Public sector jobs in Portsmouth

The Royal Navy shapes Portsmouth’s public sector. HM Naval Base Portsmouth is home to much of the surface fleet, and the city has a large serving and ex-forces population. For civilians, the main employers are Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, Portsmouth City Council, the schools and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight police and fire services, all paying on national scales with no local weighting.

The naval base and defence jobs

The base does not recruit serving personnel; that happens nationally. Armed forces pay rose by 3.6 per cent, backdated to 1 April 2026, with new entrants starting at £27,282 for other ranks and £35,926 for junior officers (armed forces pay).

Civilian Ministry of Defence jobs at the base, in administration, logistics, finance and support functions, are advertised on Civil Service Jobs. Much of the engineering and maintenance work is done by private defence contractors under contract. Those roles are not Civil Service posts even when they are on the base, so check the employer name on any advert.

Moving from the forces into civilian public service

Service leavers often move into public sector jobs where discipline, shift work and uniformed experience count: police, fire, ambulance, prisons, Border Force and NHS estates or security. A few practical points:

• Police constables start at £32,255 (PP1, from 1 September 2026). See how to become a police constable.
• Firefighters start at £31,539 in development and reach £40,358 once competent (from 1 July 2026). How to become a firefighter covers the fitness tests and selection.
• Civil Service departments set their own pay per grade. Some public employers run guaranteed interview schemes for veterans who meet the minimum criteria for a job, and the advert says if this applies.
• Employers pay no employer National Insurance on a qualifying veteran’s earnings up to £50,270 a year for a period after they leave the forces (HMRC sets the conditions). The saving goes to the employer, not to you, but it is one reason some employers actively recruit service leavers.

Changing career into the public sector covers how to translate service experience into an application that scores well against a person specification.

Queen Alexandra Hospital and health services

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust runs Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham, the main acute hospital for Portsmouth and south-east Hampshire. Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust provides mental health and community services, and South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust covers 999 calls.

Band	2026/27 pay	Examples
2	£25,272	Porter, housekeeper, healthcare support worker
4	£28,392 to £31,157	Assistant practitioner, team secretary
5	£32,073 to £39,043	Staff nurse, radiographer
8a	£57,528 to £64,750	Service manager, consultant practitioner

Portsmouth City Council

Portsmouth City Council is a unitary authority covering Portsea Island and the mainland suburbs. It runs social care, children’s services, housing (it is a large landlord), waste, highways, libraries and school support. Pay is on the NJC spine, which rose by 3.3 per cent from 1 April 2026, with SCP 3 at £25,614. Hampshire County Council covers neighbouring areas such as Havant and Fareham and recruits separately.

Police, fire and schools

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service cover the city. Constables move from £32,255 at PP1 to £52,015 at PP7 on the scale from 1 September 2026. Firefighters who move into supervisory roles earn £42,892 to £44,742 as crew managers and £45,711 to £50,034 as watch managers from 1 July 2026. Both services also employ civilian staff in control rooms, fleet, IT and HR, whose pay is set locally. Teachers start at £34,069 (M1) from 1 September 2026 under the award accepted by the government, and school support staff are paid on the NJC spine, usually term-time only.

NHS roles are on NHS Jobs, Civil Service and MOD roles on Civil Service Jobs, and school roles on Teaching Vacancies. The council, police and fire service advertise on their own sites.