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Democratic Services Officer

Employer
Essex County Council
Location
England, Essex, Chelmsford
Salary
£24735 - £28845 per annum
Closing date
26 Mar 2021

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Democratic Services Officer

Permanent

Full Time, 37 hours per week

Up to £28,845 per annum

Location: Chelmsford / remote

Closing Date: 7th March 2021

Job Purpose:

The role of Democratic Services is to deliver effective and high-quality Appeals and Committee Administration, Member Support, election and induction processes and to promote community engagement and understanding of the democratic processes of the Council.

This role operates in the political environment of the authority and requires an understanding of the need for tact and diplomacy alongside a requirement to be accurate in work delivered. The Democratic Services Officer is important to the effective delivery of the democratic process across the Council.

The role is part of a team responsible for providing comprehensive administrative support to the Council's formal decision making committees and support to one of the Council's political groups. The postholder will be required to provide advice and guidance to elected members, senior officers and other stakeholders to make sure that the decisions meet the statutory framework. There will also be a requirement to provide support to other parts of the service such as clerking school admission appeals.

Whilst training would be provided to the right applicant, we would be particularly interested to hear from candidates with existing experience in supporting regulatory committees. Applications from people with a background in customer services or complaints handling would also be encouraged.

We are also recruiting to a Member Enquiries Officer post, to provide maternity cover for approximately nine months from early May. For more information about this role, please visit the Working for Essex website.

Accountabilities

  • Undertakes a broad range of project work, with responsibility for delivering against set objectives. This includes election work and committee management. Clerks meetings of the Council and any other committees as directed including preparing the agenda, minutes and reports.
  • Delivers effective administrative support to elected members, various committees and groups. Provides support through a variety of administrative tasks to ensure Essex County Council standards are met and maintained.
  • Delivers a clerking service to Statutory School Appeals and provides advice and support for the appeals process.
  • Supports member information and development activities as directed by managers within Democratic Services.
  • Provides guidance, advice, training and support to Members on corporate policies and procedures such as dealing with expense claims or declaring interests or gifts.
  • Responsible for providing advice to Members in the preparation of responses to residents to ensure stakeholder engagement within the council and to maximise engagement across the local community in Essex.
  • Supports project implementation across a broad and diverse range of media to maximise the opportunity to achieve local community objectives.
  • Supports the Democratic Services Team to ensure the successful delivery of an annual programme of events including Civic functions, member away days and training working with external organisations and partners to ensure standards are maintained.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

  • Educated to an A-level standard including English and Maths at Grade 'C' and above or equivalent by experience.
  • ADSO Certificate in Democratic Services Knowledge, or willingness to work towards it, is desirable.
  • Evidence of continuing professional development and good knowledge in a political or policy environment and Local Government.
  • Good experience of providing administration service for high level meetings including writing minutes.
  • Excellent ICT skills including Microsoft applications and specialist systems. Experience of a Committee Management system is desirable.
  • Good organisational skills and an ability to work to tight deadlines, prioritise own work, use own initiative and be self motivating.
  • Excellent interpersonal and organisational skills, with the ability to work to tight deadlines and prioritise own workload.
  • Experience of working in a sensitive political environment with the ability to be tactful and diplomatic.
  • Experience of conducting research and working on projects.

Essex County Council is proud to offer an excellent benefits package to all its employees. For more information please visit the Working for Essex website.

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

We seek the best talent from the widest pool of people as diversity is key to our success.

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