Fire Safety Manager

Following the retirement of the current postholder, an exciting opportunity has arisen to join Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust as a Fire Safety Manager.

Reporting to the Deputy Director - Estate Management and Assurance, you will support the strategic development and operational delivery of fire safety services across the Trust, providing expert leadership, professional advice and assurance to ensure robust fire safety governance and statutory compliance across complex healthcare premises.

Main duties of the job

• Lead and support delivery of the Trust's fire safety strategy, providing assurance on compliance with statutory duties and NHS fire safety guidance for healthcare premises.
• Provide expert professional and technical advice on fire safety matters to senior leaders, estates teams, clinical services and other stakeholders.
• Oversee a comprehensive programme of fire risk assessments, ensuring actions are recorded, tracked and reported through Trust systems.
• Develop, maintain and review the Trust's Fire Safety Policy, management systems, procedures and training needs analysis to keep them current and legally compliant.
• Lead fire safety training standards and programme development, including mandatory training content and specialist delivery across the Trust.
• Provide fire safety input to capital projects, refurbishments and new builds from planning through to completion.
• Manage and develop the fire safety team and oversee third-party contractors, driving high performance and continuous improvement.
• Lead incident investigation, reporting and learning relating to fires and unwanted fire alarm signals; liaise with enforcing authorities and other external partners.
• Manage budgets for fire safety staffing, specialist services and equipment, ensuring robust financial control and value for money.

About us

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of specialist services across south east England for people with mental health problems and learning disabilities. We care for people of all ages, from children and young people through to older people with conditions such as dementia.

We provide hospital and community mental health services from more than 100 locations across Sussex. Our estate covers a floor area of some 85,000 square metres which is about the size of 12 football pitches.

It is made up of:

48 Freehold properties

52 Leasehold properties, and

5 Private Finance Initiative (PFI) properties.

These include 36inpatient wards and homes, with a total of 579beds, 63community team bases and 10 corporate buildings.

Job responsibilities

About you

• Educated to Postgraduate level education or equivalent professional qualification, with experience and knowledge to Masters level (or equivalent).
• Hold a recognised fire safety qualification at Level 4/Diploma (or equivalent), e.g. SFPO course / Fire Service College modules / Fire Protection Association (FPA) or equivalent.
• Have extensive fire safety experience, ideally within healthcare and/or complex multi-site environments.
• Have in-depth working knowledge of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and HTM 05-02 Firecode (and relevant guidance), with the ability to interpret and apply requirements in practice.
• Have senior-level management experience providing fire safety advice, producing reports for senior management/Board level audiences and working with enforcing authorities.
• Proven leadership and people management skills, including building high-performing teams and overseeing contractors.
• Budget management experience and strong analytical/problem-solving skills, ability to develop practical solutions in complex environments.
• Have excellent written and verbal communication skills, able to explain complex, sensitive or occasionally distressing information clearly and professionally.
• Ability to travel frequently across Trust sites.
• Have CFPD Diploma in Fire Safety (or equivalent), membership of the National Association of Healthcare Fire Officers, and evidence of continuing professional development (CPD).

For more details, please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification.

For an informal discussion, please contact Ian Reading, Deputy Director - Estate Management and Assurance. Email:

Person Specification Qualifications

• Educated to Postgraduate level or hold equivalent professional qualification, plus equivalent experience and knowledge to a Masters gained through training and proven ability to perform at this level
• Fire safety qualification at level 4/diploma or an equivalent relevant experience. i.e. SFPO course or fire safety modules from the Fire Service College, Fire Protection Association (FPA) or equivalent
• Fire Safety background with evidence of extensive healthcare experience
• Member of National Association of Healthcare Fire Officers

Knowledge/Experience

• In depth technical knowledge of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and HTM 05-02 Fire code and other appropriate guidance (e.g. HTMs, HBNs, DH Alerts), legislative and operational requirements as applied to Fire Safety
• Significant senior management experience providing fire safety advice at a senior level to a large multi-site organisation including experience in the investigation of fires and unwanted fire alarm signals
• Experience of analysing problems, situations and information, establishing lateral, innovative solutions that can be implemented
• Experience of budget management
• Knowledge of statutory and regulatory building compliance issues
• Experience of relating statutory and regulatory building compliance issues to different types of building/ service
• Experience of relating Fire Safety and associated services to the Business Strategic Direction

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Deputy Director - Estate Management and Assurance