HMICFRS Force Liaison Lead Secondment

Job summary

HMICFRS independently assesses the effectiveness and efficiency of police forces and fire and rescue services – in the public interest. We promote improvements in policing and fire and rescue services to make everyone safer.

We are independent of the Government, police and fire and rescue services. We ask the questions that we believe the public wish to have answered and produce major reports that shine a light on issues at the very heart of policing and fire and rescue services.

Our reports are widely covered by the media and help inform the public of the performance of their local police forces and fire and rescue services. You can find out more about HMICFRS on our website and see some of our recent reports.

Working at HMICFRS gives you an opportunity to make a real difference to the quality of local police and fire and rescue services and the lives of the public.

HMICFRS is a unique organisation with staff seconded or loaned from across the Civil Service, police forces and fire and rescue services. We set ourselves high standards, taking great pride in the quality of work we achieve and the opportunities we create for our staff.

If you would like to talk to someone about this role and what it’s like working for HMICFRS, we would be pleased to hear from you.

Please contact,[email removed] who would be happy to answer any questions.

We are holding a dial-in Teams session about these roles, where you can hear more about them (including from some of our current Force Liaison Lead), and ask questions. This will be held on 4th August 2026 at 2pm.

Access the links below to reserve your spot:

Force Liaison Lead Recruitment Event Tickets, Friday, September 4 • 2 PM - 3 PM GMT+1 , Eventbrite

Job description

Working in HMICFRS as a Force Liaison Lead (FLL) puts you at the heart of our inspection work. FLLs play a vital role in maintaining effective relationships with forces, gathering and assessing information throughout the inspection cycle, and supporting the delivery of HMICFRS’s continuous assessment approach. You will be responsible for leading and delivering the continuous assessment model of inspection in your allocated forces.

You will act as the primary link between HMICFRS and your allocated forces, supporting His Majesty’s Inspector (HMI) and their Chief of Staff in developing and maintaining effective working relationships. You will work closely with chief officers to support improvement activity, helping forces to identify opportunities for development and learn from recognised promising and innovative practice across policing and other organisations.

Leading, supporting and inspiring a team in their inspection duties, you will conduct fieldwork over a set period. This will include formulating recommendations, areas for improvement and writing reports for the public. Developing plans of action for your inspectors, adopting a critical analysis approach, you will lead by example and provide your team with constructive feedback on their performance.

Being innovative and open minded, you will be at the heart of our determination to support the delivery of better and more cost-efficient public services.

You will also work collaboratively by contributing to other inspections in your allocated forces relating to areas such as child protection, crime data integrity and custody inspections.

With a detailed operational knowledge of policing or law enforcement in England and Wales, you will have experience of leading investigations, police response to critical incidents and more complex operations. As a confident and emotionally aware communicator who can make effective decisions in a fast-paced environment, you will be comfortable working with incomplete data to come up with an overall picture and well-considered conclusions.

These roles require a flexible approach and, in return, offer the opportunity to work from home. You will spend most of your time working with your allocated forces, supporting inspection activity and managing key relationships. The role usually involves working with two or three forces, depending on the local context.

You will be able to undertake most planning, analysis and report-writing activities from home, while balancing time spent in force to support the delivery of HMICFRS’s continuous assessment approach.

Due to the business requirements of this role, it is only available on a full-time basis and is not available on a part-time basis. However, other flexible working arrangements will be considered where they can be accommodated alongside the requirements of the role.

These roles are open to substantive Superintendents, or equivalent police staff grades, on level transfer. Applications are also welcomed from substantive Chief Inspectors, or equivalent police staff grades, who will be eligible for temporary promotion to the next grade for the duration of the secondment.

Responsibilities

FLLs act as ambassadors for HMICFRS and consistently demonstrate the highest standards of professional conduct.Regular activities include:

• Leading PEEL continuous assessment inspections for your allocated forces, including planning and fieldwork
• Maintaining relationships with your allocated forces and the relevant office of police and crime commissioner or equivalent, through regular contact, and keeping the forces updated about future inspection work
• Supervising inspection team staff (including associates, peer inspectors and short-term secondees), providing feedback on their performance
• Drafting reports of your force’s PEEL inspections, and working with central HMICFRS teams to ensure the reports are quality assured and edited to a high standard
• Together with the force and HMICFRS analysts, monitoring force performance and ensuring our monitoring portal (including our register of recommendations) is kept up to date and accurate
• Advising the HMI and Chief of Staff on relevant public confidence issues, such as cases of misconduct, matters affecting the chief officer team, police deaths on duty and deaths in police custody
• Dealing with complaints from the public to HMICFRS about your allocated forces
• Supporting other FLLs in their forces where appropriate
• Contributing to other inspections such as child protection, crime data integrity and custody inspections of your allocated forces.

Person specification

Essential criteria

Applicants must currently be employed by a police force in England and Wales at the required level, have obtained approval from their force to be released should they be successful, and meet the criteria below:

• Detailed knowledge of policing and/or law enforcement, its management and how policing and law enforcement operates within England and Wales
• Experience of leading and motivating teams to deliver high-quality outcomes, including performance management, planning, prioritisation and delivery to deadlines.
• Experience of presenting to and building effective relationships with senior-level stakeholders and partners, with proven experience of influenc