Public sector jobs in Gloucester

Gloucester is the county town of Gloucestershire, so Gloucestershire County Council at Shire Hall is one of its biggest employers. Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust runs Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in the city. The county’s community and mental health trust, Gloucester City Council, schools and Gloucestershire Constabulary account for many more jobs, and GCHQ, about ten miles away in Cheltenham, takes on a lot of people who live in Gloucester.

The county and city councils

Local government here has two tiers. The county council runs adult social care, children’s services, education services, highways, libraries, public health and Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service, with many staff based at Shire Hall. Gloucester City Council is the district council, responsible for housing, planning, environmental health, waste and leisure within the city.

Both pay on the NJC spine. From 1 April 2026 it starts at £25,614 (SCP 3) and rises to £56,293 at SCP 43. Professional roles such as social workers and planners usually sit in the middle of that range, and the advert shows the council’s own grade alongside the salary. Council staff join the Local Government Pension Scheme. In 2026/27 a member earning between £29,001 and £47,300 pays 6.5 per cent in the main section, or half that in the 50/50 section, which builds up half the pension.

Gloucestershire Hospitals and community health

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust runs Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and Cheltenham General Hospital, and has been concentrating different specialist services on each site. For a trust job, check which hospital it is based at and whether the post involves working across both. They are well connected by road and bus.

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust provides mental health, learning disability and community physical health services across the county, including community hospitals and district nursing. South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust covers 999 calls.

Agenda for Change rates for England apply from 1 April 2026. Band 2 is £25,272, band 4 runs from £28,392 to £31,157 and band 5 from £32,073 to £39,043. Assistant practitioners, nursing associates and senior admin staff are often at band 4, and NHS band 4 pay and jobs lists the roles at that level.

GCHQ and security-cleared work

GCHQ in Cheltenham employs analysts, technologists, linguists, mathematicians and a full range of corporate and support staff. It recruits through its own careers site rather than the general Civil Service route. Every post needs national security vetting, which takes longer than ordinary pre-employment checks and goes into your background in detail. Under the Civil Service nationality rules, posts of this kind are reserved for UK nationals.

Each GCHQ advert publishes its pay range, which the organisation sets itself. Technical people who would rather skip security vetting can look at other departments, which recruit digital and data staff across the country; digital and technology jobs in government covers the main professions. The standard checks used elsewhere are described in pre-employment checks.

Police and fire

Gloucestershire Constabulary covers the city and county. A constable appointed now starts on £32,255 from 1 September 2026 and moves up yearly to £52,015 at the top of the scale. The force also recruits PCSOs, call handlers, investigators and civilian staff. Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service is part of the county council and pays national rates: £31,539 for firefighters in development and £40,358 once competent, from 1 July 2026. Many of its stations are crewed by on-call firefighters.

Schools

Gloucestershire still has selective grammar schools, including in Gloucester, alongside comprehensive academies and maintained primaries. Teacher pay outside London starts at £34,069 (M1) from 1 September 2026 under the accepted award, and maintained schools pay it, backdated, once the 2026 pay document is in force. Support staff are on the NJC spine and usually paid term-time only.

Bristol is under an hour away by train and has two large hospital trusts, a city council and many national offices. Public sector jobs in Bristol covers them.