Public sector jobs in Middlesbrough

James Cook University Hospital is the biggest public sector workplace in Middlesbrough. South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust runs it, and it is the major trauma centre for a wide area of the North East and North Yorkshire. Middlesbrough Council, the town’s schools, Cleveland Police and Cleveland Fire Brigade make up most of the other public jobs, and nearly all of them pay on national scales.

South Tees Hospitals and other NHS employers

James Cook handles major trauma, cardiothoracic surgery, neurosciences and other specialist work, so the trust recruits across a wider range of clinical roles than a typical district hospital. That includes theatre staff, critical care nurses, radiographers, clinical scientists and specialist therapists as well as ward staff, porters and admin teams. South Tees works in a group arrangement with North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, so some management and support roles cover both organisations.

Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust provides mental health and learning disability services across Teesside, and North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust covers emergency calls. All pay Agenda for Change rates for England from 1 April 2026: band 2 at £25,272, band 5 from £32,073 to £39,043, band 6 from £39,959 to £48,117 and band 7 from £49,387 to £56,515. NHS Agenda for Change pay bands has the full table.

Middlesbrough Council

Middlesbrough Council is a unitary authority. It runs adult social care, children’s services, education support, housing services, highways, waste and leisure for the town. Heavy financial pressure in recent years has brought restructures, so some teams are changing. Ask about that at interview.

Most council posts are on the NJC pay spine, starting at £25,614 (SCP 3) from 1 April 2026. The Tees Valley Combined Authority, which has an elected mayor, has staff working on transport, skills and economic development across Middlesbrough, Stockton, Redcar and Cleveland, Hartlepool and Darlington.

Police and fire

Cleveland Police covers Middlesbrough, Stockton, Redcar and Cleveland, and Hartlepool. It recruits constables through the routes set by the College of Policing, along with detectives, PCSOs, call handlers and staff in forensic, IT and finance roles. Constables appointed on or after 1 April 2013 are paid on this scale from 1 September 2026:

Pay point	Annual salary
PP1	£32,255
PP2	£33,609
PP3	£34,972
PP4	£36,335
PP5	£39,058
PP6	£44,544
PP7	£52,015

Officers normally move up one point a year, subject to performance. Overtime, shift allowances and some specialist roles add to these figures. How to become a police constable explains the entry routes, and police pay scales covers sergeants and above.

Cleveland Fire Brigade pays national firefighter rates under the NJC award: £31,539 for a firefighter in development and £40,358 when competent, from 1 July 2026. Crew managers earn £42,892 rising to £44,742, and watch managers £45,711 to £50,034. The brigade also recruits fire control staff and on-call firefighters.

Schools

Middlesbrough’s schools are mostly academies in multi-academy trusts, with some maintained schools. Teachers start on £34,069 (M1) from 1 September 2026 under the award the government accepted in July. Maintained schools pay the new rates once the 2026 pay document is in force, backdated to September. Support staff are on the NJC spine in most schools, often term-time only. Vacancies are listed on Teaching Vacancies and on trust websites.

Getting around Teesside

Many people who live in Middlesbrough work in Stockton, Redcar or Hartlepool, and the reverse. North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust runs the University Hospital of North Tees in Stockton, and each of the other boroughs has its own council. Searching the whole of Teesside turns up many more vacancies at the same national pay rates. Further north, public sector jobs in Sunderland covers the employers there.