Southwark Council - Councillor Development Advisor

- Expertise in learning and development

- Previous experience of working with Councilor's and senior officers

- Excellent communication skills at strategic senior leadership, councilor and member level

- Previous experience of leading projects, ideally within a local authority setting

- Robust project management skills

- Commitment to the council's values and our ambition to be an ever-more inclusive, anti-racist organisation.

- Understanding and Knowledge of political environment, particularly in local Government

- Skill gap analysis.

- Skills and experience in designing and delivering high profile leadership programmes.

Background

1. Southwark is home to a diverse community of more than 320,000 residents who live in neighbourhoods ranging from Bermondsey and Rotherhithe on the south bank of the River Thames to Peckham, Camberwell and Dulwich. Our borough benefits from a thriving voluntary and community sector, world-class health institutions, and high performing schools. The council itself is one of the largest local authority social landlords in the UK and direct manages over 55,000 homes, which are lived in by nearly 40% of Southwark residents.

1. Since 2018, the borough has been arranged into 23 wards, which are represented by a total of 63 councillors (52 Labour, 11 Liberal Democrat). Elections take place once every four years with the next election due in May 2026. The council operates a Leader and Cabinet model of governance.

Assignment

1. The purpose of this assignment is to lead the design and implementation of a new approach to Councillor Development, which will include delivery of:

• a learning needs analysis

• Councillor Development strategy

• Councillor Development programme

1. The assignment will include extensive engagement with councillors, senior officers, and the teams responsible for providing support to councillors.

1. The role holder will be expected to:

• draw on the best practice resources published by the Local Government Association (LGA)

• ensure all deliverables fulfil the requirements of the LGA's Councillor Development Charter

• adopt a robust project management approach, which includes establishing and managing the governance and reporting arrangements required to support successful delivery of the assignment

1. The anticipated duration of the assignment is six months.

Experience and skills

1. To be considered for this assignment, you will need to be able to demonstrate:

• expertise in learning and development

• previous experience of working with councillors and senior officers

• excellent communication skills

• previous experience of leading projects, ideally within a local authority setting

• robust project management skills

• a commitment to the council's values and our ambition to be an ever-more inclusive, anti-racist organisation

Further information

1. The work location for this assignment is principally 160 Tooley Street, London, SE1 2HZ. There is flexibility to undertake some of this assignment while working remotely. However, certain aspects - such as engagement with councillors and senior officers, for example at meetings or workshops - will need to be undertaken in person.

1. The assignment is available on a full-time or part-time basis.

If you are interested in this role please send your updated CV in the first instance.