Contract: FTC/Secondment (6 months)
Working Hours:37
Salary: £38,220.00 – £40,777.00
Location: Kelvedon Park
Closing Date: 4th June 2026
We are open to discussing working arrangements, including flexibility over hours and location. As a hybrid role, your work will be balanced between home and Service facilities, with an expectation to attend the workplace at least 3 days per week. To maintain consistent coverage across the team, Fridays are a core working day for this role.
This role is a secondment opportunity. If the role is extended, the extension may be offered to the successful applicant. If the role is made permanent, a further recruitment process will be required.
The Role
Are you looking for your next step? Join our friendly and ambitious Executive Office team and help provide trusted, joined up proactive coordination to the Executive Team, helping ensure priorities are clear, coordinated and progressed.
The Executive Office works alongside the Chief Fire Officer and the Executive Team to coordinate priorities, information and delivery to provide clear, joined up and trusted support.
The role works closely with the Directors to anticipate and coordinate priorities, manage information flow and ensure follow through on key commitments and decisions. The role plays an important part in maintaining grip across Executive priorities, ensuring that activity is aligned, visible and moving forward.
The role is scoped to provide strong day-to-day executive coordination with opportunities to build confidence and take on additional responsibility over time where appropriate.
What You Will Be Working On
Day to day, the role involves:
Working closely with the Executive Team to anticipate, prioritise and coordinate time, commitments and requests
Preparing and coordinating reports, meeting materials and supporting submissions
Managing diaries, inboxes and requests, using judgement to triage, prioritise and progress work appropriately
Tracking, progressing and appropriately challenging next steps, ensuring agreed actions are delivered and do not drift
Coordinating executive and governance meetings by coordinating commitments, next steps, timelines and follow through
Acting as a professional, trusted and confident point of contact between the Executive Team and colleagues across the Service
Spotting risks, pressures or gaps across priorities and raising these early to support decision-making
Working as part of the Executive Office team to support shared priorities and provide cover when needed
This is a proactive role, that need to anticipate what needs attention, intervening early where required, and keeping work moving within agreed priorities and ways of working is just as important as completing tasks.
What Are We Looking For?
Organised, reliable and calm
Comfortable working with people and as part of a close knit team
Clear and thoughtful in how they communicate
Trustworthy, discreet and comfortable handling confidential information
Proactive, able to work with autonomy, and confident using judgement to prioritise, challenge and progress work
Keen to learn and develop
Experience in an admin, business support or executive support role would be helpful, but attitude and teamwork matter just as much.
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) – Shortlisting will be on the 05/06/2026 & 08/06/2026
Stage 2
Role specific panel and values-based interview & in-tray exercise – will be held on the 18/06/2026 & 19/06/2026
Assessments will be made against positive indicators taken from the Code of Ethics, the NFCC Leadership Framework and ECFRS Safeguarding policies:
NFCC_Leadership_Framework_Final.pdf (nationalfirechiefs.org.uk)
Core Code of Ethics England Guidance May 21 V0.pdf (ukfrs.com)
Essex Fire – Safeguarding Statements
Should you wish to have an informal discussion with regards to the role, please contact Maria Jadersten on 01376 576101, via teams or by email at maria.jadersten@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 opportunity, Disability Confident, employer who welcomes applications from all backgrounds. We value diversity and are committed to creating a workplace where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. Applications are considered solely on merit.
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