Participation and Engagement Officer

About the Borough

Found in zone 6 with good transport links in and out of London, Kingston is a vibrant and diverse university town which creates the rich sense of community shared across the borough and its Residents. Kingston boasts an idyllic riverside location, good shopping and great restaurants, as well as a mix of modern and historic town centre. Kingston has lots of open parklands and cycle routes that help connect the district town centres into an enjoyable place to live and work.

We are passionate about working closely with our residents and vulnerable groups to help them maintain their independence and create a balance between support and independent living.

About the Service and Team

We are a cross-council strategic function which supports the council’s priorities and delivers clear, authentic and timely messaging and engagement to build trust, share key information and encourage participation in council decision-making. Our team works across multiple disciplines, collaborating with service colleagues, councillors, senior leadership, partners and other external stakeholders. We provide expert advice on effective engagement and research, focusing on involving all residents and communities in shaping services and policy development. The role reports directly to the Corporate Participation and Engagement Manager in the Communications and Engagement service.

About the Role and Our Ideal Candidate

About the role
This role supports the development of participation and engagement plans and activities across a wide range of projects aimed at improving access to services, enhancing service design and delivery, and strengthening the overall customer experience. The goal is to ensure that people in Kingston are able to maximise their independence.

You will also support service improvement initiatives, including:

• Increasing the number of people we engage with, both digitally and face to face, while taking a more targeted and strategic approach to engagement
  
  
• Actively engaging underrepresented groups to ensure that all voices are heard and that diverse needs are considered in how services are delivered
  
  
• Improving how we close the feedback loop so that residents clearly understand how their input has informed decision-making
  
  

About you

Essential skills include the ability to work effectively with key stakeholders within and outside the Council. A strong commitment to personal and professional development is important in order to respond to the evolving demands of the role. You will also show innovation and creativity, actively contribute to positive cross-organisational communication and teamwork, and communicate clearly, confidently, and appropriately with colleagues using the most effective methods for the task. In addition, you should have a strong understanding of corporate engagement requirements, with experience in engagement planning, including designing processes and creating templates within a local authority setting. Knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies is essential, along with the ability to analyse engagement feedback and communicate results clearly. Experience in stakeholder mapping is also required.

Our Offer to You

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits to enable staff to achieve a work life balance, some of which include:

• A generous annual leave entitlement of 25-32 days, plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply) depending on service and grade.
• Enhanced Maternity, Paternity, shared parental, adoption and dependents leave
• Three volunteering days per year in Kingston
• Hybrid working (dependent on the role)
• Flexible and agile working arrangements using Google Chromebooks
• Learning and development portal offering a range of courses
• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Electric vehicle leasing scheme
• Confidential health & wellbeing and counselling support

Application Process

Apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application and check your CV details have been uploaded correctly in the relevant sections.

We understand and recognise the benefits of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workplace and are embracing AI where appropriate, to boost our productivity and streamline how we deliver our Council services efficiently; to provide the best possible outcomes for our residents and communities.
However, we reserve the right to reject applications where it is apparent that AI-generated content has been used in isolation and without personalised responses. At Kingston we value authenticity and are looking for individuals who can clearly demonstrate their own skills, experience and motivation for the role that they are applying for and embrace and demonstrate our STAR values.
Here at Kingston we have core values of Transparency and this is to be demonstrated during the application process and completion of the supporting statement and will be further tested at interview and selection stage for those who progress forward.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

As part of our award winning Diversity Programme we anonymise all applications received to reduce conscious and unconscious bias enabling every application to be reviewed on the knowledge, skills and experience shown in your application. We encourage our interview panels to be as diverse as possible (age, cultural, neurodiverse etc.) to reduce bias where possible. We are fully committed to removing barriers and enhancing the diversity of our workforce.

Additional Information

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough and we strive to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and instil a sense of belonging in our staff. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce, therefore we welcome applications from under represented groups.

To support our workers and their families we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are also proud to be a disability confident employer and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role. As an accredited London Living Wage Employer all our employees are guaranteed the London Living Wage regardless of their length or type of contract.

The UK has a points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance. Sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.