About Us
At West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, we work with our communities and partners every day to prevent emergencies and help everyone to be safe in West Sussex. Emergencies will always happen and when they do, we are ready to respond as quickly as possible to help people in their time of need and to save lives.
We respond to a range of emergencies across the county including fires, road traffic collisions, flooding and animal rescues, we can also be called on to assist in national rescue operations. Just as important as responding to emergencies is the role we play in delivering community safety initiatives to protect the public and businesses.
Our core strength in achieving this is through our people who are “proud to serve” and work for an organisation connected closely with its communities and who are genuinely committed to keeping people safe and saving people’s lives.
For more information about West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, please visit our West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service page.
About the job
Salary: As a Retained (On-Call) Firefighter, you will receive an annual retainer fee based on the level of availability you provide to the Service. You will also receive additional payments for attending incidents, training and other operational and prevention related activities.
Retainer fees currently range from £2,278.80 per year during development to £5,832.15 per year for competent firefighters on the highest availability band.
Work Location: Petworth Fire Station
Hours per week
Minimum hours of on call hours dependent on agreed banding, as per below:
- Band A (120 Hours)
- Band B (100 Hours)
- Band C (180 Hours)
- Band D (40 Hours)
- Band E/F (50 Hours)
If you are looking for a role that is highly rewarding and genuinely makes a difference to your community, then we would really like to hear from you.
In this role, no one day is the same, providing opportunities to grow both professionally and personally.
Your core activity will include:
- Engaging with the community to support their education and understanding of staying safe in their homes, at work and on the roads.
- Learning the demographics, topography and areas of risk for your station ground to build your local knowledge to enable you and your team to respond efficiently and effectively to incidents.
- Attending a range of emergency incidents.
- Inspecting and cleaning firefighting equipment to ensure it is safe and ready to use.
- Undertaking ongoing practical and theoretical training, at your station and our training centre.
- Attend drill nights at your station for an average of 3 hours per week, for training and maintenance purposes.
Skills and experience
With such a varied job, you will need to demonstrate resilience, flexibility and adaptability. You will need to be comfortable working in a range of situations, such as at height, in enclosed spaces and adverse weather conditions. You will also need to be able to work under pressure and in occasionally emotionally intense situations, for example when attending road traffic collisions and providing casualty care.
To really make a difference, you will need great interpersonal skills, be emotionally intelligent, able to build trust and be confident engaging with a diverse range of people.
Eligibility to apply
To be eligible to apply, you must:
- be 17 years and six months of age (it is a requirement to be aged 18 years or over on commencement of employment)
- be eligible to work in the UK
- live or work within approximately 4 minutes of your chosen Fire Station. If you would be responding from your main employment, we will require written consent from your employer for you to be released for calls.
- hold a full and valid UK driving licence (unless there is a valid reason that you are unable to drive e.g. a medical condition). You can apply if you are learning to drive. However, you must hold a full and valid UK driving licence at the time an offer of employment is made.
Selection Process
There are several stages to the process and progression through the stages will depend on successful completion of the previous stage.
Stage 1 Registration and Eligibility
Stage 2 Pre-Recruitment Meeting with the Retained Unit Lead
Stage 3 Personal Statement
Stage 4 Online Assessments
Stage 5 Team Task & Interview
Stage 6 Fitness and Physical Role Related Assessment
Stage 7 Occupational Health Medical and Referencing
Further information
The reference number for this role is CPP01359.
For more information, please see the attached job description, information pack and frequently asked questions.
We are immensely proud that you are considering joining us and are here to support you. If you need any support throughout the process or would like to speak to someone, please email us at [email protected]
To register your interest and answer a series of eligibility questions to complete the first stage of the process, please click the Apply Online button below.
Please ensure you have saved the documents below, as once the job has closed, you will not have the opportunity to download them again.
We are committed to fair, inclusive and merit‑based recruitment. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and are dedicated to removing barriers that may prevent people from progressing. Our processes are transparent, consistent and designed to ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to demonstrate their strengths. We value the diversity of our workforce and believe it enhances our Service, our culture and our performance.
We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants who have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver and meet the essential criteria for the role. More information can be found in the Candidate Information Pack.
Safeguarding Statement
WSFRS is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and all employees must share this commitment.
Fire & Rescue Service roles are listed in Schedule 1 of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order and as such it is our policy to require all applicants to disclose any criminal convictions (both spent and unspent held in the UK or overseas) including driving offences, cautions and/or reprimands. As part of the application process, you will be required to list the dates and details of any sentences if applicable. 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 (please refer to the Guidance on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the Exceptions Order 1975 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) for more information).
Legislation enables Fire & Rescue Services to be eligible for a Standard level Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check for employees of their Service, including volunteers. You are also required to inform us of any pending or incomplete investigations of a safeguarding nature that are ongoing, or that arise during this period of application and pre-employment. A table of rehabilitation periods for the most common sentences and disposals, and example scenarios can be found here Rehabilitation Periods - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
