Democratic Support Officer (14760)

Why Work for us: Employee benefits (southampton.gov.uk)

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Democratic Services team at Southampton City Council, working as a permanent, full time, Democratic Support Officer.  The Democratic Services team is an agile, busy team supporting effective political governance of the Council.  The team are also responsible for the coordination, delivery and management of the Independent Education Appeals Service for Southampton Schools.

As a Democratic Support Officer you will  play an important role in the delivery of the council’s constitutional and decision-making process, providing expert advice and support to elected councillors and senior leaders.  You will have specific responsibilities including the preparation and publication of committee agendas, reports and minutes as well as participating in other activities supporting the democratic and school appeal processes. 

We are looking for someone who is an innovative, enthusiastic and flexible team player, who can work both independently and collaboratively with colleagues in a busy deadline driven environment with:

• Relevant administrative or governance experience, within a local government setting.
• Exceptional organisational skills, attention to detail and to be able to work well under pressure at pace.
• Confident communicator who is cognizant of the issues of working in a sensitive, political environment
• An excellent standard of written English and able to demonstrate a good set IT literacy skills within Microsoft 365 suite of packages, including MS Teams and SharePoint.
• An understanding or experience of working with the ‘modern.gov agenda management’ system would be advantageous although not essential.

We operate a flexible working environment with a mix of home and office based working, which is dependent on meeting the needs of the business. Due to the nature of the role there will be an element of evening working to support committee meetings. 

Contact details for informal discussion:

For further information and details regarding the position please contact one of the Senior Democratic Support Officers: Claire Heather claire.heather@southampton.gov.uk  or Judy Cordell judy.cordell@southampton.gov.uk 

Recruitment contact details:

Email: recruitment@southampton.gov.uk
Tel: 023 8083 4033

Additional information:

• The working hours for this role are 37 hours per week
• This is a permanent position.   
• This post requires a DBS check.
• For any posts that require a DBS check, if you have lived outside the UK within the last 5 years, you will be required to provide a Certificate of Good Conduct or a police certificate from the country/countries you have resided in. Kindly note that this is at the expense of the candidate, as well as any costs involved for translating into English.

How to apply:

To apply for the position please select the 'Apply for this job' button at the bottom of the page.

The supporting statement section of the application form must be completed, unless there are specific criteria questions for you to evidence against. Applications are shortlisted against the essential and desirable criteria found within the job description for the post. Please refer to the job description when completing your application form and evidence how you meet the required criteria/questions. A CV on its own will not be considered.

Unfortunately we are not able to accept applications that are made through a third party agency. We cannot guarantee that any correspondence sent from third party agencies will be responded to. To ensure your application is received please apply directly through our website.

We are proud to be #DisabilityConfident and support fair recruitment practices. Find out how you can get involved at gov.uk/disability-confident.  No applicant or employee will receive less favourable treatment because of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership and pregnancy or maternity, unless a Genuine Occupational Requirement (GOR) applies.

Southampton City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults.  It is committed to delivering services to ensure they are happy, safe and have opportunities to reach their goals as responsible members of our community.  We believe it is always unacceptable for a child, young person or adult to experience abuse of any kind, and recognise our responsibility to safeguard and promote their welfare.  We are committed to following safe practices to ensure this and expect all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment.  This commitment is reflected in all our recruitment and selection practices.

As a Corporate Parent we are actively aiming to support all our children in care (looked after children) and care leavers. Any applicants who are children in care or care leavers, who meet the essential criteria for the post applied for, will be guaranteed an interview.