Public sector jobs in Stockport

If you want a public sector job in Stockport, the two employers to watch are Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Stepping Hill Hospital, and Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council. Between them they recruit for most clinical, care, office and manual roles in the borough. Schools, the mental health trust and the Greater Manchester police and fire services fill in the rest, and Manchester is close enough for a daily commute.

Stepping Hill Hospital and community health

Stockport NHS Foundation Trust runs Stepping Hill Hospital and also provides community health services across the borough, so its vacancies range from emergency department and ward posts to district nursing, health visiting and community therapy. Those community jobs suit people who want NHS work without hospital shifts, though they usually mean driving between home visits.

Mental health care in Stockport comes from Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, which also covers several other Greater Manchester boroughs, so some of its posts are based outside Stockport. Mental health nurse: training and jobs covers the qualified route into that work. North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust handles 999 calls and crews.

The NHS employers pay Agenda for Change rates for England from 1 April 2026.

Band	Pay	Examples
2	£25,272	Healthcare assistant, housekeeper
4	£28,392 to £31,157	Assistant practitioner, team administrator
5	£32,073 to £39,043	Staff nurse, occupational therapist
6	£39,959 to £48,117	Community nurse specialist, senior therapist
7	£49,387 to £56,515	Ward manager, advanced practitioner

Most NHS vacancies in the area go on NHS Jobs, although some trusts use Trac. How to use the NHS Jobs website explains alerts and how to save a draft application.

Stockport Council

Stockport is a metropolitan borough, so one council runs all local services: adult social care, children’s services, education, housing, highways, planning, waste, libraries and leisure. Its headquarters is in the town centre. Social workers, occupational therapists, care staff, environmental health officers and admin roles come up regularly.

Pay follows the NJC spine. From 1 April 2026 that starts at £25,614 (SCP 3), about £13.28 an hour for a 37-hour week, and reaches £56,293 at SCP 43. The NJC pay spine lists every point. Council staff join the Local Government Pension Scheme, where 2026/27 contributions are 5.8 per cent of pay between £18,401 and £29,000 and 6.5 per cent between £29,001 and £47,300. You can pay half that in the 50/50 section and build up half the pension, which some people use for a short period when money is tight.

Police and fire

Stockport is covered by Greater Manchester Police and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, both overseen by the elected mayor of Greater Manchester. You apply to the force or the fire service, then get posted where you are needed, which may or may not be Stockport.

From 1 September 2026, constables appointed now start on £32,255 and reach £52,015 at the top of the scale. Firefighters earn £31,539 in development and £40,358 once competent from 1 July 2026, and watch managers £45,711 to £50,034. Both services also recruit control room staff and civilian support teams.

Schools

Stockport has a mix of maintained schools and academies, with the council acting as local authority for the maintained ones. Primary and secondary vacancies appear on the council’s schools job pages, on academy trust sites and on Teaching Vacancies. Teachers outside London start on £34,069 (M1) from 1 September 2026, with maintained schools applying the new rates, backdated, once the 2026 pay document is in force. Teaching assistants, midday supervisors and office staff are paid on the NJC spine, mostly term-time only.

Working further afield

Stockport station has frequent trains to Manchester Piccadilly, and buses run north into the city and south towards Cheshire. That puts the large Manchester teaching hospitals, the city council and a range of Civil Service offices within reach without moving house. Pay on national scales is the same either side of the boundary, so the deciding factors are usually travel time and parking costs. Public sector jobs in Manchester covers the main employers there.