Are you passionate about making a real difference and interested in emergency response? Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council’s Graduate Development Programme offers you a unique opportunity to help safeguard the community and shape the future of our Council.
The role
As part of our Civil Contingencies Team, you’ll play a key role in both planning for and responding to emergencies across the borough. Whether it’s coordinating evacuations, working with operational teams to manage road closures, or liaising with partner agencies in a major incident response, we’re here to keep the borough safe. You’ll even have the opportunity to train as a Tactical Duty Officer, leading the Council’s response to incidents.
In this exciting two-year programme, you’ll gain the skills to balance emergency planning, real-time response, and training and exercise development. Working closely with internal services and partner agencies such as the police, fire service, ambulance service, and other local authorities, you’ll be involved in diverse projects ranging from business continuity planning to national risk planning and mitigation.
Every day will be different – one day you might be working on an emergency plan or developing a large-scale terrorism exercise, and the next, representing the Council in a multi-agency meeting at Police Headquarters.
Key responsibilities
- Lead and deliver emergency planning/response projects, working in collaboration with senior stakeholders and partner agencies.
- Maintain and update business continuity and emergency plans, ensuring the Council is prepared for all scenarios.
- Train as a Tactical Duty Officer, where you’ll make critical decisions and coordinate the Council’s emergency response to incidents such as fires, floods, terrorism, or civil unrest.
- Design and deliver engaging training for staff and partners, ensuring readiness across all levels.
- Support the promotion of community risk awareness, ensuring the safety and wellbeing of residents.
- Represent the authority in collaborative forums with key emergency service partners.
Support and development
Don’t worry – you won’t be on your own. We’ll guide you every step of the way, offering tailored training and plenty of opportunities to develop your skills. From project leadership to working alongside senior-level stakeholders, we’ll equip you with the knowledge and experience you need to thrive.
Why choose us
Here at Blackburn with Darwen our core values and behaviours are Trust, Respect, Ambition, Collaboration, and Kindness, better known as TRACK! By embedding these values, our employees are proud to be BwD.
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council is committed to recruiting, retaining, and developing a more diverse workforce that reflects our local demographics.
Working for Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council has a number of benefits and rewards which range from additional annual leave, hybrid and flexible working, wellbeing network, to a fantastic pension scheme, and everything in between whilst studying for a relevant qualification. Discussions will be held with candidates depending on their current skill set to agree the right qualification at level 5 or above.
This advert may close early if a high number of applications are received.
Interview Date: April 2025
