Interim Senior Democratic Services Officer

Interim Senior Democratic Services Officer

Location: South East England

Job type: Contract

Salary: Up to £375 per day / approximately £52 per hour

Discipline: Local Government & Public Sector Legal Recruitment Specialist

Reference: J96897

Locum Senior Democratic Services Officer - Full Time - Initial 3 Months+ - South East based Local Authority - Up to £375 per day

Venn Group's specialist Public Sector Legal & Governance team are currently recruiting for a Locum Senior Democratic Services Officer to join a Local Authority on an interim basis.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced Democratic Services professional to take responsibility for a varied committee workload, provide procedural and constitutional advice and support the wider delivery of the authority's democratic functions.

Role Details:

Position: Locum Senior Democratic Services Officer
Working Arrangement: Full Time, hybrid working with office attendance approximately twice per week
Duration: Initial 3 months+, with potential for extension
Start Date: ASAP
Rate: Up to £375 per day, approximately £52 per hour

Duties may include:

• Acting as lead officer for allocated committees, panels, scrutiny groups and other formal meetings
• Preparing and coordinating agendas, reports, minutes, work programmes and statutory notices
• Attending committee and other meetings, including some evening meetings, to provide procedural and clerking support
• Providing high-quality constitutional and procedural advice to Members, officers and other stakeholders
• Supporting non-committee decision-making processes
• Drafting briefing papers, reports, policies and recommendations for Member consideration
• Undertaking research on governance and democratic services matters
• Supporting Member training, development and induction programmes
• Building effective working relationships with elected Members, senior officers, partner organisations and members of the public
• Supporting wider Democratic Services responsibilities, including complaints, petitions, information requests and project work where required
• Supervising and mentoring junior colleagues and deputising for senior team members where required
• Maintaining awareness of developments in local government governance and democratic practice
• Supporting elections and wider corporate responsibilities where required

Candidate Requirements:

• Previous Local Government Democratic Services experience
• Strong committee management and clerking experience
• Good knowledge of local authority governance, constitutional arrangements and decision-making processes
• Experience providing procedural advice to elected Members and officers
• Strong report writing, minute taking and research skills
• Ability to manage multiple meetings and competing deadlines independently
• Confident stakeholder management and communication skills
• Experience supervising or mentoring junior staff would be advantageous
• Flexibility to attend evening meetings where required

Job Reference: J96897

Venn Group is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all candidates.

Due to the high volume of applications, it is impossible to provide feedback for every applicant. If one of the team has not contacted you within 48 hours, then please assume your application has been unsuccessful in this instance.