Principal Policy Officer

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM

Innovation and Change in Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories. Where people use their vision and commitment to open doors for the next generations. 

Nothing beats the feeling of helping someone find their passion. At Westminster City Council, our City Lions team helps young local people engage with culture, creativity and dreams. When they came across a lonely, isolated 16-year-old who called himself a failure, they knew what to do. They worked 1-2-1 to find the thing this boy really loved. YouTube, it turned out. But it’s impossible to turn that into a career, right? Wrong. A week later, he was enrolled on the British Film Institute film-making programme. It was the ultimate light-bulb moment. And it turned him into what he is today – a budding Spielberg with a world of opportunity at his feet. 

The Role:

As our Principal Policy Officer, you can make your own powerful contribution to ensuring the wellbeing of residents, visitors, workers and businesses. More than that, you’ll help to shape the future of the city by crafting and implementing policies and strategies to foster a Fairer Westminster. Focusing on areas such as Licensing, Place and Infrastructure, you will collaborate closely with a diverse array of partners and stakeholders to ensure all voices are heard and consensus on key issues is reached wherever possible. From research to analysis, advisory to proactive policy development, the work is varied and challenging. Your projects will have significant impact in the city and, in some instances, on a national scale.

You will need to cultivate a broad network of contacts including government agencies, community organisations, industry associations, advocacy groups and academic institutions to inform policy development and provide useful insights, resources and perspectives. We’ll look to you to achieve the delicate balance between protective measures for the public and the need to progress and address new challenges in innovative ways.

As the Principal Policy Officer, you will play a pivotal role in shaping and implementing Westminster After Dark, the council's inaugural evening and night-time strategy. This will drive further policy development related to the evening and night-time environment as well as licensing policies, ranging from Street Trading and Markets to Alcohol and Sexual Entertainment Venues. Furthermore, you will collaborate closely with colleagues within Policy and across other departments to collectively assess the Council's policy approaches aligned with the Council's Fairer Westminster Priorities.

About You:

You’re likely to have a background in a political environment, where you will have been involved in policy or strategy development, ideally in local government regulatory issues. You’ll bring considerable skills in engagement and negotiation and will be used to fostering partnerships and productive working relationships.

This is a fast-paced environment and you will typically carry a large caseload, so energy and good organisation will be important to your success. It’s a high profile role that offers exposure to Cabinet Members, senior council officers and senior leaders within partner organisations, so you’ll need exceptional powers of communication and persuasion, including highly developed presentation skills. You’ll also have good intellectual abilities and will be quick to grasp and process new information.

The Council is committed to achieving diverse shortlists to support our desire to increase the number of staff from underrepresented groups in our workforce. We especially encourage applications from a global majority background and, while the role is open to all applicants, we will utilise the positive action provisions of the Equality Act 2010 to appoint a candidate from a global majority background where there is a choice between two candidates of equal merit. If you are from a Global Majority background, you can self-declare this to the hiring manager as part of our positive action commitments. 

What We Offer:

Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to more than 200,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster. 

Westminster City Council’s strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster. A Fairer Westminster is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city’s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.

At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that, at all levels, represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best, that is the Westminster Way. To find out more about how we do this visit  https://www.westminster.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/public-health-strategy-policies-and-reports/equality-duties 

As a forward thinking Council we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working.

The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application , we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever possible.

Closing date: 28 April 2024.

Interview date: Week commencing 6 May 2024.

Contact details for an Informal Discussion: Kerry Simpkin, Head of Licensing, Place and Infrastructure Policy ksimpkin@westminster.gov.uk