Job Title: Fire Hydrant and Dry-Riser Technician
Contract: Permanent
Working Hours: 37 hours per week*
Salary: £27,269 – £29,572
Location: Chelmsford
Closing Date: 11th April 2025
*The number of your normal hours per week and days and times of your attendance will be 9 Day-Fortnight: Week One: Monday – Friday 08:00-16:45, Week Two: Monday – Wednesday 08:00-16:45, Thursday 08:00-16:30, Friday off.
The Role
Within our Water Section we are currently recruiting for a Fire Hydrant and Dry Riser Technician to join our team of five other technicians and our administration team.
Based at Chelmsford, the role involves the inspection and maintenance of statutory and private fire hydrants, predominately across the Southwest of the County. Working on your own initiative in roadside and rural areas to identify fire hydrants, test and refurbish them using equipment from a workshop van.
Training is available for the successful candidate, which would include fire hydrant repair techniques, NRSWA Highways working training (New Roads and Street Works Act) and tool and equipment use etc. The role will also involve the testing of dry-rising fire mains at various locations across the County as part of a team.
The role is of a physical nature and dry riser testing is a manual activity. The work will also involve accessing high-rise buildings and working outside in varying weather conditions so the successful candidate must be able to demonstrate manual handling capability, dexterity and the ability to access areas that are in overgrown locations using strimmer’s and hedge cutters and be able to pass the Authority’s in house driving course. Experience of working with members of the public and the ability to interpret technical drawings and maps would also be advantageous.
Eligibility
· Level 2 standard of education (e.g. GCSE) or equivalent experience demonstrating basic numeracy and literacy.
· Full driving licence (also have category B+E).
The successful candidate will be required to complete the following courses once in post:
· (NRSWA) Operative level qualification.
· First Aid Qualification
· Qualification in the use of Strimmer’s / Brush cutter & Hedge cutter
· Angle Grinder Qualification
· IOSH Working Safely certificate
If you are an internal candidate, you must have discussed your application with your line manager and confirmed with them there are no outstanding issues of conduct or performance. This will be verified prior to shortlisting.
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 500 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 500 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)
Stage 2
Role specific panel interview
Should you wish to have an informal discussion with regards to the role, please contact Terry Hone on Terry.Hone@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
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