Development & Improvement Officer

Development and Improvement Officer

Professional 2A

Publish date: Wednesday 5 June 2025

Closing date: Wednesday 19 June 2025 at 12.00pm

Salary: 42708 - 45718

Hours: 37

Overview

West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) is the second largest fire and rescue service in England serving an area of 902km square and a population of over 2.9 million people.

Our vision is Making the West Midlands safer stronger and healthier.

This vision and the strategic goals outlined in Our Strategy are what drives the people professionalism and pride with which we serve our communities.

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Prevention Development and Improvement Team. As Development and Improvement Officer the successful candidate will lead a small team of Development and Improvement Support Officers working alongside Education and Quality Assurance and Evaluation Officers.

The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate extensive experience of leading managing and developing people and in fostering a positive working environment for their team.

In this busy and varied role you will be responsible for the performance of your team prioritising planning and allocating work aligned to The Strategy and the Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP). You will be contributing to making the West Midlands Safer Stronger and Healthier through implementing changes to improve service delivery for partnerships Prevention activities and education programmes.

You will need to ensure that the changes and improvements align to Government legislation statutory guidance NFCC guidance local authority campaigns organisational policy and emerging trends.

Key to success will be your ability to work collaboratively developing and maintaining strong professional relationships with your team the wider Prevention and Leadership Team Operations and a range of internal and external stakeholders/partners.

Responsibilities

line management support direction and development opportunities for the team to enable them to deliver against their roles and responsibilities. This includes managing capacity capability performance and attendance of the team

management oversight and implementation of the workstreams in the Prevention Work Plan and for allocation to the appropriate teams and roles based on risk and for completion within the agreed timescales and deadlines.

providing support for Project Management and the delivery of the outcomes and value release as a result

identification and management of risks assumptions issues dependencies and opportunities for partnership Prevention activities and education programmes.

forming positive relationships with partners at a strategic level to agree mutually beneficial priorities and programmes of work ensuring that our priorities are recognised

representing the Services interests in a wide range of organisational (internal and external) and public settings

contributing to the creation and assurance that policies processes practices guidance and systems are of a high standard conform to best practice comply with legislation minimise environmental impact meet the needs of the Service and its diverse community.

Experience and skills

Essential skills or experience

line management experience

able to plan and prioritise own workload and that of others

ability to take and accept responsibility and to make decisions at a strategic and operational level

self-motivated persistent and can persuade and influence others to adopt new initiatives

highly developed interpersonal skills including excellent verbal and written communication skills.

effective communication skills demonstrated in specific situations and contexts.

able to write and design policies in line with strategic objectives

ability to analyse and interpret complex data and develop policies

experience of providing critical analysis and make recommendations

experience of developing strategy plans and writing and presenting briefing notes and reports at a strategic level

experience of networking partnership development management and evaluation

Desirable skills or experience

qualification in a relevant discipline and/or considerable broad relevant role-related experience

good knowledge and understanding of relevant national strategies legislation and initiatives associated with the role

project management qualifications and/or considerable experience in project management.

Diversity

We welcome applications from all eligible candidates. However as women and Black and minority ethnic employees are currently under-represented in our service we particularly encourage applications from these groups.

WMFS is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children young people and adults. We expect the same of every staff member.

Successful candidates will be subject to necessary pre-employment checks including - where applicable - relevant level Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check qualifications medical clearance identity and right to work. All applicants will be required to provide two suitable references.