Chief Fire Officer/Chief Executive/Clerk to the Fire Authority

£157,746 (pay award pending) + car

Having been rated as “Good” across all HMI Inspection pillars in 2019 and 2022 we consider ourselves to be a high performing and innovative organisation, whilst remaining ambitious for our improvement journey.

We are well regarded by both the communities we serve and the partner agencies with which we do business in the North East of England. We are proud of how we contribute to life in Tyne and Wear and to the national FRS sector, we are ambitious, but recognise, we have some opportunities, challenges and improvement priorities to tackle.

We are seeking a Chief Fire Officer to provide strategic leadership as we continue to navigate the evolving landscape of the public sector and deliver high quality services that meet the needs of our communities both now and in the future.

As we look ahead, our landscape like most public sector organisations will likely be characterised by limited resources and multiple complex challenges. Our ability to predict and evolve in order to respond to the opportunities, changes and demands of us as a public service will be the biggest influence on this.

Using your professional expertise, you will provide strategic advice to the Fire Authority, to enable their informed and balanced strategy-setting, and you will carry ultimate personal responsibility for all delegated decisions made by yourself and other senior officers.

You will inspire a positive and ethical culture for our almost 900 staff in their work to ensure we maintain and build upon our recent inspection and continue to improve the safety and protection of the 1.1 million residents of Tyne and Wear. You will have a proven track record of positively driving transformation in a large, diverse organisation.

With a collaborative leadership style, you will demonstrate significant commitment to our core values and principles. With well-honed communication skills you will be comfortable when engaging with a range of people, adapting your style to meet the needs of your audience. Engaging effectively will come naturally to you, be it with peers, staff, Fire Authority Members, trade unions and representative bodies, external agencies or partners.

With a broad range of experience of emergency incident command at Gold Command level, you will have proven ability to work successfully with multi-agency groups. With an inclusive, proactive style you will be able to take responsibility for decisions about major and risk critical issues. You will be required to provide evidence of a Level 7 Incident Command qualification, or demonstrate the ability to operate at this level through an assessment as part of the selection process.

If you are a current serving Gold Book Principal Officer (Chief, Deputy Chief or Assistant Chief Fire Officer) of a UK Local Authority Fire and Rescue Service and believe you have got what it takes to be the Chief Fire Officer here at Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, we would love to hear from you.

For further information about the Chief Fire Officer role please view the Job Description and the Person Specification.

For further information about Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service please visit the About Us pages of our website.

Applications should be made in the form of a supporting statement describing how you meet the requirements of the role (maximum 1,000 words), and a CV, to be sent to CFOAppointment@twfire.gov.uk.

For a confidential discussion please contact CFO Chris Lowther at chris.lowther@twfire.gov.uk OR call 0191 4441600.

Key dates:

Closing Date for Applications: 1700 hours 5 April 2023
Stakeholder, Technical and Staff Interviews: 12 April 2023
Command Assessment (if required): 25 April 2023
Final Interviews: 3 May 2023