Do you want to apply your skills in a role that makes a real difference to the lives of East Sussex residents? If so, apply now!
About the role:
East Sussex County Council is seeking someone to lead our Emergency Planning and Resilience Team. This is a unique opportunity to shape county-wide resilience policy and strategy, provide advice to senior leaders and partner organisations, and help strengthen East Sussex's ability to prepare for and respond to a wide range of emergencies and major incidents.
As Emergency Planning and Resilience Team Manager, you will lead a specialist team and play a key role in a well-established partnership spanning East Sussex County Council, the five District and Borough Councils, and East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service.
What You'll do:
As Team Manager, you will lead and manage a high performing team, fostering a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement; shape and deliver strategic plans, policies and priorities, ensuring alignment with organisational objectives, statutory responsibilities and emerging risks; maintain effective partnerships across organisations, leading collaborative approaches to managing complex challenges and delivering shared outcomes.; Provide strategic advice, analysis and assurance to senior leaders and partners, supporting effective governance and informed decision-making.
About you:
You do not need previous emergency planning experience to apply. We are particularly interested in hearing from candidates who have experience of shaping policy, supporting governance arrangements, leading programmes or partnerships, and providing advice to senior decision-makers in complex organisations.
You will need to be comfortable working across organisational boundaries, building effective relationships with senior stakeholders, and translating complex information into clear advice and recommendations. You will need to be a strategic thinker, with strong analytical and communication skills, and the ability to influence and build consensus in complex environments.
We are looking for candidates who have:
- Proven leadership and people management skills
- Strategic thinking skills, with a track record of delivering successful outcomes
- Partnership working skills
- Communication and presentational skills, with the confidence to engage a range of audiences
Ability to turn policy and strategy into effective, practical outcomes
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Why join us?
The County Council recognises the benefits of supporting its staff to work flexibly and has a diverse range of mechanisms to allow service delivery and personal commitments to be balanced including hybrid working.
As part of this role, you will participate in the Local Authority's 24/7 emergency on-call service, providing strategic leadership and support when incidents occur.
Please download the Job Description and Person Specification for more information.
To apply for this role, please follow the ‘Apply Now’ button above and upload your CV and a Supporting Statement. We will be using your Supporting Statement to shortlist so please be sure to address how you meet all the criteria in the person specification, drawing on any relevant work/life experience, education, or personal interests.
For guidance on how to write an application see our how to apply page and our statement on the use of AI .
Interviews will take in person at County Hall, Lewes, East Sussex weeks commencing 31 August 2026 and 7 September 2026. If you are unavailable on this dates let us know and we may be able to schedule an alternative date to interview you.
Candidates who meet certain criteria are given priority when we shortlist. See our priority status page for details.
We offer a diverse range of benefits to help and support you during your employment. More information can be found on our benefits page.
If you would like to discuss this exciting role further, please email Ismina Harvey, Head of Communities on [email protected] for more information.
For work that makes a difference, choose East Sussex!
