Resilience & Response Officer

This post attracts on-call allowances, opportunities for overtime and is based at Stoke Newington Town Hall

Hackney is one of the most dynamic and progressive local authorities in the UK. We are a resilient, vibrant, and creative borough in the heart of London, with strong, diverse communities and a powerful set of shared values.

Over the past twenty years, the Council has built up first-class services, outstanding public infrastructure, and a reputation for excellence, innovation, and ambition. We are leading the way on essential work such as our fight for equity in Hackney with a particular focus on becoming an actively anti-racist borough. But the work doesn’t stop there, we are proactive in our approach to bringing fairness to all aspects of life including gender, neurodiversity and across the poverty divide.

We are looking for a proven resilience professional to take on the mantle and take resilience to the next level in Hackney. We are pleased to offer the right candidate an exciting opportunity to join the Emergency Planning Team in a leadership capacity. We are looking for a proven, experienced Emergency Planning/Resilience/Business Continuity professional to take on a leading role in preparing and supporting Hackney in the wake of the climate emergency, covid-19 pandemic and cost of living crisis.

As the Resilience & Response Officer you will be tasked with driving forward continuous learning and improvement, to make resilience everyone’s business and ensure Hackney can collectively respond to the acute risks facing the borough.

As part of the Emergency Planning Team you will report to the Emergency Planning & Response Manager and sit within the Community Safety, Enforcement and Business Regulation Service. The Emergency Planning team is responsible for ensuring that the organisation, community and local partnership is prepared and capable of responding to and recovering from emergencies impacting upon Hackney.

The successful candidate can expect to be tasked with in their first year amongst other projects:
– Working with Services across the organisation to embrace resilient thinking in all their work.
– Ensuring that the organisation has truly embraced and learnt from the Grenfell Phase II Report.
– Supporting the delivery of the business continuity management programme, with training, exercising and reviews, embedding learning from covid-19 and the 2020 cyber attack.
– Leading on continuous professional development of core response staff.
– Guiding wider team members through the review and revision process of emergency plans
– Joining the Duty Council Silver rota.

You will bring with you the ability to work in a pressurised and challenging environment. You will need to have an enthusiastic and positive approach with good organisational and administrative skills, combined with the ability to work to tight deadlines.

The ideal candidate will be able to blend their strong academic prowess with the ability to implement and deliver within an active operational environment.

Flexibility is required for this role, as you will be required to participate in the on-call 24/7 duty rota after training and be willing to attend emergencies at short notice; a callout allowance is payable for periods on call.

A quote from the departing post holder: “Working in this role has been a career highlight with a good blend of hands on work and strategic projects to deliver. No two days are the same which keeps things interesting and there is a lovely and inclusive team environment which is what I will miss the most.”

For further details on the role, please refer to the job description and the person’s specification. Please take your time to fully complete your application. We will not accept any supporting material as part of your application.

If you wish to discuss the role further please contact James Groom on 0208 356 5444

As a Council, our most outstanding asset is our staff, who are highly dedicated to serving our residents and committed to our goals as an organisation.

If you want to work in a place where you can represent our values so we achieve the best for our residents, please click on the apply button below.

We operate a fair and open anonymous selection process. Therefore, we do not accept supporting statements or CV’s.

To proceed with your application, you will need to create an account and submit your application.

As part of the application process, you will need to complete a number of competency based questions. These questions allow you to demonstrate your suitability for the role and provide examples of your skills, knowledge and experience outlined in the job description.

We understand the benefits of using AI in the workplace. However, if you are thinking of using this tool to submit your application, we ask you to think about what value it will add. AI tools tend to lack the personal touch and authenticity we value in candidates. We encourage you to showcase your unique knowledge and skills using your own voice.

This application process replaces a supporting statement.

Hybrid working (typical 3 days office, 2 days home on average per week)

A full manual car driving licence is required for this role.

Closing date for applications: 23 June 2026 (22:59)

Interview and assessment date: W/C 06 July 2026

We are also working towards our vision, which is to be a place for everyone; where residents and staff can be proud; a place that celebrates diversity and where everyone can feel valued, included and involved. In order to achieve this, we look for people who are: Proud; Ambitious; Pioneering; Open; Proactive; Inclusive.

Hackney Council works to eradicate discrimination on the basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. We also recognise that people can be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will also work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class. We also welcome those interested in flexible working. We particularly welcome applications from disabled people, as this group is currently under represented in our workforce.

The Council has a dedicated employment support service (Hackney Works), which offers Hackney residents guidance in relation to applying for jobs. If you are thinking about applying for a job, please contact the Hackney Works team to find out what support is available: hackneyworks@hackney.gov.uk

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