Prevention Evaluation & Quality Assurance Officer

Job Description

Prevention Evaluation and Quality Assurance Officer

Watch Commander B/Professional 2A

Publish date: Wednesday 28 April 2026

Closing date: 12 noon Friday 15 May 2026

Salary: W/Cdr B £48,202

Professional 2A £44,075 - £46,142

Hours per week: 37 (Green book) 42 (Grey)

Overview

West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) is the second largest fire and rescue service in England, serving an area of 902km square and a population of over 2.9 million people.

Our vision is 'Making the West Midlands safer, stronger and healthier'.

This vision and the strategic goals outlined in 'Our Strategy' are what drives the people, professionalism and pride with which we serve our communities.

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Prevention Team as the Evaluation and Quality Assurance Officer on a temporary basis for up to nine months initially. Whilst this role is a Grey Book post within the service's establishment, the temporary role is open to both grey and green book staff. Grey book applicants would be required to work a nine-day fortnight and provide operational resilience, pro rata, against the 22-shift requirement for the length of time in post.

Those eligible to express an interest in the role are:

Green book - Professional 3A, Technical 2A or Administration 1A or above.

Grey book - Watch Managers who are either 'ready' on promotion list, or existing Watch Managers wishing to transfer.

Working directly to the Prevention Development and Improvement Team Manager, the successful candidate will be working across Prevention and Operations to ensure that the new Evaluation and Quality Assurance Frameworks are further developed and embedded into our service delivery, and that the outcomes from the application of both frameworks are actioned to improve the services that we provide to our West Midlands communities.

The postholder will play an integral role in supporting the ongoing development and improvement of the Evaluation and Quality Assurance Frameworks so that they are aligned to, and incorporate all, the prevention activities and education programmes delivered by Prevention and Operations.

You will be responsible for the coordination, support and guidance of the evaluation and quality assurance of all partnerships, prevention activity and educational programmes, supporting teams to develop and deliver consistent evaluation and quality assurance for the prevention activities they are responsible for.

The role will require close collaboration and engagement both internally and externally to contribute towards 'Making the West Midlands safer, stronger and healthier'.

Key to your success will be your highly developed interpersonal skills, your ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of people, and in building and maintaining professional working relationships with the wider Prevention Team, Operations and internal and external stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• support evaluation and quality assurance of prevention activities and educational programmes, ensuring that evaluation and quality assurance is explicit within all plans and activity

• identify and develop consistent evaluation and quality assurance tools and methods

• ensure that evaluation and quality assurance is delivered consistently for all partnerships, prevention activities and education programmes

• support evaluation and quality assurance of the content, delivery and achievement of learning outcomes for training for the delivery of Prevention activities and education programmes

• report, communicate and share findings, good practice and lessons learned

• provide advice and guidance on the delivery of the outcomes for 'Making the West Midlands safer, stronger and healthier'

• support project managers to implement the evaluation, quality assurance, and benefits realisation plans in their projects

• research and analyse relevant guidance and policy (NFCC, regional, national) to identify relevance for WMFS and share understanding within the organisation

• maintain and nurture links with regional and national organisations to further improve the effectiveness of partnerships, prevention activities and education programmes.

Experience and skills

Essential

• relevant role-related experience, appropriate to the requirements of the post

• knowledge and awareness of evaluation and quality assurance strategy and process

• detailed understanding of partnership, prevention activities and education programmes

• working knowledge of relevant national strategies, legislation and initiatives associated with prevention

• knowledge of local government and public sector governance and policy making structures

• fully conversant with changes to national, regional, and local influences, legislation, internal procedures etc, and plan for the implications for the service and consequent changes to delivery

• experience of providing critical analysis and making recommendations

• experience of writing and presenting briefing notes, presentations, and reports at a strategic level

• trusted and able to deal with confidential issues

• able to build working relationships with external organisations and internal partners

• ability to analyse information and produce reports

• able to write and design policies, procedures, and guidance in line with strategic objectives

• ability to take and accept responsibility and to make decisions.

• able to work on own initiative and to work in an autonomous environment, but adapt to team working when required

• be self-motivated, persistent and be able to persuade and influence others to adopt new initiatives

• able to design relevant training packages where required.

Desirable skills or experience

• previous experience in prevention, evaluation, and quality assurance

• previous experience of presenting to varied groups and audiences

• experience of developing O365 SharePoint Lists and functionality

Benefits

We offer a friendly working environment and benefits including:

• flexible and agile working arrangements

• enhanced family leave benefits, including 52 weeks fully paid maternity and adoption leave

• on-site free gym facilities

• free parking.

We also offer access to an in-house occupational health facility - including occupational health and fitness advisors, sports therapists, physiotherapists, cognitive behavioural therapy practitioners and counsellors.

In addition, employees have access to:

• 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme

• wellbeing programmes

• 'blue light' discounts across many retailers through partner schemes

• Sports and Welfare scheme (for a small fee) - with access to discounted products and services.

Diversity

We welcome applications from all eligible candidates. However, as women and Black and minority ethnic employees are currently under-represented in our service, we particularly encourage applications from these groups.

WMFS is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. We expect the same of every staff member.

Successful candidates will be subject to necessary pre-employment checks, including - where applicable - relevant level Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, qualifications, medical clearance, identity and right to work. All external applicants will be required to provide two suitable references.

How to apply

To apply, in no more than 500 words, please detail what motivated you to apply for the role and the skills, knowledge and experience you would bring to it. The closing date for expressions of interest is 12noon on Friday 15 May 2026.

Questions

If you have any questions about the role, or would like an informal discussion, please contact Andy Clay on 07949 885 834, Teams message or by email at [email protected]. Alternatively, please contact Andrea Simmonds on 07973 810 469, by Teams message or by email at [email protected]

Job Summary