Vacancy Information

Division / Department - Contact and Control
Grade - Grade E
Status - Full Time
Contract Type - Permanent
Salary Grade Range - £29,151 - £32,224
Shift Allowance - £6,802
Working Hours - 36.0 Hours per Week
Location - Surrey Police Headquarters, Guildford

The starting salary for this role will usually be at the bottom of the salary range and will be pro-rata if the working hours are less than full time.

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 & Key Responsibilities

You already know that policing is unpredictable. Now imagine being the person who makes sure the right help gets to the right place—fast.

As an Force Command Centre Dispatcher, you’ll be pivotal in managing the deployment of officers and staff across Surrey—reviewing incidents, risk-assessing what’s coming in, and prioritising deployment to protect the public and support frontline colleagues.

This is not a desk job. It’s a frontline support role—at pace.
One moment you could be assessing a welfare concern or vulnerability report; the next, coordinating a response to an urgent incident. Every decision matters, and no two shifts look the same.

What you’ll be doing

Reviewing incidents that require deployment and risk-assessing reports quickly and confidently
Prioritising demand and deploying resources based on risk of harm
Passing clear, pertinent information to attending officers/staff so they can arrive informed and ready
Working closely with partner agencies and other emergency services to ensure the most appropriate response
Keeping victims/callers updated where appropriate—providing reassurance, advice and realistic expectations

It is our mission to identify and protect vulnerable people, prevent and respond to harm and keep people safe.

This is a 24/7 service—so you’ll work a rotating pattern across days, nights, weekends and bank holidays. In this role you will work 2 day shifts followed by 2 night shifts and then 4 days off.

Whilst the initial training is full time, Monday through Friday held at Surrey Police Headquarters, we recognise colleagues balance demanding roles with life outside work. Thus we welcome discussion with candidates who want to work full time or part time/flexible hours once they complete and have been signed off on their training and coaching period.

Skills & Experience

You don’t need previous control room experience—we’ll train you—but you do need the mindset:

Calm decision-making under pressure
Strong judgement and common sense
Excellent communication and attention to detail
Emotional resilience (some incidents can be distressing or traumatic)
Confidence working independently and as part of a tight team

You’ll be supported from day one with a structured classroom-based programme and on‑the‑job learning with a dedicated coach—helping you build confidence until you’re fully independent.

Why Work With Us?

While this can be a challenging role, there are many benefits, including the variety the work provides, camaraderie within a supportive environment, working outside the usual 9-5 and the resultant work-life balance. We strive for dispatchers to feel valued and to enjoy a personal sense of achievement through helping people. We recognise how hard our employees work and we aim to provide opportunities for career progression as well as a competitive salary.

Once out of training there is the opportunity to continue to develop, through taking on additional skills and responsibilities such as becoming a coach or mentor.

We take pride in looking after our people and offer a variety of benefits;

Starting salary of £29,151 (once you have completed initial training, providing you work the full shift pattern an allowance of £6,802 will be paid in addition bringing the total salary to £35,953)
180 hours annual leave, rising to 209 hours depending on your length of service.
Progressive approach to flexible working, enhanced maternity and paternity leave and potential for a career break (after two years’ service).
Great training and development opportunities that support future career progression (e.g. becoming a coach, supervisor or Duty Manager).
Opportunity to join various support networks, staff associations and sports clubs.
Access to discounts / savings / cash-back rewards including the Blue Light Card which provides its members with access to more than 15,000 discounts from large national retailers to local businesses across categories such as holidays, cars, days out, fashion gifts, insurance, phones and many more.
Access to private healthcare schemes, which attract preferential rates, including up a year’s free membership for new members (subject to terms and conditions).

Please use the following links for more information on the benefits of working with Surrey Police

Further Information

For further information please do contact the Recruitment Team on: Recruitment@surrey.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.

This post is being advertised in parallel with Force redeployment processes. Any redeployees who are identified will be given preference. This may result in the post being withdrawn at any point during the recruitment process.

Please note that not all jobs are available for internal candidates across both Forces, the current agreed recruitment principles are;

vacancies in collaborated units are available to all officers and staff across both Forces
vacancies in non-collaborated units are only available to officers and staff within the Force with the vacancy unless it is advertised externally
if the vacancy is advertised externally and an officer or member of staff from the other Force is successful it will result in a transfer of employment

Surrey Police and Sussex Police Special Constables, Volunteers and Agency Staff (excluding self employed workers) covered under the Agency Worker Regulations (AWR) are eligible to apply for internal advertised posts.

Apply