire safety advice is required.
• Support proportionate fire risk assessments for vulnerable residents, including Person-Centred Fire Risk Assessments where required.
• Provide technical support on complex fire safety issues across non-HRB residential stock including sheltered housing, hostels, street properties, and other specialist accommodation.

Leadership & People Management

• Lead, manage, and develop direct reports in line with organisational policies and expectations.
• Set objectives, monitor performance, and ensure delivery of fire safety programmes and technical inspections.
• Undertake regular one-to-one meetings, annual performance reviews, workforce planning, and development activities.
• Manage attendance, wellbeing, succession planning, and service resilience arrangements.

Scope of Role

The Fire Safety Technical Lead provides independent technical assurance, professional advice, and specialist oversight in relation to fire safety, fire engineering, contractor assurance, incident investigation, and associated building safety risks. The role does not ordinarily hold primary operational responsibility for building safety risk management, compliance programme delivery, or corporate health and safety advisory functions. Where required, the postholder may provide enhanced technical oversight, specialist intervention, or independent technical assurance in relation to strategically significant Higher-Risk Buildings to maintain professional competence, strengthen service resilience, and support continuous improvement across the Fire & Building Safety function.

Key Relationships

Internal

• Head of Fire & Building Safety
• Senior Building Safety Manager (for operational coordination)
• Building Safety Managers
• Fire & Building Safety Team
• Housing, Asset Management, Capital Works, Repairs, DLO, Voids and Compliance functions
• Health & Safety, Governance, and Corporate support services

External

• London Fire Brigade
• Building Safety Regulator
• Contractors, Consultants, Fire Engineers, and Specialist Advisors

Working Arrangements and General Responsibilities

The postholder is required to work flexibly in line with service requirements, including hybrid working, office attendance, site inspections, technical meetings, incident response activity, and occasional attendance outside normal working hours where required. Core working arrangements will operate in accordance with Council policies and service requirements.