Democratic Services Officer

Job Title: Democratic Services Officer
Starting Salary: £37,035 opportunity to progress to £40,476 pa (pro-rata for part-time) per annum (pro rata for part time) – pay award pending
Hours: 37.0
Location: Stevenage/hybrid
Contract Type: Permanent
Directorate: Resources

About the team

The Democratic Services Team ensures proper and effective arrangements for all formal Council meetings in accordance with the law and the Council's Constitution, involving 17 different 'types' of meeting and over 130 meetings per year.

The team provide agenda and report development and publication, event co-ordination including pre-meeting briefings, liaison with attendees and external participants, press and public, live broadcasting, electronic voting, constitutional and procedural advice, and minute production.

The team also manage the Corporate Forward Plan of Key Decisions, the Council's petitions scheme, appointments to Outside Bodies, the Independent Panel on Member Allowances, the Disciplinary Statutory Officers Panel, the Council's programme of meetings and deal with constitutional and democracy issues such as Member Interests and the Member Code of Conduct.

About the role

We are looking for a talented, enthusiastic individual with a genuine interest in local democracy, good governance, the law as it relates to local authority meetings, decision-making and administration to join our Democratic Services team.

As a democratic services officer you will play a key role in supporting the Council’s governance and decision-making processes, helping to ensure that formal decision making is open and transparent, provides clear accountability for the use of resources in delivering the Council’s priorities, and that council meetings are managed effectively and lawfully.

About you

Essential:

• Educated to degree level
• Have excellent oral and written communication skills.
• IT Skills, Microsoft Office and Excel
• Forge and maintain relationships with a wide range of professionals.
• Demonstrate the ability to work under pressure and be able to organise and prioritise your workload.
• Be a Team player who enjoys variety and pace in a challenging environment.
• Confidence in advising Members of the Council and senior officers on council meeting and decision-making processes, both in private and in public forum.

Desirable:

• Be able to develop a comprehensive understanding of the Councils’ Constitution and statutory provisions relating to authority meetings.
• Experience in managing meetings within a political or governance environment.
• You will be expected to undertake the Association of Democratic Services Officer’s Certificate in Democratic Services Knowledge where this qualification is not already held.

We welcome applications from candidates who currently reside in the UK with established proof of right to work documentation. We are not able to offer sponsorship at this time for this role.

This job role is within the Corporate Services, level CORP10 job profile. Please locate this via:

Job profiles - Corporate services

To hear more about this opportunity please contact Elaine Shell or Deborah Jeffery on 01992 555565 / 01992 555563.

for an informal discussion about the role.

Interview Date: w/c 28th July 2025

Benefits of working for us

How to apply

As part of your application, please upload your most recent CV. Ensure your CV is up to date with your employment history (including any employment gaps), and including any training/qualifications. We encourage you to include examples of where you have demonstrated the requirements/criteria in the advert / job profile to allow the panel to fully recognise your skills and abilities. You will have the opportunity to include a short covering paragraph within your application to give us a little more information about your skills, knowledge, and experiences.

Additional information

Disability Confident
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

English Fluency
The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required). Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.