Public sector jobs in Belfast

The Northern Ireland Civil Service and the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust are the two biggest public employers in Belfast. The Education Authority, Belfast City Council, the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service account for most other jobs. Northern Ireland has its own recruitment systems, criminal record checks and, in several cases, its own pay awards, so English figures often do not apply.

Northern Ireland Civil Service

NICS staff work in the Executive’s departments, many of them at Stormont and in offices across the city centre. Departments cover health, education, finance, infrastructure, justice, the economy, communities and agriculture, and their agencies. Recruitment runs through HRConnect, with general competitions at grades such as administrative assistant, administrative officer, executive officer and staff officer that produce merit lists used to fill posts over several months. That means you can pass a competition and then wait some time before an offer comes.

NICS grades and pay are separate from the UK Civil Service. UK government bodies also have offices in Belfast, advertised on Civil Service Jobs, and they follow UK departmental pay.

Health and social care

Health and social care in Northern Ireland are run together, through HSC trusts. Belfast Health and Social Care Trust runs the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast City Hospital, the Mater Hospital and the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, along with mental health, community and social care services. The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service HSC Trust covers 999 calls across the region. Because social care sits within the trusts, social workers and care staff are often HSC employees on the same terms as health staff.

HSC jobs are advertised on the HSC jobs site, not NHS Jobs. Staff are on Agenda for Change bands, but the award is decided locally. For 2026/27 the pay review body recommended 3.3 per cent and the Health Minister wants to pay it, but it depends on the Executive’s budget and no payment date was confirmed in October 2026. Check the advert for the current band values.

Teaching and the Education Authority

The Education Authority runs maintained schools’ support services, recruits many school support staff, and employs youth workers and other education staff. Teachers in Northern Ireland have their own pay scale and no M1 point. The latest confirmed award is for 2025/26, 4 per cent from 1 September 2025:

Point	Salary from 1 September 2025
M2	£32,916
M3	£35,185
M4	£37,809
M5	£40,700
M6	£43,830
Upper pay scale	£47,390 / £49,104 / £50,876

No 2026/27 offer had been found in October 2026. Teachers need registration with the General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland. Teacher pay in Northern Ireland has more detail.

Belfast City Council

The council’s responsibilities are narrower than an English unitary council’s, because education, social care, roads and housing are run by other bodies in Northern Ireland. It covers waste collection, leisure centres, parks, building control, environmental health, community services and economic development. It advertises jobs on its own website.

Police and fire

The PSNI recruits officers in campaigns and also employs a large police staff workforce. Officer pay in Northern Ireland is set separately from England and Wales. The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service follows the UK-wide NJC award: £31,539 for a firefighter in development and £40,358 once competent, from 1 July 2026.

Checks, tax and pensions

Criminal record checks for Northern Ireland jobs are done by AccessNI. A basic or standard check costs £16 and an enhanced check £32, and checks for eligible volunteers are free. Income tax and National Insurance are the same as in England, with a standard 1257L code for most people. Public sector pensions are run separately in Northern Ireland (the HSC, NICS and local government schemes have their own administrators), so check the scheme guide your employer gives you. Public sector jobs in Northern Ireland covers the wider system, and DBS checks explains how the English checks compare.