Vacancy Information

Sussex Police welcome applications from substantive Inspectors and Detective Inspectors on promotion to Chief Inspector or Detective Chief Inspector.

Chief Inspectors are part of the command team for the department or division, with responsibility for ensuring and enabling the officers and staff within that command to understand and consistently deliver the Force objectives.

Chief Constables' Message

We really welcome your interest in joining our Police Force. It is a privilege to lead the teams in Surrey Police and Sussex Police who continuously work selflessly and tirelessly in order to keep people in our counties safe.

We are looking for talented and inspirational people who put the needs of the public at the heart of everything that they do and who want to make a difference. If you feel you are that person then we want to hear from you.

We wish you all the very best with your application.

Chief Constable Tim De Meyer & Chief Constable Jo Shiner

The Role and Key Responsibilities

Chief Inspectors plan, lead and monitor operational policing activity. They effectively and efficiently set the plan for deployment of Force resources to incidents, including major and/or critical incidents. Chief Inspectors consider the wider impacts and consequences of crimes and incidents including risk, safety of the public, officers, staff, community tension, trust and confidence, media and investigation. They manage and mitigate risk effectively in order to ensure the safety and wellbeing of officers, staff and the public and to respond effectively to problems, incidents and crime.

The Chief Inspector role comes with the expectation of undertaking additional responsibilities on a Force Critical Incident Manager (CIM), Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) and/or Tactical Firearms Commander (TFC) cadre, which will likely include being on call.

Skills & Experience

Current Serving Officers

If you feel you are ready for the next step in your career and you meet the following criteria, we would like to consider your application.

You should have:

A high level of competence at your current rank - evidenced through a current live PDR rating of satisfactory contribution.
No live written warnings, unsatisfactory performance or attendance action plans. If you are subject to a live conduct investigation, you are permitted to apply but if successful at interview, any confirmation will not be provided until the outcome of that investigation is known.

To apply you must also:

Be of substantive rank (current serving officers).
Have completed all mandatory College Learn packages.
Have a current JRFT/OST qualification (unless you are exempt or have a condition or disability which would negate this requirement as a reasonable adjustment, as confirmed by Occupational Health).
Be aware that this role comes with the expectation of undertaking additional responsibility on a Force CIM, SIO, TFC cadre and/or Public Order trained.

Rejoiners at Higher Rank

If you are considering re-joining the Force, we will welcome applications from former officers of Constable, Sergeant or Inspector rank who have the desire to help keep communities safe, identify and protect vulnerable people and prevent and respond to harm. The following criteria will apply:

You must:

have served in a Home Office force or British Transport Police (BTP).
have completed your probation period prior to leaving the Force and achieved independent patrol status.
have had no disciplinary, integrity or performance issues.
have a full UK manual driving licence.
not have any cautions or convictions.
have not made another application to re-join another Police Force at the same time.
have resided in the UK for three years immediately prior to submitting your application (exceptions to this are considered on a case by case basis).
declare any business interests.
not be a member of the British National Party (BNP) or similar organisation.
not have any existing County Court Judgements (CCJs) outstanding against you or have been registered bankrupt and not have been discharged for the past three years.
not have any tattoos which cause offence.

Why Work With Us?

Sussex Police and Surrey Police collaborate across a range of operational policing services, serving a divers range of communities, affording plenty of opportunity for a varied leadership career. We're encouraging colleagues from under-represented groups to apply for promotion.

As part of the application, you will be able to advise us of your preferred top three roles and locations together with any working requirements (ie part time working hours, flexible working etc). Subject to your successful application and interview, your preferences will be taken into consideration at the posting panel and accommodated where possible.

We recognise that our people are balancing demanding careers with commitments and interests outside of work. We welcome discussion with candidates who want to work full time or part time flexible hours. If a suitable role isn't available at the time that accommodates your flexible working requirements, you will remain in a pool whilst other opportunities are explored.

Further Information

Applications will be based on the Competency and Values Framework 2024 (Level 2). In order to apply you must first seek line manager endorsement, without which your application will not be accepted. The deadline date for your application and endorsement is 2359 hrs on Monday 19th October 2026. Please note, the link to the line manager endorsement form will only be sent to you once you have completed and submitted your application form. You will then need to forward the link to your line manager for their completion. This will need to be completed and submitted by the deadline date, so please take this into consideration when planning your timeline for application submission.

The process will consist of two stages: an operational assessment followed by an interview.

The final shortlisting of applications will take place after the application closing date and if successful at shortlisting, you will be invited to an operational assessment where you will be given a scenario to review and will be required to assess the information presented and explain how you would respond. This assessment will be on a pass or fail basis. If you successfully pass this assessment, you will progress to an interview but if you are unsuccessful, your application will not progress and you will not be allocated an interview date.

Operational assessments will take place on various dates between the 4th and 13th November 2026 and interviews will take place on various dates between 16th November and 18th December 2026.

If you have any queries of questions around the application process, please contact the Workforce Development Team on talentdevelopment@sussex.police.uk

Diversity Statement

We are only as good as our people. It's important that our officers and staff can be themselves in the workplace and we know that as an organisation we'll grow from the variety of thinking, approach, and the skills that diversity brings; all of which help us to deliver a better policing service. We strive to ensure how we deliver our services, provide information and how we recruit is open and accessible to all.

We have multiple staff support groups who help to improve our understanding of minority issues and ensure they are reflected in our work. We are proud members of Disability Confident, hold Race Equality Matters Trailblazer status, are a signatory of the Race at Work Charter and are aligned with the Armed Forces Covenant and the HeForShe movement.

We are committed to being an anti-racist police service. We promise to challenge injustice, ensure fairness and to uphold anti-racist principles in both our organisation and our communities. For more information, you can read our full anti-racism statement here.

We value the differences that people bring from all backgrounds and communities. Regardless of age, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, disability, social status, or religious belief, we would love to hear from you.

Please use the following links to find out more on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at Surrey Police and Sussex Police

Additional Information

Surrey Police & Sussex Police only accept applications online via our own careers site 'Police Jobs Surrey & Sussex'. Genuine job advertisements published on other websites will always redirect you to complete your application on our official careers site, if you are not redirected to our careers site, please do not submit your application.

Following submission of your application you will receive a confirmation email with a copy of your application attached. Occasionally emails from this address can fall into spam/junk folders so please ensure this is checked regularly. You may wish to consider adding noreply@policejobssurreyandsussex.as.recruitmail.com to your address/contact list to ensure you receive all communications.

Attachments

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Chief Inspector on Promotion and Level Transfer