Democratic Services Officers (Committees)

1 x permanent post

1x 1 year FTC

This is a fantastic opportunity to work within a very high-profile team in one of the most dynamic and interesting boroughs in London supporting our continuous improvement journey.

We are recruiting for at least two officers to work at the heart of Tower Hamlets Council in the Council’s modern, professional and friendly Democratic Services team.

The role of a Democratic Services Officer (Committees) is to provide efficient and high-quality support to the Council’s decision-making processes and meetings including administrative support to meetings, providing accurate advice to the public, Members and senior officers and maintaining a good understanding of relevant Constitution sections and related procedures.

These are interesting and varied roles. It is possible that both successful candidates will be allocated to support the Council’s Scrutiny work or both successful candidates may be allocated to the wider Committee work of the team.

At the heart of both areas of work is a requirement to work independently and accurately to ensure key commitments and deadlines are met, whilst liaising with internal partners, senior officers and political leaders to ensure that the Council’s decision-making functions can operate appropriately, efficiently and transparently whilst also enabling good public engagement.

Your work base will be the recently renovated town hall in Whitechapel on the former site of the Royal London Hospital located in the heart of the capital’s East End, close to the City of London and a stone’s throw from the thriving neighbourhoods of Brick Lane and Spitalfields. Some working from home will also be required. Attendance at evening meetings, sometimes at short notice, is also required.

The successful candidates will already have an understanding of the work of local government, experience of managing high-profile and challenging Council/Committee meetings and an appreciation of the political nature of this sector. The post-holders will need to exercise sensitivity and diplomacy and will be expected to act in a politically neutral way at all times.

The Council continues to champion digital innovation and utilise smarter ways of working in its day-to-day business. Accordingly, a familiarity with modern communication technology will be important for the successful candidates. Experience of hybrid meeting and webcasting technology would be a bonus.

If this sounds like the right opportunity for you, then please read through the full Job Description, to ensure you meet the required criteria. When completing your application please ensure that you clearly state why you have applied and how you feel you can meet the essential requirements of the Job Description’s Person Specification.

If you would like an open and informal discussion regarding this role then please contact Matthew Mannion, Head of Democratic Services on matthew.mannion@towerhamlets.gov.uk.

'Tower Hamlets vision for our borough is that: people are aspirational, independent and have equal access to opportunities; we are a borough that our residents are proud of and love to live in; and we are a dynamic, outcomes-based council using digital innovation and partnership working to respond to the changing needs of our borough. We want people who aspire to our TOWER values: Together; Open; Willing; Excellent; Respect.

Tower Hamlets has a zero-tolerance approach to, and works to eradicate, all forms of discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital status, status as a civil partner, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy and maternity and looks to employ a diverse workforce representative of those groups. We recognise that people can also be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class. We are a Disability Confident Employer, which means applicants who declare a disability and meet the essential criteria for the post are guaranteed an interview. Care experience has also been adopted by the Council as an additional protected characteristic.

We welcome applicants interested in flexible working arrangements and also applicants who live in the borough.' 

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