Community Partnership Officer

Job Introduction

Community Partnership Officer

The starting salary for this role is £31,262 per annum based on a 36-hour working week.

At Surrey Fire and Rescue Service we are looking for an individual with confidence and excellent communication skills to help deliver our prevention message across the county. This role will involve working mainly in the boroughs to the west of the county, including but not limited to Waverly, Surrey Heath, Guildford and Woking. This role will require you to work in a variety of locations including fire stations, domestic dwellings, assisted living premises, public assembly buildings, care homes and businesses.

By putting community safety and fire prevention work at the forefront of our Service we would like to offer you the opportunity to join our Community Safety and Partnership team as a Partnership Officer. You will help us in delivering assistance and advice to members of the community that are in need of extra care and support, by visiting people in their own environments and completing a Safe and Well visit. These visits are designed to help support the person around understanding of Fire risk, installing and explaining the use of Fire Safety equipment and to help inform and educate in how to change any behaviours or unsafe practices that puts the resident at risk.

As well as being rewarding, the role can be very challenging and requires someone who is able to adapt to many different environments, whilst dealing with difficult behaviours and situations. You will take an active role in working collaboratively with our operational staff, helping to ensure the standard of community visits completed by Surrey Fire and Rescue Service are of a high calibre across the organisation.

Who are we looking for?

Someone with a strong interest in sharing the fire safety messaging with Surrey residents, adults in need, care providers, and other agencies helping them to work towards a common goal of making our communities safer. Communicating with both internal staff and external stakeholders, accurate information reporting and sharing along with IT knowledge are key skills required to be proficient in this role.

The applicant should also be ready to take on responsibilities in the remit of First Aid, Youth Engagement Scheme Instructor, safeguarding recognition/ action, and other active campaign and event work.

To be shortlisted for this opportunity, please ensure you evidence all relevant, relatable experience and knowledge in the following areas:

• Confident and clear communicator with experience of working as part of a team and on your own.
• Has the ability to prepare and deliver high quality presentations to different age groups in different settings.
• Willing and able to communicate with a wide variety of age ranges, cultural backgrounds, and minority groups within the community delivering safety messages.
• Have a good knowledge of safeguarding practices and able to assess risk to individuals.
• Be able to manage their own diary/workload.
• Organise and liaise with a variety of agencies.
• Have a good level of I.T knowledge.
• Understanding of the County profile and communities at risk.
• Prioritise workloads whilst working remotely and un-supervised.

On appointment, you will receive a full induction to the organisation and role and have access to regular supervision and continuous professional development (CPD).

At Surrey, our values and behaviours are just as important as our skills and abilities. They shape who we are as an organisation. Find out more about the values we follow. 

For more information please find the full job description below and refer to this before submitting your application. We also invite you to read our Life at Surrey handbook to see insights of the culture at Surrey and how as a valued employee, you can help shape our Council.

Applications close at 23:59 on May 16 2025.

Should we receive a high level of interest we reserve the right to close the advert earlier than the stated date. 

An enhanced DBS 'Disclosure and Barring Service' check for regulated activity (formerly known as CRB) and the Children's  Barred List checks will be required for this role.

Contact details

If you would like to arrange a time for an informal discussion please contact the Watch Commander, Phillip Stonebanks, via email at Phillip.Stonebanks@surreycc.gov.uk or by phone on 07875 396252

If you think you could be the person we are looking for, we would love to hear from you.

Benefits

From flexible working to job sharing we are committed to providing a healthy work life balance. For more information about the wide variety of benefits you can take advantage of please visit MyBenefits for Surrey County Council staff.

Our Commitment

Surrey County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. A guaranteed interview will be offered to all disabled applications where:

• The candidate has evidenced the minimum criteria for the role through their application
• The candidate has chosen to share that they have a disability on the application form

Our application form and onboarding process will provide an opportunity to request any reasonable adjustments for the interview and/or the role.  

We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all underrepresented groups.

The Core Code of Ethics in Fire and Rescue 

Our ethical principles

Surrey Fire and Rescue Service has adopted the national Core Code of Ethics for Fire and Rescue Services in England. This has been developed in partnership with the National Fire Chiefs Council, Local Government Association, and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners to support a consistent approach to ethics, including behaviours, by fire and rescue services in England.

These include:

• Putting our communities first
• Integrity
• Dignity and respect
• Leadership
• Equality, diversity and inclusion

Putting our communities first

We put our communities first. We do this by putting the interest of the public and service users first.

Integrity

We act with integrity. We show this by being open, honest and consistent in everything we do.

Dignity and respect

We act with dignity and respect. We show this by making decisions objectively based on evidence, without discrimination or bias.

Leadership

We are leaders. We show this by being positive role models, always demonstrating flexibility and resilience, we're all accountable for everything we do and challenge behaviour that falls short of the highest standards.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)

We are ambassadors of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). We show this by continually recognising and promoting the value of EDI both within the FRS and the wider communities in which we serve. We stand against all forms of discrimination, create equal opportunities, promote equality, foster good relations and celebrate differences.