Firefighter Recruitment Officer

Salary: Grade F - £39,152 - £41,771 per annum (rising by annual increments to £41,771)

Hours of work: Full-time 37 hours per week

Contract: Permanent

Location: Service Headquarters, Salisbury OR Dorchester Support Offices, Poundbury - There will be a requirement to travel to various Service locations on average once a week for key activities and meetings. When you are not working from your centre of duty location there will be the flexibility to work from home / DWFRS Stations / Support Offices, and we will welcome a conversation with the successful candidate on what type of flexible working arrangement will work best for you.

This is a fantastic opportunity to join Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, an organisation that is passionate about changing and saving lives. Our corporate staff are absolutely vital in helping to make our communities safer and healthier. Without them, we couldn’t do it.

We offer a wide range of employee benefits and strive to ensure that staff are valued and rewarded. For example, we offer a flexi time scheme, Local Government Pension Scheme, a generous annual leave allowance, a variety of family friendly schemes including 39 weeks’ full pay during maternity leave (subject to qualifying criteria) and health & well-being services.

As a Firefighter Recruitment Officer in our People department you will:

• Play a vital role in keeping communities safe by leading the planning and delivery of recruitment across the Service, including on-call and wholetime firefighters, senior officers, Fire Control (999 operators), and promotions processes
• Build strong partnerships with managers and People Partners to deliver a high-quality, responsive, and inclusive recruitment service
• Act as the trusted expert on operational and Fire Control recruitment and selection, providing clear, specialist advice
• Ensure all recruitment activity meets the highest standards of fairness, transparency, and compliance with employment legislation, safer recruitment, and vetting requirements
• Drive continuous improvement by identifying new ways to attract and retain talent, using best practice and innovative approaches to build a diverse, future-ready workforce

What makes you our ideal Firefighter Recruitment Officer?

• CIPD Level 5 (or working towards), or equivalent relevant experience
• A strong track record of designing and delivering effective recruitment processes
• Confident providing expert HR advice, including on complex matters
• Self-motivated, collaborative, and able to lead, support, and develop others

You must be able to fulfil the travel requirements of the role. There may be very occasional evening and weekend working required. A Standard Disclosure & Barring Service Check (DBS) clearance will be undertaken on the successful individual prior to offer of employment.

Any offer of employment will be subject to full pre-employment checks which include identity checks, right to work in the UK, medical, receipt of satisfactory references, verification of employment history and an explanation of any gaps in employment in the last 3 years.

This role is covered by the Code of Practice on the English language requirements for public sector workers (Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016) requiring employees within public facing roles to speak clearly and confidently with members of the public and give accurate advice in English. Your spoken English will be assessed as part of the selection process.

We are dedicated to building a workforce that reflects the diversity of our communities and welcome applications from all suitably qualified individuals regardless of age, disability, gender, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or other personal circumstances. All applications will be treated on merit and staff involved in recruitment and selection processes undertake unconscious bias training. We are committed to the Disability Confident Scheme and guarantee an interview to applicants with a disclosed disability if they meet the minimum criteria for the post to which they are applying.

If you hold international qualifications, you will be required to provide official evidence that shows how these compare to UK Qualifications. We will accept a Statement of Comparability from a UK organisation called ENIC which can be obtained via their website. Please note that UK ENIC charge for this service, so if you request a Statement of Compatibility, you will be required to pay for it as we are unable to reimburse you.

For further guidance on how to complete your application, please refer to the Job Application Guidance Notes. If you are experiencing difficulties completing your application or have a need to complete your application in an alternative format due to a disability, please contact HR Resourcing within plenty of time of the closing date of the position you are applying for.

Our recruitment, assessment and progression processes are based on our Code of Ethics that has been developed specifically for Fire and Rescue Services. When recruiting, we identify the most important behaviours for the role and these are used as part of the short-listing and selection process.

Applications must be made via the instructions provided above. Applications submitted via the apply button will not be considered.