Emergency Planning & Business Continuity Officer

Job Description

The London Borough of Harrow is seeking a highly motivated and resilient Emergency Planning and Business Continuity Officer to support the council’s preparedness, response and recovery arrangements in line with the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and the Resilience Standards for London. This is an exciting and meaningful role at the heart of community safety, where you will contribute directly to protecting residents, staff and essential services during emergencies and major disruptions.

Working closely with the Deputy Head of Resilience, you will lead on key workstreams, manage specialist projects, and build strong working relationships across the organisation and with external partners, including emergency services, voluntary agencies and regional resilience forums. You will provide professional advice on emergency planning, contribute to the development and testing of plans, and help ensure the council maintains effective, up‑to‑date arrangements for crisis management.

During an emergency, you may be required to coordinate the council’s immediate response, including managing the Emergency Response Team, activating borough procedures and supporting senior leaders to make time‑sensitive decisions. The role involves both proactive planning and reactive incident support, requiring excellent judgement, communication skills and the ability to work under pressure. This is a key opportunity to make a positive impact on Harrow’s safety, resilience and community wellbeing.

The successful candidate will have:-

• Strong knowledge of emergency planning, business continuity and the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.
• Experience leading or contributing to the development of emergency or resilience plans.
• Excellent organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities under pressure.
• The confidence to make timely decisions during incidents with limited information.
• Proven ability to build effective relationships with colleagues, senior leaders and external partners.
• Clear and persuasive communication skills, both verbal and written.
• A proactive, self‑motivated approach with the ability to use their own initiative.
• Experience delivering training, presentations or briefings to a range of audiences.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to evaluate incidents and identify learning.
• Flexibility to work evenings, weekends and participate in an on‑call rota as required.

For more information, please refer to the Role Profile/ Selection Criteria

About us

Harrow Council is the 12th largest London borough and one of the most culturally diverse local authorities in the UK, making it a great place to live, work and visit with a range of cultures, religions and opinions that come together to produce high achieving schools and a close and friendly community. Located 10 miles from the city centre and just 13 minutes to Euston from Harrow & Wealdstone station there are great transport links via the Metropolitan Line, Watford DC Line and national rail service. It is easily accessible to the M1, M25 and A406.

Other information

Support for candidates visit:Harrow.gov.uk Our behavioural indicators roles below G11 and above G11 Here at Harrow Council, the vision is one of 'Working together to make a difference for Harrow' Please click here to view Harrow Council's benefits

Important Note

To deliver our commitment to equality of opportunity in service provision, all staff are expected to promote equality in the workplace and in the services the Council delivers. All sections of the population will have equal access to jobs at the London Borough of Harrow. No applicant or employee will receive less favourable treatment because of age, disability, gender, reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy, or maternity unless a Genuine Occupational Qualification applies. As such, we value diversity and welcome applications from all backgrounds. For further information, please read our equality statement.

As a disability-confident employer, we are committed to making our recruitment practices barrier-free and accessible to everyone. This includes reasonably adjusting the recruitment process for those with disabilities or long-term health conditions. For further information, please contact us at resourcing@harrow.gov.uk

London Borough of Harrow is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Harrow operates stringent, safer recruitment procedures.

Due to the high number of applications received for some posts, we may close vacancies before the stated closing date if sufficient applications are received. Therefore, please apply as soon as possible.

Harrow redeployees will be given priority consideration.

The personal information we have collected from you will be shared with Cifas who will use it to prevent fraud, other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct. If any of these are detected you could be refused certain services or employment. Your personal information will also be used to verify your identity. Further details of how your information will be used by us and Cifas, any your data protection rights, can be found by visiting www.cifas.org.uk/fpn