People Partner

Contract and Working Arrangements

Contract: Permanent
Working Hours: 37 hours per week (full time)
Salary: from £46,142 to £49,282
Location: Service HQ, Kelvedon Park (near Witham)
Closing Date: 5pm, Monday 26 January 2026

We are open to discuss working arrangements including flexibility over hours and location. However, as a customer-focused hybrid role, your work will be balanced between home and Service facilities, and you will be expected to attend the Service premises for at least 3 days of a 5-day working week.

The Role

As a credible, personable People Partner who builds trust quickly, brings sound judgement to complex people issues, and thrives in a values-driven environment, you will play a pivotal role in supporting our leaders to bring our Community Risk Management Plan to fruition and deliver outstanding services to the communities of Essex. Essex County Fire & Rescue Service is a trusted presence in the community, and you will take the role of a "critical advisor" to our managers, and as a trusted point of contact for our employees, providing pragmatic advice across the full employee lifecycle. You will help us build inclusive high-performing teams, balancing insight and organisational development knowledge, influencing at all levels, whilst ensuring our people, and our people practices, live up to the Service values, mission, and objectives.

• Partnering with a full range of business areas, including all employment groups, to ensure an inclusive and high-performing culture
• Coaching and developing the next generation of leaders within Essex County Fire & Rescue Service
• Providing pragmatic, risk-based advice relating to people issues
• Developing policy and practice, ensuring innovation, productivity and efficiency, inclusion, and high-performance is at the heart of how we do things

What Are We Looking For?

Essential qualifications and background

• Associate CIPD, or equivalent professional qualification
• Evidence of CPD and practice in line with CIPD profession map
• Experience of developing others to become better leaders
• Full range of employee relations experience

If you are an internal candidate, you must have discussed your application with your line manager and confirmed there are no outstanding issues of conduct or performance. This will be verified prior to shortlisting.

How to apply

You will be required to submit a CV detailing a minimum of five years employment and/or education history, along with a supporting statement of no more than 750 words that demonstrates how you meet the essential criteria detailed in the Person Specification.

You may submit this either as a Word document, PDF, or an MP3 (voice note) or MP4 (video). The word count of your supporting statement should not exceed 750 words, regardless of format.

You may attach separate documents (such as qualifications) should you wish. Your CV and additional documents will be referred to in shortlisting to confirm eligibility (e.g., your current role and any existing qualifications).

Assessment and Selection

The assessment and selection approach will be as follows:

Stage 1
Application and shortlisting (assessment of your supporting statement will be made against the essential criteria listed in the Person Specification).

Stage 2
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend a panel interview, deliver a short presentation, and complete a short role-related exercise.

We expect the selection to take place across Thursday 5th and Monday 9th February (candidates will only need to attend on one of those dates). Assessments will be made against positive indicators taken from the Code of Ethics and the NFCC Leadership Framework. You can find the NFCC Leadership Framework here: NFCC Leadership Framework Final. Guidance around the Code of Ethics can be found here: Core Code of Ethics England Guidance May 21.

Guidance on Safeguarding policies can be found here: Essex Fire - Safeguarding Statements.

Should you wish to have an informal discussion regarding the role, please contact Kim Jennings, Lead People Partner, on or email .

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 the following: the benefits page on the Essex Fire site.

Important Information for Firefighter Pension Scheme Pensioners: If you are currently in receipt of a pension from the Firefighter Pension Scheme, taking up this role may affect your pension. Under pension abatement rules, if your earnings in this role, when combined with your pension, exceed your pre-retirement salary (adjusted for inflation), your pension may be reduced. For further guidance, contact our Pensions team on or email .

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 standard Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

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. You are also able to raise any queries or requests for support, including any adjustments you may require, at any stage of the process, by email to . You can find out more about Essex County Fire & Rescue Service via and about our vacancies and application processes via