Assistant Fire Chief

Great City, Great Work, Great Future!

Assistant Fire Chief - Operations & Community Safety

New Westminster, British Columbia

Employment Status
Regular Full-Time

Pay Range
$191,793 - $204,414 annually + comprehensive benefits package

Closing Date
7/13/26

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Number of Openings: 1

Hours per Week: 37.5 hours per week.

Employee Group: Exempt

Location: Glenbrook Fire Hall #1: 1 Sixth Ave East

Competition #: 1452

As a central hub in the Metro Vancouver area, the City of New Westminster delivers a broad spectrum of urban services to over 92,000 residents. New Westminster is rich in history with a viable and thriving economy and has a population representative of the diversity of the region. The City is staffed by talented and dedicated employees who work together to achieve its strategic vision. We have earned a proud reputation for civic leadership, service delivery, and outstanding employee relations.

New Westminster Fire & Rescue Services is one of the oldest fire departments in British Columbia.  We are dedicated to being on the forefront of technology, fire suppression methods, Pre-Hospital Care and Community Safety.  Our emphasis on diversity, honour, respect, and teamwork helps us achieve our goals.  By joining New Westminster Fire & Rescue Services you will be dedicated to providing fire protection to life and property as well as providing other rescue and safety services. We offer our employees great work-life balance, competitive salaries and benefit plans, education and training opportunities, and challenging and rewarding work.

Position
New Westminster Fire & Rescue Services (NWFRS) has an exciting opportunity for an accomplished fire service leader to become a part of the NWFRS exempt senior leadership team. The position of Assistant Chief of Operations & Community Safety encompasses broad-based knowledge, skills, and ability relating to the Fire Service and municipal management, and supports organizational succession planning.

The Assistant Chief of Operations & Community Safety plays a critical leadership role in achieving the Fire Department’s and the City’s goals and objectives, including the promotion of Inclusion and Diversity, Engagement, Reconciliation, and Innovation.

Reporting to the Deputy Fire Chief of Administration & Community Safety, the position is accountable for key high-level business functions that support administrative, and operational programs, services & emergency response activities.

The Assistant Chief of Operations & Community Safety works closely with the Platoon Captains, Fire Prevention Division, Emergency Management Office, Training Division and Senior Fire Leadership in maintaining service excellence.

The position is available for rotational on-call duty shifts as assigned. Performance is evaluated in terms of effective leadership, attainment of stated management objectives, standards and reinforcement of the Fire Department’s Mission, Vision and Values.

MAJOR ACCOUNTABILITIES
Support Role

• Supports and implements the vision and direction of the City of New Westminster, Fire Chief and New Westminster Fire & Rescue Services in a positive manner.
• Supports the Fire Leadership team on human resources and labour relations matters including: grievance administration, applying corrective behaviours up to and including termination, union-management meetings, investigations, collective bargaining, performance management, and wellness and attendance management.
• Supports emergency response and incident management through Incident Command System (ICS) role at the site level, or through Department Operations Centre (DOC) or Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) as required.
• Provides reasoned and balanced advice, background information and briefing materials to a variety of stakeholders.
• Supports the Fire Prevention Office, Training Division and Emergency Management Office in support of Public Safety.
• Supports Operations through the Platoon Captains and Company Officers.
• Maintains communication, ensuring the Fire Leadership team is apprised of operational developments that relate to the interests of NWFRS and the City of New Westminster.
• Serves as a participating member of assigned diverse boards, committees and organizations either within NWFRS, the City of New Westminster or relevant stakeholders, customers and the community at large.

Leadership

• Provides administrative and operational leadership to staff in service and delivery areas of fire administration, public safety, fire suppression, communications, fleet services and emergency management programs.
• Takes a leadership role in managing employee performance and development.
• Directs Fire Prevention Officers & Fire Platoon Captains on matters related to daily operations, staffing, work assignments, training, motivation, coaching, performance evaluation and leadership.
• Assumes a leadership and project management role as assigned on special projects.  Ensures project accountability including: work plan development, continuous productivity, progress benchmarks and outcomes.
• Prepares guidelines for work performance, expenditures and use of resources.
• Serves as a role model for effective public participation and relationship building with community stakeholders.

