Communications Officer - Force Control Room (Birmingham)

Communications Officers are required for permanent contracts with British Transport Police (BTP) based in our Force Control Room at Baskerville, Birmingham.

We have reviewed our pay to ensure we are competitive and recognising the importance of this critical role. Starting salary will be £35,046.73 (inclusive of 20% Shift Allowance and £1,500 market supplement).

BTP is the national police force for the rail network throughout Great Britain, including London Underground, across which we ensure the safety and security of 3 billion passenger journeys and over 100 million tons of freight each year. The world in which we work is fast-paced, operationally and commercially demanding, and constantly changing.

The hours can be unsocial as you will be working a shift pattern that will include early starts, late finish times and night shifts. However, there are few careers that are as interesting, exciting and fulfilling as working as a Communications Officer for BTP. With your help, we can continue to police the rail network, investigate crime and safeguard the most vulnerable.

As a Communications Officer, you will be working in a safety critical role and you will be required to:

• Provide call handling, radio dispatch and manage the police response to incidents.
• Record information accurately while assessing the information to decide on the appropriate level of response.
• Demonstrate the ability to work as part of a team while meeting tight deadlines.
• Cover a 24/7 365 days a year rota consisting of a mix of early, late and night shifts.
• Effectively and accurately manage emergency telephone calls, evaluating the urgency of the incident and prioritising the police response where appropriate.
• Obtain and evaluate information and decide criteria of response and level of deployment using THRIVE and NSIR, ensuring public and officer safety at all times.
• Monitor incidents, advising, deploying and directing appropriate resources via radio to ensure an adequate and effective response to an incident.

Further information about this vacancy can be found in the attached job description.

The successful Communications Officers will be required to evidence the following skills:

• Excellent communication skills.
• Ability to manage situations in a calm and assertive manner.
• Ability to use different communication methods (i.e. telephone, radio, email).
• High standard of IT skills with the ability to learn new packages.
• Working as part of a team in a control room/contact centre environment.

In return, we can offer you:

• £35,046.73 (inclusive of 20% Shift Allowance and £1,500 market supplement). (Please note that the basic starting salary for this role is £27,955.61).
• Yearly base salary increments
• 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Family friendly policies including up to 26 weeks paid maternity and adoption leave
• Bespoke benefits platform and access to Blue Light Card
• Development opportunities including fully funded apprenticeships
• Employee assistance programme and dedicated wellbeing hub
• Pension scheme

The recruitment process for this role involves a first stage telephone interview followed by an assessment day consisting of a testing session and a second stage interview. If you are interested in applying, then please do not delay.

Please note that training is scheduled to start from September 2023 onwards and will run for 15 weeks.

BTP is an employer who cares about the impact we have on the environment and the wider challenges of climate change, and as such we are committed to reducing our carbon footprint and achieving Net Zero Carbon (NZC) through offsetting by 2035.

At BTP we are proud guardians of the railway and it is crucial that we represent the diverse communities we serve and protect. As ‘One BTP’ across the UK, we know that diversity, inclusion and belonging help us improve our decision making, foster creativity and drive innovation so all our people can thrive.

Our vacancies are open to everyone and all appointments are made based on merit. So that we can become more diverse we encourage applications from candidates from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic backgrounds, women, people who have a disability, those who are neurodiverse and persons who identify as LGBTQI+. If you have the skills, experience and values that here in BTP we pride ourselves on then we would welcome you to apply.

For more information on Positive Action please click here or email the team on lets-talk@btp.police.uk

In order to apply, you must have the permanent right to live and work in the UK and have been resident in the UK for the previous 5 YEARS. You will be asked these and other questions to determine your eligibility to work for British Transport Police when you start your application and you must answer honestly.

BTP has undertaken a review of Police Staff pensions and as a result of this the Police Staff pension will be changing. The current police staff pension is a Defined Benefit scheme which is administered by the Railways Pension scheme. The new pension scheme which is launching is a Defined Contribution scheme which is administered by Royal London. The new pension scheme is awaiting formal approval and an introductory date is not finalised. The earliest this will be is June 2023. If you have any queries, please contact the recruitment team – recruitmentteam@btp.police.uk

Internal candidates must have completed their probation for their current substantive posting and can only apply in tenure if Head of Department approval is emailed to Recruitmentteam@btp.police.uk prior to the vacancy closing. Internal candidates must confirm that they are not subject to formal action plans for sickness/complaints/discipline or poor performance and that all mandatory training courses have been attended and are in ticket/up to date. A minimum indicator of 3 / developing' or' 'Indicator 5 / no rating must have been achieved on the last reporting year PDR.