Head of Safety, Fire and Environmental Management

The Government Property Agency is the largest property holder in government, with more than £2.1 billion in property assets and over 55% of the government’s office estate.

We are transforming the way the Civil Service works by creating great places to work, leading the largest commercial office programme in the UK, working towards halving carbon emissions from government offices, and achieving greater value for taxpayers. And we are looking for innovative, solutions-focused people to join our team.

Representing the best covenant in the UK – His Majesty’s Government – we are leading significant transformational programmes such as the Government Hubs Programme, Whitehall Campus Programme and Net Zero Programme. We are also delivering cost effective property services such as asset management, lifecycle replacement and workplace services.

Innovation and progress underpin our behaviours. We foster a culture of lifelong learning, where curiosity and self-improvement are encouraged. Our four core values are at the heart of everything we do. They shape our culture and guide how we work, lead and grow together:

• Striving for excellence - We always aim to deliver great results
• Empowering through respect - We insist on fair treatment for all, always
• Acting with integrity - We consistently do the right thing
• Succeeding together - We rely on each other to achieve success

The GPA is committed to representing the communities we serve by making Diversity, Equality and Inclusion part of everything we do.

To ensure that we are always recruiting and retaining a diverse mix of talent, we are particularly inviting applications from candidates who are disabled, ethnically or gender diverse, and people who identify as being part of the LGBTQ+ community.

Join our dynamic and diverse team that leads with purpose, improving sustainability, nurturing social value, driving inclusivity and flexibility, and kickstarting economic growth. We are driven by purpose, and you can be part of it too: where you make a meaningful impact; where you influence; where your voice really matters; where you help to shape our future direction.

The Government Property Agency is changing the way the Civil Service works and is at the forefront of the Government's transformation agenda; reshaping the relationship civil servants have with their place of work. The Agency is central to the delivery of key Government policies including moving 22,000 Civil Service roles out of London by 2030 and tackling climate change by contributing to the Net Zero agenda. To do this we are delivering a major change programme across the UK and consolidating our portfolio in order to save £1.4 Bn over 10 years.

Beyond the bricks and mortar, the GPA is about providing great workplaces for our people. Through programmes like Hubs, Whitehall Campus and Smart Working you will be in the vanguard of creating model working environments and promoting flexible working practices.

This is an ambitious and exciting task, for which we need innovative people, with strong commercial acumen, who are passionate about visualising and implementing customer needs. Launched as an Executive Agency of the Cabinet Office in 2018, we’re a relatively new department and we are growing fast so we also need people who thrive in ambiguity, can adapt quickly to change and are comfortable stepping outside of their remit to drive outcomes.

Job description:

The key purpose of the Safety, Fire and Environmental Management role is to ensure effective management arrangements for GPA clients in respect of Health & Safety, Sustainability, Risk, Compliance, Security and Equality. The post holder will lead a team of discipline specific managers.

Key Responsibilities

1. Assurance and Compliance

• Develop robust, safe systems of work across all GPA activities.
• Delegate action and ownership of all audit and accreditation activities across the Workplace Service (WS) team, including ensuring suppliers maintain appropriate accreditations.
• Develop and deploy risk reporting and mitigation policy and processes to underpin and de-risk Workplace Services (WS) activities.
• Discharge GPA Construction (Design and Management) (CDM) client duties for Workplace Services.
• Provide competent advice to the Workplace Services Director and GPA Senior Leadership Team and their team members on H&S, fire and sustainability matters.
• Where identified in the relevant GPA Policy documents, carry out ‘Duty Holder’ and ‘Responsible Person’ roles for GPA

2. Multi-discipline Leadership

• Lead a National Team delivering effective SME expertise in H&S, Fire, Sustainability, and GPA corporate H&S activity such as reasonable adjustments.
• Design, implement, manage and continuously review the Health and Safety Management System for GPA including developing Health & Safety Policy both corporately and operationally for GPA sites.
• Develop and implement effective H&S and Environmental processes, preferably to ISO 45000 AND 14001 standards.
• Ensure effective H&S training arrangements are in place for the WS Assurance team and WS Delivery teams.
• Lead continuous Improvement across, H&S, fire and sustainability.
• Contribute to full team activities such as development days, team meetings etc.
• Lead relevant team training sessions.

3. Stakeholder and Risk Management

• Build and maintain effective working relationships with key supplier contacts, managing the relationship at a tactical and operational level.
• Build and maintain effective working relationships with departmental partners across all relevant clusters.
• Build and maintain effective working relationships across all GPA’s directorates ensuring safety is embedded at the heart of what we do.
• Support workplace services leads, project directors and project managers to resolve key risks, taking ownership for mitigation where appropriate.
• Ensure discipline-specific risk registers are maintained and contribute to the WS and Contract Risk Registers where appropriate.
• Represent the GPA at relevant external pan-Government groups and liaise with Statutory Authorities and Enforcement Officers as required.
• Lead a team of a Subject Matter Expert (SME) to provide guidance and support to workplace service leads with technical challenges.
• Attend, lead and present where applicable to relevant GPA Health and Safety Committees and boards, compiling data sets as requested by the secretariat.

Reports to:

• Deputy Director Workplace Service Assurance

Authority

• Decision making: Yes
• Budgetary responsibility: Yes

Chartered or Grad IOSH membership- CMIOSH / CFIOSH carries a gold standard

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the communities and wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and well-being and aim to create a sense of belonging in a workplace where everyone feels valued. The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme (RIS) to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

Please note - At this time GPA are unable to offer any Visa Sponsorship to candidates as we do not currently hold a visa sponsorship licence. Please do not apply for permanent roles with GPA if you will require your employer to take on the sponsorship of your current or any future visas.

Application process

As part of the application process, you will be asked to include a CV and complete a Statement Of Suitability of 750 words.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Please supply a Statement Of Suitability to explain why you are the ideal candidate for the role. This should align with the person specification.

Sift

The sift is due to take place week commencing 5th October 2026.

Interview

GPA policy is for interviews to be held face to face, with virtual interviews only by absolute exception. The date and location will be confirmed if you are invited to interview. If you feel this will be a problem for you, please contact recruitment@gpa.gov.uk to discuss prior to submitting your application.

At interview, applicants will be scored against 4 behaviours - Seeing the Big Picture, Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing and Leadership.

Interview questions will be a blend of Behaviour, Experience, Strengths and Technical (core skill).

There will also be a presentation required at interview. Details of which are detailed in the core skills section and will be provided after sift and before interview.

Further Information

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Any move to DEFRA from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.

Please note: in addition to the standard pre-employment checks for appointment into the Civil Service, all candidates must also obtain National Security Vetting at Security Check (SC) clearance level for this vacancy. You will normally need to meet the minimum UK residency period as determined by the level of vetting being undertaken, which for SC is 5 years UK residency prior to your vetting application. If you have any questions about this residency requirement, please speak to the vacancy holder for this post.

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Government Recruitment Service via gparecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Feedback

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.