Surrey Local Resilience Forum Manager
This role has a starting salary of £53,713 per annum, for working 36 hours per week. This is a 2‑year fixed‑term contract opportunity.
Do you have a passion for partnership working to keep the people and communities of Surrey safe? Would you like to be integral to helping organisations plan and prepare for major incidents and emergencies? Are you able to lead a team, build and maintain relationships with strategic leaders from many organisations and drive performance?
Surrey Local Resilience Forum (SLRF) is seeking to recruit a SLRF Manager to lead the team which supports, coordinates and helps deliver the activity of the partnership. This is a challenging role which requires excellent interpersonal skills, proven leadership and ability to deliver.
Our Offer to You
* 26 days' holiday, rising to 28 days after 2 years' service and 31 days after 5 years' service (prorated for part‑time staff)
* Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
* A generous local government salary‑related pension
* Up to 5 days of carer's leave and 2 paid volunteering days per year
* Paternity, adoption and dependents leave
* An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
* Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources
* Wellbeing and lifestyle discounts including gym, travel and shopping
* A chance to make a real difference to the lives of our residents.
About the Role
The United Kingdom is facing many threats from natural causes such as flooding and wildfire, as well as other risks such as major power outages, cyber attacks and even the prospect of a physical attack by a hostile power. Surrey's Local Resilience Forum is a collection of over 50 organisations which work together to plan and prepare for significant incidents and emergencies, enabling an effective response and recovery. The Forum seeks to build resilience across the whole of society, informing the public of threats and risks and how they can protect themselves, and developing, testing and exercising plans to mitigate or respond to emergencies.
The SLRF is supported by a small Secretariat which coordinates, facilitates and helps drive the work of the partnership. The SLRF Manager leads this team, ensuring the effective and efficient operation of the partnership, holding group chairs and others to account for delivery of actions and objectives within agreed timescales.
Key Responsibilities
* Provide a high‑quality strategic and professional management capability to support the Chair of the Surrey Local Resilience Forum Executive Group and principal LRF members to meet the terms of reference, business plan and strategic objectives of the SLRF.
* Manage and coordinate the development of the SLRF Business Plan and Annual Delivery Plan, ensuring priorities and targets are consistent with the risks identified in the SLRF Community Risk Register and help build whole‑of‑society resilience, drawing on knowledge of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and other related legislation, guidance and local and national direction.
* Develop and maintain long‑term working relationships with strategic representatives of SLRF partners, building trust and confidence within the partnership and ensuring consistency of approach and involvement by all organisations.
* Deliver executive project management for the workstreams of the SLRF, analyse problems, identify solutions, and deliver well‑evidenced reports, presentations and options.
* Where required, contribute to and influence national policy and debate on relevant issues, sharing Surrey's experience and capturing good practice from other Local Resilience Forums, ensuring high standards are maintained for the SLRF and its partners.
* Manage the SLRF budget, ensuring effective and efficient use of funds to meet the SLRF's objectives.
Shortlisting Criteria
In order to be considered for shortlisting, your application will clearly evidence the following skills and align with our behaviours.
* Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, combined with political acumen
* Established experience of working within a multi‑agency environment and proven ability to establish and maintain strong partnership relationships and working arrangements
* Proven ability of driving performance, delivering change and achieving solutions to enable the effective delivery of a service
* Knowledge of relevant national policies, legislation and guidance in the fields of Local Resilience Forums, emergency planning, business continuity management and societal resilience
* Ability to influence and negotiate at a strategic, professional, and political level, locally and nationally, to ensure that the best interests of the SLRF and its partner organisations are met
* Proven ability to work on own initiative, with solution‑focused problem‑solving skills.
Application Questions
* Please tell us why you are applying for this role.
* What essential skills and experience would you bring to this role?
* What do you understand to be the role and work of Surrey's Local Resilience Forum?
* The Government published The Strategic Defence Review 2025 – Making Britain Safer: secure at home, strong abroad in June 2025. What do you think are the implications for Local Resilience Forums in relation to whole‑of‑society resilience (chapter 6)?
Please contact us for any questions relating to the role, including flexible working requests, transferable skills or any barriers to employment.
The job advert closes at 23:59 on 12 February 2026 with interviews planned to take place on Friday 27 February at Woodhatch Place, Reigate, Surrey RH2 8EF.
Local Government Reorganisation
Surrey County Council is undergoing Local Government Reorganisation, moving from a two‑tier system to two new unitary councils in April 2027. If you are employed by Surrey on 1 April 2027, your role will transfer with current terms and conditions to one of the new organisations, supporting local devolution and greater powers for our communities.
Our Commitment
We are a disability confident employer which means if you have a shared disability on your application form and have evidenced you meet the minimum criteria, we guarantee you an interview.
Your skills and experience truly matter to us. From application to your first day, we are committed to supporting you with any adjustments you need; we value inclusion and warmly welcome you to join and help build a workplace where everyone belongs.
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