Parliamentary and Constituency Assistant

Responsibilities

• Supporting the MSP’s constituency and parliamentary work, including communications via email, letter and telephone, maintaining and managing the MSP’s diary and providing support.
  • Assisting in arranging and preparing for visits, events, meetings, surgeries and other constituency and parliamentary activities as required. Arranging briefing papers and speeches.
  • Extracting and compiling papers and briefing notes for meetings. Communicating with other MSPs and MPs and their staff, Councillors and local authority officers, and parliamentary officials.
  • Attending meetings and events as and when required.
  • Making travel arrangements as and when required.
  • Attending surgeries when required to assist the MSP in dealing with constituent issues.
  • Representing on behalf of MSP as and when required.
• Gathering and distributing data that supports MSP’s activities.
  • Keeping knowledge of policy areas and local issues up-to-date.
  • Collaborating with colleagues from different service areas across the Parliament and in the constituency.
  • Performing some casework-related research and responding where necessary – providing some support with casework when required, includingworking with caseworkers to deal with and manage casework, and investigating and responding to issues raised through correspondence, telephone calls, emails and surgeries.
• Producing materials that effectively convey MSP’s aims and activities to the general public and media.
  • Keeping up-to-date with current media developments.
  • Building and maintaining relationships with stakeholders.
  • Corresponding with constituents and local campaign groups.
  • Assisting with press briefings, speeches, presentations and other written materials as requested.
  • Working with the media as requested to promote the MSP’s work locally and nationally, including monitoring the media keeping the MSP briefed and up-to-date on developments, and drafting basic press releases, speeches, articles, presentations and other written materials.
  • Undertaking basic research, including providing timely and accurate research on a wide range of policy issues, delivering written and oral briefings as required, and creating newsletters, reports and other external written materials, including proactively engaging internal and external expertise where appropriate.
  • Updating the MSP’s website and social media as requested.
  • Assisting with the creation of social media content as requested.
• Carrying out general office administration and acting as front of office for enquiries.
  • Assisting with administrative procedures, ensuring documents are easily retrievable.
  • Responding to incoming correspondence.
  • Coordinating, tracking and monitoring the handling of enquiries and ensuring they are dealt with timeously and professionally.
  • Drafting written correspondence such as emails, letters, requests for information and parliamentary questions and motions.
  • General administrative duties as required.
• Maintaining office records and compliance with data protection.
  • Maintaining filing system and managing records.
  • Ensuring compliance with data protection legislation and GDPR requirements.
  • Ensuring administrative and secretarial support is provided.