Public sector jobs in Derry~Londonderry

Health and social care is the biggest source of public sector work in Derry~Londonderry. The Western Health and Social Care Trust runs Altnagelvin Area Hospital in the city and employs thousands of people across the west of Northern Ireland. Schools and the Education Authority, Derry City and Strabane District Council, the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service provide most of the other jobs. Pay rules, job sites and criminal record checks work differently from Great Britain.

Altnagelvin and the Western Trust

Altnagelvin Area Hospital is the main acute hospital for the north west and has an emergency department, so it recruits across nursing, medicine, allied health, laboratory, catering, portering and admin. The Western Trust also runs the South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen and community services across its area. In Northern Ireland health and social care are run together, so the trust also employs social workers, care staff and family support workers. The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service HSC Trust covers 999 calls.

Staff are on Agenda for Change bands, but each year’s award needs funding from the Northern Ireland Executive. For 2026/27 the pay review body recommended 3.3 per cent, and the Health Minister wants to pay it, but no payment date had been confirmed in October 2026. The salary on the advert is the best guide to current pay. HSC posts are listed on the HSC jobs site, and they do not appear on NHS Jobs. The NHS in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland explains how the systems differ.

Schools and the Education Authority

Teachers in Northern Ireland have their own pay scale, which has no M1 point. The latest confirmed award is 4 per cent from 1 September 2025: M2 is £32,916, M4 is £37,809 and M6 is £43,830, with the upper pay scale at £47,390, £49,104 and £50,876. There was no confirmed offer for 2026/27 in October 2026. Teachers must be registered with the General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland.

Derry has controlled, Catholic maintained, integrated and Irish-medium schools. The Education Authority recruits many classroom assistants, school support staff and youth workers, while teaching posts are usually advertised by the school or its managing body. Teacher pay in Northern Ireland has the full scale.

Derry City and Strabane District Council

The council covers the city, Strabane and the rural areas between and around them. Councils in Northern Ireland do less than English unitary councils: education, social care, most roads and social housing are run by other bodies. The council’s own jobs are in waste and recycling, leisure centres, parks, environmental health, building control, community development, tourism and arts, and economic development. It advertises on its own website.

Police, fire and civil service

The PSNI recruits officers through periodic campaigns and has a large police staff workforce. Police pay in Northern Ireland is set separately from England and Wales. The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service follows the UK-wide NJC award, so firefighters earn £31,539 in development and £40,358 once competent from 1 July 2026.

The Northern Ireland Civil Service has offices in Derry, and its general competitions for grades such as administrative officer and executive officer are run through HRConnect. A pass puts you on a merit list, and offers can come months later for posts anywhere in Northern Ireland, so check where you are willing to work before you apply. Ulster University’s Magee campus and North West Regional College are also large employers, on their own pay scales.

Checks, tax and cross-border work

Criminal record checks come from AccessNI:

Check	Fee
Basic	£16
Standard	£16
Enhanced	£32
Eligible volunteers	Free

Income tax and National Insurance in Northern Ireland are the same as in England, and most people have a 1257L tax code. If you live across the border in County Donegal and work in Derry, or the other way round, special rules for cross-border workers decide where you pay tax and social insurance. HMRC and the Irish Revenue Commissioners can tell you how they apply to you. Public sector pensions in Northern Ireland have their own administrators, so read the scheme guide your employer gives you. Public sector jobs in Northern Ireland covers the wider system, and public sector jobs in Belfast covers the regional headquarters there.