Operations

• Participates in strategizing and executing short and long term divisional and individual goals and objectives involving project, business and budget planning.
• Participates in investigations.
• May be required to participate in the preparation and management of department finances.
• Responds to high-risk emergency incidents as required and where appropriate may assume incident command functions.
• Monitors operational resource allocation including deployment of fire equipment and apparatus.
• Ensures policies, procedures and standards are consistently applied and adhered to.
• Builds relationships and ensures collaboration with other City departments regarding initiatives that may have multi-department involvement.
• Provides operational leadership in the areas of Emergency Management, Fire Prevention & Investigation and emergency operations; incident response and management; specialized teams, planning, logistics, infrastructure and capital programs.

Community Safety

• Thorough knowledge of modern fire and rescue standards, EMS procedures, emergency incident management, strategy and tactics; past and current building construction techniques; and the operation of firefighting apparatus, equipment and facilities.
• Thorough knowledge of the methods used in Fire Prevention, Investigations and property file management.
• Considerable knowledge of the applicable codes, standards, regulations and related bylaws governing the safety of fire services personnel and the public.
• Ability to plan, develop, implement, and evaluate Fire Prevention programs; identify deficiencies; recommend and implement solutions; and manage records.
• Ability to provide effective leadership, train, motivate, coach, direct, evaluate staff.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a variety of internal and external contacts, speak in public, and promote and maintain effective public relations for the department.
• Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing, write operational guidelines, and memorandums related to the work.
• Comprehensive understanding of Fire Department software and EDMS.

QUALIFICATIONS AND MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

• Enrolled in a post-secondary program in a related field of study plus ten years of progressive experience in a municipal fire service or an equivalent level of knowledge and experience in Fire Operations, Training and Fire Prevention.
• Fire Inspection and Investigation experience.
• Completion of Fire Officer 3 or equivalent.
• Demonstrated leadership experience
• Legally entitled to work in Canada.
• Possession of a valid B.C. Driver’s License with Class 3 endorsement.
• Emergency Incident Management through a recognized Fire Officer Program
• Sound supervisory experience as a Fire Officer and an equivalent combination of education, training and experience within the Fire Operations/Training and Fire Prevention Divisions.
• Demonstrated computer competency in related business and office suite software programs. business writing competency including briefings, memorandums and reports.
• Available for rotational after-hours on-call duty with a maximum emergency incident response time of 30 minutes from time of notification to on-scene.

NWFRS is looking for an individual who aspires to promote positive change in a dynamic organization and community. If you meet the above qualifications, we'd love to hear from you!

We offer our employees great work-life balance, including competitive salaries, comprehensive health and wellness benefits and retirement plans (a percentage in lieu of benefits for auxiliary positions). We also offer a hybrid remote work schedule in accordance with our Remote Work Policy, opportunities for education and training, and engaging, rewarding work. 

Please apply with your cover letter and resume in one document.  Join a team of enthusiastic and innovative employees, and help us build a vibrant, compassionate, resilient city where everyone can thrive.

To support a workforce that reflects the diversity of our community; women, Indigenous Peoples, racialized individuals, persons of diverse sexual orientation, gender identity or expression (LGBTQ2S+), persons with disabilities, and others who may contribute to diversity of our workforce, are encouraged to express their interest.
New Westminster is on the unceded and unsurrendered land of the Halq'eméylem-speaking peoples. It is acknowledged by the City that colonialism has made invisible their histories and connections to the land.
We are learning and building relationships with the people whose lands we are on.

We thank all applicants for their interest and advise that only those selected for an interview will be contacted