Job title: Senior Assistant Chief Fire Officer
Employer: Wicklow County Council
Location: Wicklow
Closing Date: 3pm, Thursday, 21st August 2025
Salary: Starting at €79,090
About the Employer:
Wicklow shares its border with four other counties and has a total land area of 2,027 km². The topography of Wicklow is largely mountainous, with the Wicklow Mountains being the largest continuous upland region in Ireland. Wicklow is the 13th largest of the Republic of Ireland's 26 Counties and is the 14th largest Local Authority area in terms of population.
Wicklow County Council is the Local Government Authority for County Wicklow and is responsible for the delivery of the full range of services. Wicklow County Council seeks to enhance the county's attraction as a place in which to invest, work, and live, and takes the lead role in shaping the strategic vision of the county. It provides a diverse, multi-layered and evolving range of services to both citizens and visitors to County Wicklow, which include the provision of housing, planning, development, environmental, roads and traffic, leisure and community services. It also has an enhanced role in leading out economic and community development in the County. The Council works in partnership with other state, public and private bodies in the delivery of critical infrastructure and shared services.
Wicklow County Council has an elected body comprising of 32 elected members and employs a workforce in excess of 800 employees, currently covering 5 Municipal Districts – Bray, Greystones, Wicklow, Arklow and Baltinglass. Our employees work in a dynamic and progressive local authority which promotes training and development of our employees who are our most valuable resource. The 2025 annual revenue budget for the local authority is approximately €168 million. The Council also continues to invest in the infrastructure of the county and through its Capital Investment Programme.
The day to day running of the Council is the responsibility of the Chief Executive and the Management Team.
About the Role:
The assignment of the post will be to the Wicklow Fire Service Headquarters based in Bray, Co. Wicklow, covering the county as a whole as well as Retained Fire Stations. There are 10 Fire Stations located within the County.
Reporting to the Chief Fire Officer, the Senior Assistant Chief Fire Officer will be required to lead a team in any of the main disciplines of the Fire Service: Operations, Fire Prevention, Building Control and Major Emergency Management. As a Senior Assistant Chief Fire Officer, the successful candidate will have an important role in the management of staff. The Senior Assistant Chief Fire Officer has responsibility for managing the service delivery and development of functions in the areas as delegated by the Chief Fire Officer and will have to be capable of undertaking the role of Rostered Senior Fire Officer at operational incidents.
About You:
It would be desirable if the successful candidate had the following Skills and Experience:
• The management and supervision of staff, ensuring the development of such staff;
• Building effective teams, developing motivation and commitment and maintaining sound employee relations;
• Communication with internal and external stakeholders, property owners, the public and the media;
• Developing and implementing processes/systems, setting targets and co-coordinating the resources necessary to deliver the tasks assigned;
• The preparation of reports for submission to statutory agencies and other bodies where required.
• A strong track record and relevant management ethos and experience at a sufficiently high level, including management of change and project management.
• An understanding of the role and duties of line managers and an ability to work through the structure to achieve management objectives in the workplace, including across sections and teams
• A strong, outward looking perspective and a track record of successful interagency collaboration and co-ordination.
• The capacity to work within and lead, multi-disciplined teams and have the ability to motivate, empower and encourage personnel under their control to achieve maximum performance while maintaining sound employee relations.
• Strong communication skills with internal and external stakeholders, property holders, the public and the media.
• An ability to develop and implement processes/systems, set targets, and coordinate the resources necessary to deliver tasks assigned including the ability to deploy financial resources to gain maximum benefit and output within a budgetary control framework
• A good working knowledge (or the capacity to acquire same quickly) of the legal, regulatory and governance framework within which the Council operates and experience in adhering to corporate policies, protocols, and procedures.
• A good working knowledge of relevant Health and Safety legislation and its application within the fire service.
• The ability to prepare reports for submission to statutory agencies and other bodies where required .
• A satisfactory knowledge of the public service organisation in Ireland.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
The closing date for receipt of completed applications is 3pm on Thursday, 21st August, 2025.
We are committed to a policy of equal opportunity and encourage applications under all nine grounds of the Employment Equality Act.
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