As a firefighter, you’ll constantly be learning new skills and developing your knowledge.

Although it can be a challenging career, you’ll always have support from your team, as well as TFS.

Career development pathway

The immediate career path for a Firefighter is to become a fully qualified firefighter. The TFS requires all firefighters to reach the classification of Senior Firefighter.

The interim steps within this career path are:

  • Firefighter after 6 months – has gained the competencies required by the TFS and has 6 months experience;
  • Firefighter after 12 months – has gained the competencies required by the TFS and has 12 months experience;
  • Firefighter after 24 months – has gained the competencies required by the TFS and has 24 months experience;
  • First Class Firefighter – has gained the competencies required by the TFS and has 36 months experience;
  • Senior Firefighter – has gained the competencies required by the TFS.

Once they’re Senior Firefighters, many firefighters choose the leadership career path. This provides greater responsibilities in the management of emergency incidents, people and resources within the Region.

The first step in this career path is to become a Leading Firefighter. A Senior Firefighter can achieve this position by completing a range of competencies and successfully participating in the Leading Firefighter Assessment Block which is usually held once a year.

A Leading Firefighter is qualified to Station Officer level, which is the first level of supervision in the TFS.  A Station Officer is a crew leader and controls the response to an emergency incident. A Leading Firefighter becomes a Station Officer by successfully applying for a vacant position and being appointed on merit.

A Station Officer can gain further competencies to become a Senior Station Officer, who may manage a group of stations or a shift of Firefighters.  

The leadership career path within the brigade continues with the position of District Officer. A District Officer may manage all the operations of a brigade, take on specialised management responsibilities within the brigade including district management and volunteer support, and learning and development. The career path culminates with the positions of Deputy Regional Chief and Regional Chief. The Regional Chief provides leadership and direction to all career and volunteer brigades within the geographical area of responsibility; North, South or North West. The Regional Chief is also the Brigade Chief, the head of the career brigade area and holds statutory responsibilities under the Fire Service Act 1979. The Deputy Regional Chief assists the Regional Chief with the strategic management of the Region.

There are opportunities to move into higher levels of management outside the region, including Deputy Chief Officer and Chief Officer, who is the head of the TFS