Do you have experience managing Democratic Services? Are you ambitious and up for a new challenge?

If the answer to these questions is yes then we are looking for an experienced democratic service professional to take on a new role to lead Democratic Services across three local authorities.

The successful candidate will work closely with Cotswold, Forest of Dean, and West Oxfordshire District Councils delivering their democratic processes and decision-making. The Democratic and Committee Services Team has a wide ranging remit and as well as working with three local authorities this role will support three Chief Executives and Returning Officers to facilitate scrutiny, and enable decision making, and elections. 

Key elements of the role include:

• Leading and managing a distributed team of professionals working across three district councils who are responsible for supporting 121 elected councillors and 29 committees
• Supporting Returning Officers delivering various elections including parish, district, county, Police Crime Commissioner, and General Elections
• Working closely with the Publica Leadership Team, Council’s Chief Executives, Monitoring Officers, and Democratic and Committee Services Team, leading continuous service improvement

If you would like to arrange an informal discussion about the role please email Suzanne Jones (Strategic Resources & Programme Delivery Manager) at suzanne.jones@publicagroup.uk

Want to know more about the role?

We have a new exciting opportunity for an experienced democratic and/or committee services professional who will provide visible and effective leadership and operational management of the team and functions, empowering staff to deliver effective and transparent democratic decision making for the councils.

Your primary role will be to manage the democratic and committee services teams that are embedded in each of the three councils for whom Publica provides these services.  You will bring your experience of democratic and committee services to bear by ensuring that the teams in each council have proper and efficient processes in place to deliver democratic decision-making and scrutiny through their cabinet, council and committee meetings.  You will manage the annual schedules of meetings and make sure that agendas, minutes and other committee documents are produced in a timely and appropriate manner.  You can expect to have considerable involvement with elected councillors, council leaders, chairs of committees and senior colleagues.  You will ensure that the three council teams work together in a coordinated and agile manner to provide mutual support.  You will also provide management support for the elections teams at each council – and with each council on a different electoral timetable and a footprint in both Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire, there is rarely a year without an election of one kind or another across our partnership of councils.

This is a demanding role that will suit an experienced democratic or committee services professional who is either already managing a democratic services team or who is ready to step up into this new position.  By working for three councils at the same time, we can offer you a challenging and exciting role with the opportunity to gain experience at three times the normal rate!  There is a lot to do, but this is a key role and we are committed to supporting you and will appoint a Group Manager and Business Manager to guide and coach you and you will be part of our leadership development program. 

This could be your next step if you are developing your career in the field of democratic and committee services. 

You will need…

• To be educated to degree level and/or have equivalent experience in a relevant area - local government committee services
• Experience of working in a political environment and demonstrable track record of good political awareness
• A track record of successful service management including:
  • Management and supervision of staff including setting shared objectives, managing performance, appraisal, development, motivation and productivity
  • Experience of managing services through organisational change
  • Experience of preparing, negotiating and managing budgets
  • Development of service plans and delegation of key tasks within such plans
• Significant experience working with internal/external customers, partners/clients and elected members
• Ability to influence the strategic direction of a service area

For more information about this role please see the Job Description/Person Specification.

If you would like to arrange an informal discussion about the role please email Suzanne Jones (Strategic Resources & Programme Delivery Manager) at suzanne.jones@publicagroup.uk

Special Conditions…

• Use of a car for work purposes
• BPSS
• This post is designated as politically restricted in accordance with the Local Government and Housing Act 1989. Politically restricted post holders are restricted from canvassing on behalf of a political party or for a person who is, or seeks to be, a candidate for election to a local authority, the House of Commons, or the European Parliament.

Who are we…

Publica is a unique place to work – we’re a local government organisation with a twist! Publica wants to transform the way local services are delivered. To help do this we have started to fundamentally rethink the way we design our services in the digital era so that Publica is a customer focused organisation driven by real user needs.

What can we do for you…

• agile working allowing a mix of home and office working
• flexible working arrangements
• 26 days paid annual leave (pro rata if you are working part time) plus bank holidays and an extra two volunteering days off a year for you to support a charity of your choice
• health cash plan giving you cash back on health, dental and eye care
• pension scheme with an employer contribution of 5% of your earnings
• Employee Assistance Programme 24/7, providing positive, preventative and supportive advice and counselling to deal with everyday events and issues
• cycle to work scheme
• salary sacrifice car lease scheme with huge tax and NI savings to be made on electric cars
• access to digital financial advice (covering your pension scheme, mortgages and other finances)
• generous sickness cover above statutory entitlements
• additional income protection, covering 50% of your salary for potentially a further five years if you are unable to work due to sickness or injury
• life assurance, currently four times your annual salary

Terms and conditions apply

These are just a handful of the benefits that you can enjoy when you join us!

Closing date:   Sunday 13th February 2022 at midnight

Interview date: Staged interviews on Monday 28th February 2022

If you feel this is the role for you please email your CV and supporting statement detailing how you meet the criteria above by clicking on the ‘Apply' icon within this page.

Your application will not be considered if you have not provided a supporting statement, in addition to your CV.

Accredited to the disability confidence scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy/ies - Please state this within your covering statement or in a separate email.

Safer recruitment practises are applied to all job vacancies. Successful candidates will be required to complete a pre-employment medical questionnaire; provide references;  proof of identity; nationality and immigration status; three years’ employment or education history (if applicable) and, in some cases, verification of criminal record.

Do you consider that you have a disability?

Publica has signed up to 'Disability Confident' commit to encourage applications by offering an interview to those who declare they have a disability, if the person meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined on the person specification.

Please indicate on your covering letter if this applies to you.

Download Job Description and Person Specification