Public sector jobs in Manchester

Manchester’s public sector work is shared between Manchester City Council, the Greater Manchester bodies that cover all ten boroughs, a set of large NHS trusts and government departments with big offices in the city and neighbouring Salford. Anyone living in Manchester is realistically looking at jobs across several council areas, because the city-region’s hospitals, offices and depots straddle borough boundaries.

Two layers: the city and the city-region

Manchester City Council is the local authority for the city itself. It employs social workers, housing and homelessness officers, environmental health staff, refuse crews, library assistants and a large back office, and it employs the staff in its maintained schools. Salford City Council and Trafford Council run the same services next door and advertise separately.

Above the ten borough councils sits the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, led by an elected mayor. It runs transport through Transport for Greater Manchester and holds police and fire functions. Greater Manchester Police and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service recruit across the whole area. How councils are organised sets out how the structure fits together.

The NHS in Greater Manchester

NHS Greater Manchester, the area’s integrated care board, plans health services and also employs commissioning, finance and analyst staff (what integrated care boards do). The large hospital employer in the city is Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Manchester Royal Infirmary, Wythenshawe Hospital and the specialist children’s and eye hospitals among others. Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust runs mental health services, and North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust covers emergency and 111 work across the region.

Pay is the national Agenda for Change scale with no local supplement. From 1 April 2026, band 2 is £25,272, band 3 runs from £25,760 to £27,476, band 5 from £32,073 to £39,043 and band 7 from £49,387 to £56,515. A hospital system this size advertises admin and clerical posts at bands 2 to 4 constantly, and NHS admin jobs explains what each band involves.

Civil Service offices

Manchester and Salford host regional centres for several departments, and civil servants here work on everything from tax and benefits processing to policy and digital projects. Each department sets its own pay ranges for its grades, so an executive officer in one building can earn a different amount from an executive officer in the next. For 2026/27 departments could raise their overall pay bill by up to 3.5 per cent. That is a budget limit and no guarantee of a rise for each person. Civil Service grades and pay explains the grade ladder.

Comparing pay across employers

Employer type	Starting point, 2026/27
Council (NJC spine, SCP 3)	£25,614 from 1 April 2026
NHS band 2	£25,272 from 1 April 2026
Police constable (PP1)	£32,255 from 1 September 2026
Firefighter in development	£31,539 from 1 July 2026
Teacher, M1	£34,069 from 1 September 2026

The NJC council figure is calculated from the 2025 spine plus the agreed 3.3 per cent. The teacher figure is the rate accepted by the government, and maintained schools pay it once the 2026 pay document is in force. All of these sit above the National Living Wage of £12.71 an hour for full-time hours, though the hourly picture changes for part-time and term-time staff.

Applying from Manchester

NHS trusts in Greater Manchester advertise mainly on NHS Jobs, with some using Trac. Each council uses its own careers page, so check Manchester, Salford and Trafford separately. Civil Service roles are on Civil Service Jobs, where you can search by town. Police staff, PCSO and officer roles are on Greater Manchester Police’s own recruitment site.

When weighing offers from two employers, look beyond basic pay. The NHS Pension Scheme, the Local Government Pension Scheme and the Civil Service alpha scheme charge different member contribution rates, and annual leave differs too: NHS staff start on 27 days plus bank holidays, council staff on a minimum of 23 days plus bank holidays and two extra days.