Building Safety Regional Manager

The East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service has an opportunity for a suitably motivated individual to join their Protection Department and to lead and manage the regional Building Safety Regulator team

The successful candidates will contribute to the Service fulfilling its statutory duties and achieving its strategic purpose of ‘We make our communities safer’.

As the manager of this new team you will be responsible for developing, implementing and assuring the policies and procedures required to deliver this new legislative requirement. To achieve this you will need to liaise with senior managers in all Services within the South East as well as within the national BSR team located within the London Fire Brigade.

You will lead a team of 11 officers and engineers who collectively will assist the Building Safety Regulator in enforcing the requirements of the Building Safety Act 2022. You will be expected to liaise directly with the Regulator to identify workloads that you will need to allocate to the regional team members. You will also be required to quality assure the work of the regional team and to report to each Service against agreed performance indicators.

As a manager within the fire safety department and as required by the national competence framework for fire safety, you will be required to be qualified to L3 Certificate level and work to achieve a L4 Diploma in Fire Safety. You will also be required to maintain competence by undertaking a full range of activities that you are qualified to deliver in accordance with Protection fire safety policy and procedures. This will include reviewing and advising on building consultations & licensing applications, liaising with stakeholders as appropriate and responding to complaints, where needed. This will require the preparation of reports and appropriate documentation related to Fire Safety interactions.

We welcome applications from anyone who meets the essential criteria shown within the accompanying job description.

Good verbal and written communication skills together with a commitment to continuous professional development are essential for these roles.

You will need a full UK Drivers License- use of a car provided.

A DBS check is a requirement of the role and this will be funded by ESFRS for the successful applicants.

Main purpose and activities of the job

• To work with the Building Safety Regulator, the NFCC and all Services within the South East to develop and deliver the requirements placed on South East Fire and Rescue Services by the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA).
• Engage with Responsible Persons, Contractors and Developers alongside Accountable Persons through regional BSR activities, including education and engagement activities and providing advice to educate those responsible for fire safety in regulated premises.
• Engage with key stakeholders and resources in South East Fire and Rescue Services to ensure the maintenance of good professional relationships and proactive partnership working.
• Manage and Process legal investigations into reported breaches of fire safety legislation within premises covered by the BSA, including progressing legal proceedings within ESFRS and applying regulatory sanctions in line with Service enforcement policy.
• Provide information, advice, guidance and regional oversight in relation to enforcement practices related to breaches of fire safety legislation for Fire and Rescue Services across the South East in order to achieve consistency of approach and technical application.
• Allocate work to suitably trained and qualified resources who are a part of the regional BSR team. Quality Assure work completed by the BSR team and regularly report on activities to strategic leads within the South East Region and to the national BSR coordinator.
• Support South East Fire and Rescue Services to raise awareness of the financial recharge model and maintain oversight to ensure a consistent approach is taken to reclaiming moneys related to BSR work. Ensure all funding and financial claims are progressed within ESFSR and support other Regional Services with their funding requirements.
• Act as an ongoing source of competent advice for South East Fire and Rescue Services in relation to undertaking, consultation, inspections and enforcement work on buildings that are in scope for BSR work.
• Source and approve BSR related training and development using BSR funding.
• Attend Regional and National BSR related meetings as required.

Main duties and activities and responsibilities

Know-How including;

• To be able to communicate complex technical information clearly and effectively with those responsible for fire safety both verbally and in writing, including designing and delivering presentations to relevant groups, covering complex technical fire safety topics.
• Possess the knowledge and experience to enable application of technical fire safety and fire engineering guidance documents to BSR projects.
• To be capable of providing strategic appreciation of fire safety related work in relation to BSR in scope projects across South East Fire and Rescue Services and be able to coach and mentor fire safety resources across the Region.
• Possess the required knowledge, skills and experience to ensure your team deliver the requirement to undertake regulatory inspections of higher risk and complex premises, including those with fire engineering solutions.
• To be able to chair internal and external meetings and events, including those involving partner agencies, regulators, Responsible and Accountable Persons and business leaders.
• To have a comprehensive understanding of the BSA and sub regulations to enable adequate support to be provided to the Regulator and all Services within our Region.
• To support / undertake the production of national guidance in support of the BSR work.
• To support other Regional Managers undertaking BSR work in requests for advice and resources

Problem solving

• Work unsupervised and using own initiative to deal with and resolve issues that arise, developing new policies and procedures where applicable.
• Be point of contact for internal personnel, external organisations, partners Responsible and Accountable Persons for BSR related activities and interactions, including the ability to deal with complex regulatory questions or enquiries covering all aspects of BSA regulated premises.
• To support staff across the South East Fire and Rescue Services to undertake investigations and provide detailed reports into the suitability and sufficiency of existing fire safety arrangements and identify solutions to address any areas of deficiency in order to minimize fire risks and hazards.
• Engage with appropriate departments within each Service such as Finance, Protection and Training, as well as the national coordinator to design and deliver a process to reclaim all costs associated with the BSR activity.

Accountability

• Working in line with and/or reviewing established Services policies and procedures to continue to deliver Service objectives.
• Develop specialist relationships with external organisations, partners and businesses to enhance awareness and compliance with both the Fire Safety Order and the Building Safety Act.
• Support staff to undertake formal legal investigations into regulatory non-compliance including matters such as investigative interviewing, statement and report writing, court room skills and giving evidence.
• Promote, manage and support health and safety principles and practice in line with the policies of East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service and East Sussex Fire Authority.
• Promote and support equality, fairness and dignity issues, in line with polices of East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service and East Sussex Fire Authority.

General responsibilities

This job description sets out the duties of the post at the time it was drawn up. Such duties may vary from time to time without changing the general character of the duties or the level of responsibility entailed. Such variations are a common occurrence and cannot of themselves justify a reconsideration of the grading of the post.

All staff must comply with all Service and Corporate Polices, including Equal Opportunities and Health and Safety at Work.

Safeguard and promote the welfare of children and protection of vulnerable adults in line with the policies of East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service and East Sussex Fire Authority.

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