Job Introduction

We are seeking a professional and customer focused Security and Fire Officer to join our established Day Security Team. We are looking for individuals who can work as part of a team, as well as independently, and who can find solutions to problems as they arise. We are currently developing our Security Team to provide 24/7 security cover at the School. 

The role will assist in ensuring a safe, secure environment for our pupils, staff, and visitors. It will involve carrying out checks, logging incidents, and monitoring and controlling access to our site, as well as dealing with any incidents as they arise. 

Security experience is essential, and a knowledge of health and safety is required. The ideal candidates will be friendly and approachable, with excellent customer service and communication skills.  

Role Responsibility

As part of the Site Services team, the post holder will:  

• Maintain the security of the school premises and its contents. This includes patrolling buildings within the Estate  
• Follow procedures to enable access to buildings as required throughout the year, and ensure that all buildings are secured each night 
• Monitor alarms and CCTV 
• Report security & fire incidents through the Incident Reporting System to the rest of the security team
• Communicate any incidents in a daily log 
• Control the allocation of keys through maintaining a daily log 
• Assist Reception in the greeting and receiving of visitors and contractors 
• Assist in the management and set up/down of events
• Be ready to escort visitors or contractors on site
• Understand how to use the Access Control System to provide appropriate access rights for members of the school community 
• Monitor and (as directed) control those entering and leaving Little Dean’s Yard including the use of gates and signage as and when required 
• Work with security from Westminster Abbey to ensure an effective working relationship with others who share the site  
• Test and inspect manual fire call points & inspecting portable firefighting equipment 
• Deliver letters and parcels to the Post Room or as required 
• Maintain appropriate conduct and demeanour and be correctly dressed at all times (uniform will be provided)
• Undertake suitable training to enable the tasks and duties required to carry out the job 
• Carry out other tasks, as may be instructed by the Security and Fire Manager, Head of Site Services, Director of Estates or other senior members of the School Management. 

Please note this job description is not exhaustive. Any significant and permanent amendments to the document will be made after consultation with the job holder. 

The Ideal Candidate

Please refer to the below (attached) person specification.

Equal Opportunities

We are an equal opportunities employer. We therefore encourage candidates to apply irrespective of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion and belief, gender identity, sex or sexual orientation.

Safeguarding and Child Protection

Westminster School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Package Description

Required for: as soon as possible

Location: Deans Yard - Westminster School

Contract: full-time (three days a week), permanent

Hours of work: 12-hour shifts (07:00 - 19:00), Saturday to Monday (inclusive)

Salary: £28,285.92 per annum

Benefits include: 

 - free School meals whilst on duty

 - a generous School pension scheme 

 - free access to the School’s leisure facilities, including a fitness gym (restricted hours) 

 - access the School’s Cycle to Work Scheme and season ticket loans following completion of our standard probation period

The closing date for this role is midday on Wednesday 30th April 2025. Interviews will take place shortly after the closing date.

About the School

Working at Westminster

Westminster School is a busy, purposeful and vibrant place to be and an excellent workplace. The community is made up of 750 pupils, 120 teaching staff and 108 support staff.

Westminster School is friendly and welcoming, and all newcomers quickly become part of the rhythm of life here.

There is a real sense of community here as, being a boarding school many members of staff and pupils live on site and the School’s premises are very much treated as a home away from home. School life starts before breakfast and continues way beyond the working day; as a result, there is always a lively atmosphere in and around School and always someone to share a tea and biscuit with in the Common Room. Support staff as much as teaching staff are encouraged to embrace the School’s day-to-day activities, whether that be attending an evening concert or a morning service in the Abbey.

At Westminster we will always select the best candidate for every position. We do know, however, that we can only truly choose the best person on every occasion if a broad and diverse pool of candidates see the job advertised and are encouraged to apply.

As such, we continue to work on how our job roles are encountered, and particularly welcome applications from groups who have traditionally been underrepresented here.

Westminster School is for everyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or any other protected characteristic. We hope you are encouraged to apply.

The School

Westminster School is an independent day and boarding school for boys aged 13-18 and girls aged 16-18, with a long history, a distinctive ethos, and a unique sense of place in the very heart of London. Pupils achieve exceptional examination results and entrance to some of the top universities in the world. It is a busy, passionate and purposeful place where independent and deep thinking is enjoyed, encouraged and respected by all, and where holistic excellence is nurtured and valued.

While the School is one of the foremost centres of academic excellence in the country, its commitment to academic life does not make it a hothouse for passing examinations. Pupils’ success at examinations and entry to leading universities is instead a result of their enjoyment of academic enquiry, debate and search for explanation, well beyond published syllabuses. Pupils are intellectually, socially, ethically and politically engaged and our aim is to ensure that their enthusiasm for learning is developed further, allowing them to take full advantage of the opportunities presented to them in the future. At Westminster, pupils have the freedom to lead on projects outside of the classroom and embrace a whole range of extra-curricular activities and interests. A host of pupil-led societies take place every week at the School, often with expert guest speakers, and pupils can choose to study an additional language, play an instrument or two, volunteer in local primary schools, row along the Thames, take part in plays and musicals, and much more. 

The School’s ethos resides in the enduring values of the liberal tradition reflected in the 1560 Charter of Westminster’s Elizabethan foundation, where it is stated that: ‘the youth which is growing to manhood, as tender shoots in the wood of our state, shall be liberally instructed in good books to the greater honour of the state’. Whilst academic and cultural attainments are highly prized at Westminster, the School is fully committed also to each pupil’s spiritual, moral, emotional and physical development and wellbeing – with a particular emphasis on drawing out individual talent wherever it lies – and to prepare young people for fulfilled private and public lives.

From September 2028, the School will welcome both girls and boys at 13+ entry, offering a Westminster education to all. By 2026, Westminster Under School will have opened its brand new pre-prep for girls and boys at 4+ and girls will have joined boys in Years 3 and 7, at the 7+ and 11+ entry points. By 2030, all year groups at Westminster School and Westminster Under School, from ages four to 18, will be fully co-educational, reflecting the School’s dedication to inclusivity and excellence. 

Westminster School