Job Title: On-call Crew Manager
Contract: Permanent
Working Hours: On-call (Agreed Contractual Hours)
Salary: £6,465.60*
Locations: Braintree, Halstead, Coggeshall, Leaden Roding and Sible Hedingham
Closing Date: 22nd March 2026
*Salary dependant on hours worked, please see On-Call Annual Retainer
Are you ready to take the next step in your firefighting career? Essex Fire & Rescue Service is seeking dedicated and motivated Crew Managers to lead, inspire, and make a real difference in our communities.
As a Crew Manager, you’ll play a vital role in operational leadership, community safety, and team development. You’ll be responsible for leading crews at incidents, supporting community engagement, and ensuring the highest standards of service delivery.
What We’re Looking For:
Qualified and Experienced: You must hold Incident Command Level 1 and have been a competent firefighter for at least 12 months.
Leadership Skills: Proven experience in leading teams, developing others, and managing operational incidents.
Community Focused: A strong understanding of how to inform and educate the public to improve safety awareness.
Analytical and Organised: Skilled in investigating incidents, reporting findings, and using evidence to improve future practices.
Excellent Communicator: Confident in both written and verbal communication, with strong ICT skills.
Flexible and Committed: Willing to travel across the county and work flexibly to meet service needs.
Eligibility:
hold a substantive role as a Firefighter for a minimum of twelve months, or are Firefighter (or equivalent), within a UK Fire and Rescue Service
have successfully completed all relevant operational assessments and compulsory courses, and are competent in your current role
The applicant must live or work within a 5-minute drive radius of the relevant station
The applicant must hold a current BAV&D Assessment
not be subject to any current live disciplinary or performance warnings, nor be subject to any informal management for reasons of conduct or performance
have a valid and current Fitech of 42 VO2 max
hold a valid Level 1 Incident Command
have an in date Occupational Health Assessment (if you are unsure of whether this is in date, please contact Occupational Health directly)
How to apply
You will be required to submit a CV detailing a minimum of five years employment and / or education history, along with a supporting statement of no more than 750 words that demonstrates how you meet the essential criteria detailed in the Person Specification.
You may submit this either as a word document, pdf, or an mp3 (voice note) or mp4 (video), however the word count of your supporting statement should not exceed 750 words no matter which format you choose to present your application.
You may attach separate documents (such as qualifications) should you wish. Your CV and additional documents will be referred to in shortlisting to confirm eligibility (e.g., your current role and any existing qualifications).
Assessment and selection:
The assessment and selection approach will be:
Stage 1:
Application & shortlisting (assessment of your supporting statement will be made against the essential criteria of the Crew Manager Person Specification)
Stage 2:
Operational exam
Operational practical scenario assessment
Stage 3:
Role specific panel interview
Assessments will be made against positive indicators taken from the Code of Ethics and the NFCC Leadership Framework.
You can find the NFCC Leadership Framework here: NFCC_Leadership_Framework_Final.pdf (nationalfirechiefs.org.uk)
And guidance around the Code of Ethics here:
Core Code of Ethics England Guidance May 21 V0.pdf (ukfrs.com)
Guidance on Safeguarding polices can be found here:
Essex Fire – Safeguarding Statements
Should you wish to have an informal discussion with regards to the role, please contact Steve Wintrip on Steve.Wintrip@essex-fire.gov.uk
Our Culture and Benefits
Here at Essex County Fire and Rescue Service we are committed to prioritising and promoting the wellbeing of our employees.
You can find out more about our benefits at https://www.essex-fire.gov.uk/recruitment/benefits
Important Information for Firefighter Pension Scheme Pensioners
If you are currently in receipt of a pension from the Firefighter Pension Scheme, please note that taking up this role may affect your pension. Under pension abatement rules, if your earnings in this role, when combined with your pension, exceed your pre-retirement salary (adjusted for inflation), your pension may be reduced.
For further guidance, please contact our Pensions team on 01376 576799 or email mailbox.pensions@essex-fire.gov.uk.
Safeguarding
Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Fire and Rescue Authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.
It is our policy to require all applicants for employment to disclose if you are currently being investigated by any regulatory body or have any decisions or sanctions pending or in progress in respect of your suitability to work for the Service.
You agree to inform the Service within 24 hours if you are subsequently investigated by any agency or organisation in relation to concerns about your behaviour towards children, young people or vulnerable adults.
The information you provide will be treated as strictly confidential and will be considered only in relation to the appointment for which you are applying.
This role will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
Disability Confident
We are an equal opportunities, Disability Confident, employer who welcomes applications from everyone and values diversity in our workplace. A commitment to promoting diversity and developing a work environment where all staff are treated with dignity and respect is central to our recruitment process and all applications will be considered solely on merit.
As part of our offer to support all our candidates to perform to the best of their abilities during our recruitment and selection processes and we would like to let you know about a couple of support options you can access, should you wish to, including our employee forums, who are keen and willing to support all of our potential colleagues.
Our employee forums and partners include:
Asian Fire Services Association (AFSA), BEING (our LGBTQ+ employee support network), Christian Fellowship, Ethnic Minority Forum, Men’s Forum, and our Women’s Forum. In addition, we also have a female firefighters operational group.
Further to the above, the Service has a Digital Accessibility Inclusion Group (DAIG) that supports all colleagues to improve their digital skills and provides additional support and guidance to colleagues with neurodivergent strengths and struggles as a result of dyslexia, ADHD, Autism, dyspraxia etc. We want everyone to thrive at work, and so we encourage and enable people to access digital tools to help them perform at your best. The DAIG is a group of colleagues from across the Service that unite to support others as a result of their lived experience and desire to make a difference. They support people with a range of visible and invisible disabilities to identify and access digital workplace adjustments and solutions and may be able to assist with your application too.
Should you wish to discuss support, or access further information, from one of these groups, please contact Equality.Diversity@essex-fire.gov.uk
You are also able to raise any queries or requests for support, including any adjustments you may require, at any stage of the process by email to recruitment@essex-fire.gov.uk
You can find out more about Essex County Fire & Rescue Service via www.essex-fire.gov.uk and about our vacancies and application processes via www.essex-fire.gov.uk/join-essex-fire