Contact Officer

Do you want to come and work for the best Force Control Room in the country? 

In January alone, a total of 12,153 999 calls came in and 10,861 of these calls were answered in less than 10 seconds.

Superintendent Jamie Watson said;

"This is all down to the hard work of our control room staff. The trust and confidence this will give the community is immeasurable.

"However, this is not really about league tables. This is about the public, victims and our loved ones and family in the community.

"They know that in a life or death emergency, we will answer their call quicker than any other force in the country and help them in their time of need. We are incredibly proud to be able to say that."

Now, this is your opportunity to be part of it.

Our recruitment window is now open for Contact Officers and we’re recruiting for intakes which will take place throughout 2023.

The Contact Officer role is one of the most important positions within Humberside Police. You will be at the heart of our Force Control Room, acting as the first point of contact for all our 999 emergency and 101 non-emergency calls, making it hugely challenging but very rewarding at the same time.

The role is ideal for someone who has a calm head under pressure, has a real eye for detail and for someone who is accurate when it comes to capturing and processing information. We often make split second decisions based solely on what we have been told by someone on the other end of the phone who may be injured, distressed, or involved in an ongoing crime where time is very much of the essence.

To be considered, you must have experience of communicating effectively with people at all levels, often in distressing, delicate or confrontational situations. You must also have experience of working in a customer-orientated environment. Ideally, you will have experience of working in a secure/confidential environment. 

Shift Pattern

For both full and part time, initial training will consist of working office hours Monday to Friday.

Full time employees will then be placed on shift and be expected to work a shift pattern, which covers 24 hours a day / 7 days a week / 365 days a year. The shift pattern covers 24 hours ‘4 on / 4 off’ shift pattern with 20% shift allowance plus weekend working allowances. 

Part time employees will cover a ‘Teatime’ shift, which will be one of the two attached patterns in the Part Time Shift document. This is a great opportunity for someone who is looking for part time hours during the evenings. These hours will also include shift allowance plus weekend working allowances.

There is great potential for growth within this role and it offers real variety as our Contact Officers are trained to perform numerous roles within the Force Control Room.

The role of Contact Officer carries a two-year tenure, during this time you will not be eligible to apply for any vacancies advertised within Humberside Police. 

Interview Process

• Shortlisting – your application will be assessed on the essential criteria of the role requirement (attached). Please make use of the word limit on the application form questions, to aid your application in demonstrating your skills and experience. 
• Assessment & Interview – if you are successful at shortlisting, you will be invited to an assessment where you will carry out numerous exercises in order to assess your competency. You will then be invited to an interview on the same day to be asked questions relating to the role.

Pre-Employment Process

Once an intake date has been planned for you, you will progress through our pre-employment checks. Please note – this can take up to 10 weeks.

The checks consist of:

• Vetting
• References
• Sickness Criteria Check
• Medical Assessment & Hearing Test
• Tattoos – ensuring they are suitable and meet the requirements of our policy.

Progression

There is also potential opportunity to progress in this role to the role of Demand Resolution Officer (dispatcher).

Further Information

• Internal applicants must have completed their probation period in current role before being eligible to apply for this role.
• Applicants must meet the minimum requirement checkable history criteria of at least 3 years to apply for a role within Humberside in any capacity.