Contract: Permanent, Part Time
Salary: £72,391 – £78,390 per annum, pro rata
Hours: 22.5 per week – hybrid offered (working pattern to be agreed)
Location:Â Rivenhall, Witham, Essex, CM8 3HB
Closing Date: Monday, 29th April ‘24 at 11pm
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service is recruiting for a new part time role to lead our journey in continuing to create a positive working environment committed to equality and diversity.
As the Assistant Director of Culture, Inclusion and Wellbeing, our People Strategy will be your guiding document. The strategy is broken down into strategic pillars, which are our organisation’s key areas of focus and priorities.
You will lead the 3 pillars of the strategy that relate to Culture, Inclusion and Wellbeing; You will be responsible for the ongoing development of a fair, kind and inclusive workplace, a culture which is positive and kind but also focussed on service delivery and accountability and which values health and wellbeing. This will see you become the driving force behind our Services commitment to promoting a positive and kind culture, embedding strong positive values throughout every level of the organisation. Just as importantly, you’ll be able to support the workforce and wider communities in their understanding of the ‘why’ behind your focus and efforts.
This is a permanent part-time position, 22.5 hours a week with options for both office (including our HQ and fire stations) and remote work (working pattern to be agreed).
More about the role (Role Profile)
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service recently became the first fire and rescue service in the country to achieve a Silver Accreditation from the Inclusive Employers Standard (IES), recognising the Service’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace.  As the Assistant Director of Culture, Inclusion and Wellbeing, you will lead the continuation of this journey in making a diverse and inclusive workplace.
You will use best practice to create a framework that aligns with our Service’s mission and values, making sure everyone feels respected and valued.  This will support the Fair, kind, and inclusive workplace pillar of the People Strategy.
Reporting to the Director of People Services, you will lead the development of multiple pillars of the new People Strategy for 2024 – 2029 and work on the delivery of an efficient and high-quality health and wellbeing service, allowing our Service to meet its commitments in the Wellbeing, safety, and health pillar of the People Strategy.
If you’re ready to make a difference and be part of something meaningful to an organisation, the people within it and the communities it serves this is the role for you.
Information Pack
You can read our current People Strategy here (https://www.essex-fire.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2024-04/People-Strategy-2020-24.pdf)
Main duties and responsibilities:
Areas of focus: Culture, wellbeing, safety, health, cross-cutting, fair, kind and inclusiveness
To play a leading role in the implementation of the ECFRS People Strategy.
Work with the Director of People Services to lead the development pillars of the new People Strategy for 2024 -2029.
Continue developing and using the service’s Culture Dashboard. Work closely with the National Fire Chiefs Council and other FRSs to identify best practice.
Work closely with the Assistant Director of Human Resources to make sure teams are aligned and delivering services which lead to productivity and efficiency gains
Lead and work with the Occupational Health and Wellbeing and Fitness departments to maximise cost efficiency and quality of service.
Manage contracts for the provision of Consultant Occupational Health Physician time, physiotherapy, and counselling and therapy services.
Take responsibility for implementation of governance, monitoring, performance measurement and reporting arrangements to facilitate the effective scrutiny of progress against strategic equality objectives. Provide progress reports to OPFCC and Service Leadership Team.
Work with Finance colleagues to monitor spending against all team’s budgets. Prepare submissions for additional investment when required.
Positively contribute to a safe work environment ensuring compliance with Health and Safety, Risk Management, Business Continuity and Safeguarding policy and procedure. Protect all personal information in adherence with the Data Protection Act 2018.
Required skills, experience and attributes:
Hold either a qualification in either HR, Culture or Change delivery (or have at least 5 years equivalent relevant professional experience).
Significant experience of working successfully in a leadership role within a large, complex organisation.
Experience of developing culture.
Experience of planning and implementing organisational change.
Experience of successful management of high performing teams.
Experience of managing and controlling budgets, resources and funding, including managing third party suppliers.
An understanding of the social, economic and political environment of the Fire and Rescue Service and working with Trade Unions or Staff Groups.
High level verbal and written communication skills and the ability to present complex issues clearly and simply in writing and orally.
Excellent interpersonal skills, able to influence and persuade with the ability to challenge in a conciliatory and constructive way.
Excellent analytical skills with an aptitude for developing innovative solutions to complex issues.
Excellent management skills, including the ability to articulate the vision for the department, and effectively manage team and individual performance.
The ability to travel around the county as required.
If you would like to an informal discussion with Colette Black, Director of People Services, about this role, contact recruitment@essex-fire.gov.uk
How to apply
Please complete your application by attaching a supporting statement of no more than 1000 words that demonstrates how you meet the essential criteria of the Person Specification, along with an up-to-date CV. You may submit this either as a word document, PDF, PowerPoint, mp3 (voice note) or mp4 (video).
Once we receive your application, we’ll arrange a short telephone conversation to discuss eligibility and your career history.
Assessment and selection:
Stage 1
Application & shortlisting (assessment of your supporting statement will be made against the essential criteria of the person specification)
Stage 2
All shortlisted candidates will undertake a psychometric assessment and will be invited to attend an Assessment and Development Centre (ADC). This will take place at Service HQ on the 15 May 2024, with activities to be assessed against the NFCC Leadership Framework (Leading the Service), the Core Code of Ethics, and ECFRS’ values.
You can see the NFCC Leadership Framework here:Â NFCC Leadership Framework
And guidance around the Code of Ethics here:Â Core Code of Ethics England Guidance
The assessment will include a presentation, panel interview, inclusion panel, engagement with our teams and a written assessment.
If you need any extra support or adjustments at any stage of the process, please notify us confidentially by emailing recruitment@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
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 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
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.
