As an Emergency Planning Officer, you will support the service manager in carrying out the emergency planning function for the council, ensuring compliance with the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.
You will deputise for the manager in their absence and lead on emergency management training and projects to ensure the council is prepared for emergencies.
The key responsibilities of the role include:
- To champion and act as an advocate for emergency preparedness and resilience across the organisation, delivering training and helping build a diverse cohort of staff able to support the council’s response to an emergency/major incident.
- To proactively engage with the London Resilience Unit and other partners in order to improve the council’s preparedness and also ensure that the council is actively contributing to London’s regional preparedness.
- To contribute to the maintenance of the Borough Risk Register, taking into account national, regional and local risks and actively horizon scanning for future risks.
- To lead the council’s work to develop, improve and maintain major incident and emergency plans, that will enable the council to support statutory partners and the community to respond to and recover from a major incident or emergency.
- To develop and maintain a regular programme for the review, testing and validation of the council’s major incident and emergency plans, taking a risk-informed approach.
- To maintain the council’s emergency management rota systems.
- To assist the council in delivering its business continuity requirements.
- Providing expert advice and guidance on emergency preparedness, including participating in testing or reviewing emergency plans for large scale or high-risk events.
- To build strong partnerships with external stakeholders, including London Resilience and other London local authorities, to share information and improve the Council’s preparedness.
- To be part of the Council’s response to and recovery from major incidents and emergencies, including working out of hours or at weekends, using your knowledge of the Council’s emergency plans to act as a resilience advisor to the command team and escalating risks and issues accordingly.
- Ensure clear Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are in place where appropriate, covering all aspects of service delivery with performance and response levels, together with the escalation process if SLAs are not met.
- To ensure all purchasing and procurement is conducted in line with the corporate guidelines with appropriate use of the council’s financial systems.
- Organise and maintain the council's Emergency Response arrangements, ensuring they are effective and kept current. Audit, review and recommend to the Council the reorganisation of those arrangements so they both meet the council's current legal obligations and reflect current best practice.
- Horizon scanning in respect of emergency management and resilience, with particular regard to learning following emergencies and major incidents across the country.
- To identify and suggest any improvements to current ways of working in order to deliver a more efficient and effective service for victims.
About You
To be successful in this role, you will need:
- Detailed knowledge of emergency planning, business continuity, local government, and the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.
- Experience of researching and developing plans/policies.
- Experience of building relationships at all levels within an organization and with external partners.
- A high standard of education, such as a degree in a relevant subject, or significant experience in Emergency Planning & Business Continuity.
At Hillingdon we’re proud of our commitment of ‘Putting our residents first’, ensuring they’re at the heart of everything we do! We want to attract talented individuals like yourself who share our aspirations for the borough and can support us to deliver exceptional services for Hillingdon. This is a full time post for 36 hours per week. The post includes a minimum of 1 day a week at the office (Uxbridge).
Full details are contained in the Job Description below.