SYP - Call Handler and Dispatch Operator - January 2022

Role:                     Call Handler and Dispatch Operator

Department:         Force Control Room

Location:              Atlas Court, Sheffield

Salary:                  £22,599 - £25,278 plus Shift Allowance & Weekend Working which takes the salary to approximately £30,200 (pro rata if part time).

Hours:                  37 hours per week

Contract Type:    Permanent

Role Purpose:

This is an exciting opportunity to join South Yorkshire Police as a Call Handler and also to receive training for the role of a Dispatch Operator.  As part of a dedicated team, you will be the first point of contact for all types of contacts from the public and other agencies, including 999, 101, crime reports, intelligence and general enquiries including both telephone and electronic media. You will be responsible for identifying and assessing risk and make resolution and deployment decisions using a range of systems.  You will also allocate resources to incidents and support them in any radio transmissions. 

You will be part of the wider policing family helping to keep South Yorkshire safe as well as part of a team of great people.  Most people join the police service because they want to help others and make a difference to people’s lives.  Working in the Force Control Room, there is no doubt that you will be making a difference – every day.

If you are interested in joining the team, we’re looking for motivated people who are excellent team players with the ability to work unsupervised and use their own initiative.

Key Responsibilities:

•  Receive and critically assess all types of contacts including 999, 101 and other types of contacts, by telephone or on line, from the general public, police and other agencies, maintaining high levels of customer service, manage customer expectations and meet national and organisational service level agreements and take appropriate response action.
• Identifies the purpose and nature of each contact by eliciting relevant and sufficient information to enable an accurate and timely assessment of appropriate means of resolution.
• Assesses risk and identifies the appropriate action to resolve or determine the appropriate agency, deployment grading and priority of contacts.
• Manages customer expectations regarding the service that can be provided by giving advice and taking appropriate action.
• Maintains accurate records of relevant information using appropriate systems to ensure an audit trail and to measure and improve performance.
• Use a variety of applications and systems to maintain and update incident records, audit trails and resource availability to measure and improve performance.
• Analyses and codes reported crimes to national guidance and files appropriate to enable accurate reporting of local crime statistics.
• Ensure that the Graded Response system is carried out correctly.

• Operate the appropriate Airwave, UHF and VHF radio network, linked to operational patrols within the guidelines and procedures of the Force.
• Deploy resources to incidents within the guidelines and procedures of the Force.

Skills and experience:

Our ideal candidate will have:

• Communication skills - ability to listen, empathise and provide support.
• Communication skills – adapt language to meet the needs of different people/audiences
• Experience of information gathering and problem solving.
• Able to utilise IT packages, systems and/or databases.
• Able to appropriately prioritise and plan own work.
• Ability to work under pressure, making logical and appropriate decisions

Benefits:

We offer generous entitlements and supportive policies to enable a better work-life balance, some of which are listed below:

• Generous annual leave allowance (starting at 29 days per year + Bank Holidays)
• Generous pension scheme
• Flexible and agile working
• Generous ‘family’ leave
• Voluntary CPD Events for all staff to allow continuous development
• Mentoring & Coaching Scheme
• Paid Professional Subscriptions when relevant to role
• Access to a range of occupational health facilities
• Employee assistance service (accessible 24/7)
• Additional benefits for Westfield Health members
• Cycle to work scheme
• Sports and Social Club

Eligibility:

Applicants must meet the minimum requirement checkable history criteria, which must be taken into account for individuals applying to work with South Yorkshire Police in any capacity. A minimum checkable history of 3 years has been identified for this role and successfully undergoing recruitment vetting procedure is a pre-requisite of employment with South Yorkshire Police.

Appearance and Standards:

All tattoos and piercings must be in line with South Yorkshire Police’s Appearance and Standards policy. Tattoos visible on your face, neck, hands or head are not permitted. Any tattoos which could be deemed inappropriate or cause offence will also not be accepted. If you have tattoos, you will need to make a declaration at the time of application.

Further Information:

You will be based on Atlas Court, Sheffield which is located 5 minutes from Sheffield City Centre and Meadowhall.

You must be prepared to work shifts and bank holidays with the service operating 24/7, 365 days of the year.

Working a 24/7 shift pattern, full time or part time, attracts a salary of £22,599 - £25,278 (pro-rata for part time hours) and 20% shift allowance and weekend working taking the starting pay to approximately £30,200 (pro rata part time).

Please note the current shift pattern is under review.

When all pre-employment check are complete, successful applicants will be progressed for the forthcoming courses.  It is anticipated that these will be scheduled to commence on 27 April 2022 and 27 June 2022.  Further courses have been scheduled for September 2022 and January 2023.  You will be expected to work full time, Monday to Friday for the first 12 weeks during training.

Contact point for applicants:

For further information about the role, please contact Jill Ford on 0114 2196724.

Closing Date: Thursday, 31 March 2022 at 23:55 pm.

Although this advert is open until the end of March, submitted application forms will be short-listed prior to this date.

Closing dates are not normally extended, other than in exceptional circumstances and agreement is made with the Talent Acquisition Manager, Recruitment and the Line Manager for the role.

If you successfully pass the short-listing stage, you will be invited to attend an Assessment Centre, the dates are due to be held during February and March 2022.

If you successfully pass the assessment, you will be invited to attend an interview.  Interviews are scheduled to take place shortly after the Assessment Centre.

Diversity & Inclusion:

South Yorkshire Police welcome applications from under-represented communities. For further information on diversity and inclusion within South Yorkshire Police, please visit the diversity and inclusion page:

https://www.southyorkshire.police.uk/sign-up/join-team-syp/diversity-in-the-force/

Recently Retired (within 12 months) /soon to Retire Police Officers:

Please be advised we are currently promoting a scheme to allow you to apply for Police Staff roles without the need for the Full Application Form process. If this or any other role currently advertised interest you, please submit an expression of interest (approx. 500 words) to Recruiting@southyorks.pnn.police.uk detailing how you meet the criteria for the role. We will then look to progress you to the interview stage. Please ensure you include the role you are looking to apply for and the closing date of the advert in your email.

Note to candidates:

Please note that, should you be successful at the interview stage, the relevant internal or external pre-employment checks are required.  These include vetting clearance or review, prior to being appointed to the new role and start date being agreed.

Apply for the role:

To apply for the role, please click the ‘Apply’ button.