Full time / shift working covering 24/7 shift system, permanent

Maidstone

Our Force Control Room is based in Maidstone. Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, it provides a centralised service for anyone who wishes to contact Kent police.

As a Communications Officer when you pick up the phone, you have no idea who's on the other end of the line. The call could be someone who simply wants to report an abandoned car or someone who's just been seriously assaulted.

As a Dispatcher you will deploy police officers to deal with incidents which could be life or death emergencies. This is in contrast to also deploying officers to proactively police the streets of Kent to prevent crime and anti- social behaviour.

That makes the role unpredictable and sometimes challenging, but always very worthwhile. Our Communication Officers and Dispatchers could deal with the most important call of someone's life.

We are currently recruiting talented individuals to join us as Communications Officers / Dispatchers to work in our Force Control Room at Maidstone. Successful candidates will be allocated to undertake a Communications Officer or Dispatcher role depending on organisational requirements at the time of appointment.

Our Communications Officers and Dispatchers are based in Maidstone at our purpose built Communications Centre. State of the art technology is used to ensure we can give the best service on offer to our community. You’ll need to have excellent listening skills, the ability to remain calm under pressure, can multi task and work as part of a team in order for us to provide the high level of service required.

All current vacancies are for full-time positions, working a 5-week rotating shift pattern. Before applying you must ensure you can meet the working requirement of our shift pattern.

Due to the variety of shifts required, candidates should carefully consider their ability to travel to and from our Control Room in Maidstone. Public transport is not always available.

All successful applicants will undergo full security vetting and reference checks.

The skills profile for both these posts will be tested during the recruitment process and candidates will initially be allocated roles depending on the vacancy profile; however there is an expectation that successful candidates will progress to learn both roles to meet organisational requirements.

Our recruitment process is ongoing, and we’ll invite you to the next available assessment once you’ve successfully submitted your application and met our shortlist criteria.

We have scheduled start dates for Communication Officer training on:

o 19th January 2015
o 2nd March 2015
o 4th May 2015
o 6 July 2015

For more information on the role and apply, please click the apply button.
http://www.kent.police.uk/join_us/fcc/control_room.html