Introduction
Can you lead the delivery of our statutory responsibilities under the Prevent Duty and support our wider efforts to safeguard individuals from being drawn into terrorism?
Are you passionate in creating strong networks and inclusive relationships with our vibrant and diverse communities, increase community resilience, improve trust and confidence?
Do you have experience of developing, influencing and leading successful partnerships?
Are you an excellent communicator, with the ability to manage complex and sensitive issues with professionalism and sound assessment.
Can you work collaboratively to lead and develop strategies to enhance community safety and foster community cohesion.
If so, we would love to hear from you.
This is an exciting opportunity to play a pivotal role in ensuring that Brighton & Hove continues to deliver an effective, proportionate, and community focused Prevent approach that promotes anti-racist practice and drives equalities and inclusion.
We are seeking an experienced, motivated and collaborative Prevent Lead Officer to lead the delivery of our statutory responsibilities under the Prevent Duty and support our wider efforts to safeguard residents from being drawn into or supporting terrorism.
Prevent is part of CONTEST, the Government’s counter-terrorism strategy. The aim of Prevent is to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. We do this by challenging terrorist ideology; supporting susceptible people from being drawn into or supporting terrorism and enabling those who have already engaged in terrorism to disengage and rehabilitate.
There is full information about the role below and attached but, if you would like an informal discussion, please contact Nahida Shaikh, Head of Community Cohesion on 07717303292 or email
[email protected]
This role is fixed term 18-month contract
Interviews to be held on the week commencing 14 September 2026
About the role
Brighton & Hove Council’s, Community Cohesion Service is seeking an exceptional candidate for this high-profile role. You will provide strategic leadership and be responsible for the coordination, delivery and communications of all aspects of ‘Prevent’ work in the city.
Working across council services, partner agencies, and local communities, you will identify and manage threats, risks, and susceptibilities of individuals being drawn into or supporting terrorism, and develop the city’s Prevent risk assessment.
You will develop and deliver a Prevent Action Plan for the partnership to strengthen Individuals, institutions, and communities’ resilience to all forms of terrorism, reduce risks and harms effectively, and improve trust and confidence in Prevent in Brighton & Hove.
The role is responsible for building effective partnerships to advance Prevent activity. You will play a key role in making a real and sustainable difference to help safeguard individuals, strengthen community resilience and foster community cohesion in this unique city.
Please be aware this job is politically restricted and will require additional security clearance.
As Prevent Lead Officer you will:
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be politically astute, highly motivated, and possess a strong understanding of the wider landscape relating to extremism, radicalisation, safeguarding and counter-terrorism.
- possess inclusive partnership-working skills and be confident engaging with diverse communities and stakeholders.
- be able to analyse complex and sensitive information, assess risk and develop effective responses.
- have proven experience of working successfully in partnerships, with diverse local communities, statutory and voluntary sector organisations, managing programmes of work, managing confidential information, experience of negotiation and conflict management, delivering training, and presentations.
- have significant experience of working in Prevent, community safety, safeguarding or a related field.
We can offer you a wide range of benefits including:
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A comprehensive induction and access to ongoing learning and development.
- Opportunities to work collaboratively with communities and dealing with high-profile work.
- Exposure to evolving legislation and the opportunity to contribute to making a difference within a forward-thinking local authority
- A strong organisational commitment to inclusion, wellbeing and flexible working.
- A culture that values continuous improvement, encourages innovation, and supports you to develop both technically and professionally.
Encouraging a diverse workforce
Our city is known and loved for its diversity. Not only is the mixture of people, culture and skills vital to the economic and social development of the city, it's what makes Brighton & Hove such a great place to live, work and visit. We are committed to developing and retaining a workforce that is representative of the diverse communities we serve so we welcome applications from individuals from all backgrounds. In order to achieve our aims of proportionate representation, we particularly encourage applicants from a BME or White Other background as well as those who identify as disabled, male or trans.
Find out more about our commitment to being a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone can achieve their potential by reading about our fair and inclusive actions, our anti-racism strategy and the work we are doing to encourage a diverse workforce (brighton-hove.gov.uk).
Why work for us?
As a council, we want to:
- be connected
- be confident
- be innovative and creative
- be diverse and inclusive
- be healthy and psychologically safe
For more information about our values and the benefits of working at the council, visit Why work for us which gives details of our wellbeing support, our benefits including leave and pensions as well as details of our training and development.
How to apply
Please read our Apply for a job at the council pages carefully. They give you all the guidance you need to complete your application as well as information on what will happen after you’ve submitted your application and at interview.
As part of your application, you will need to provide your education and career history and answer some application/shortlisting questions. Your answers to the application/shortlisting questions are the most important part of your application as they will be used in the shortlisting process to assess whether you meet the essential requirements for the role that are set out in the person specification and to decide whether you should be offered an interview. Before you start your application, please read our Shortlisting questions guidance (brighton-hove.gov.uk) as this gives important advice which will increase your chance of success in the shortlisting process.
AI advice for candidates
We are interested in hearing about your experience and skills in your own words. While we value people who know how to use AI, we ask that you minimise using it in your application.
We are keen to hear how your experience and skills align to our values and the skills and experience needed to perform well in our roles with clear real examples from you. To support you in this, we have guidance on using the STAR model which can help you ensure you are telling us your whole story. We also provide clarity on the skills we are looking for in our adverts and in the job description/person specification attached to each job advert.
All the applications we receive are read by at least two hiring managers and we do not use AI in this process. Our experience of reading applications is that those that have heavily used AI contain generic paragraphs that are strikingly similar to other applicants’ responses. This makes it extremely difficult to differentiate between applications, and doesn't give us enough evidence of your individual skills. There is a risk that we will therefore not be able to shortlist you. Instead, we recommend you ensure your application stands out by presenting clear examples of your actual skills and experiences in your own words.
Additional information
Your starting salary will be pro rata if the above position is less than 37 hours or term-time only.
Please note that this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, and is subject to a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) Check.
We are a workplace that supports flexibility and employee wellbeing in the way we work whilst providing the best service for our customers. Team and service working arrangements are designed to support both employee work life balance and team collaboration. These would be part of your individual working arrangements alongside any personal preference agreed with your manager in advance of joining. Your contractual location will be the designated council office for your team and travel to and from your contractual location would be at your own expense.
