Senior Markets Service Officer

Fixed Term / Secondment Opportunity – 12 Months

Be a Leader in the UK’s Most Awarded Markets Service

Hackney is one of the most dynamic and progressive local authorities in the UK. We are a resilient, vibrant, and creative borough in the heart of London, with strong, diverse communities and a powerful set of shared values.

Over the past twenty years, the Council has built up first-class services, outstanding public infrastructure, and a reputation for excellence, innovation, and ambition. We are leading the way on essential work such as our fight for equity in Hackney with a particular focus on becoming an actively anti-racist borough. But the work doesn’t stop there, we are proactive in our approach to bringing fairness to all aspects of life including gender, neurodiversity and across the poverty divide.

Hackney’s markets are part of the identity of the borough.

From established destinations such as Broadway Market and Ridley Road to neighbourhood trading locations across Hackney, they support independent businesses, create jobs, bring people into our town centres and high streets and provide affordable routes into entrepreneurship.

Our Markets, Shop Fronts & Street Trading Service has received 22 national awards in seven years and has built a national reputation for innovation, sustainability and support for small businesses.

We are now looking for a Senior Markets Service Officer who can help us build on that success.

This is an opportunity to lead busy frontline operations, work directly with businesses and communities and make decisions that have an immediate and visible impact on Hackney’s streets.

The role

No two days will be the same.

You could start the morning deploying officers and preparing a market for opening, work with a new trader to resolve a licensing issue, tackle an operational problem on site, support a business experiencing difficulties and finish the day reviewing occupancy, income or compliance performance.

You will be one of the senior operational figures representing the Council across our markets and street trading locations.

You will help ensure our sites are safe, welcoming, commercially successful and professionally run, while balancing the different needs of traders, residents, visitors and the wider community.

Your responsibilities will include:

– Leading frontline operations, coordinating activity on site and making sound decisions when issues arise.

– Supporting and developing colleagues, setting clear standards and helping officers and operational teams deliver a confident and consistent service.

– Building strong relationships with traders, helping existing businesses succeed and supporting new entrepreneurs into trading.

– Growing occupancy and income, identifying opportunities to fill pitches, attract new traders and strengthen the commercial performance of our markets.

– Managing licensing and compliance, carrying out inspections, resolving problems proportionately and escalating enforcement where necessary.

– Improving income collection, helping prevent and reduce arrears while treating businesses fairly and consistently.

– Maintaining high standards in the public realm, identifying hazards, defects, obstructions and other issues and making sure they are addressed quickly.

– Using data and operational intelligence to identify problems, track performance and improve how the service operates.

– Working with partners across the Council and with external agencies to resolve complex issues.

– Supporting events, campaigns and service improvement projects that bring new audiences and businesses into Hackney’s markets.

Who we are looking for

You do not need to have worked in a market before.

We are interested in people who know how to lead busy, customer-facing operations and who can combine good judgement with strong relationships and commercial awareness.

Your experience might come from markets, retail, hospitality, events, town-centre management, licensing, logistics, enforcement, environmental services or another operational public-facing environment.

What matters is what you can bring to the role.

You will need:

– Experience of leading or coordinating frontline operations in a busy environment.

– The confidence to make decisions, solve problems and deal calmly with challenging situations.

– Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build credible relationships with businesses, colleagues, residents and partners.

– Commercial awareness and an understanding of how occupancy, customer experience and operational standards contribute to income and business success.

– The ability to balance excellent customer service with regulation, compliance and consistent application of rules.

– Good written communication, record keeping and organisational skills.

– Confidence using digital systems, including Microsoft Office, CRM or case-management systems and mobile technology.

– The ability to organise competing priorities and maintain standards during busy trading periods.

Most importantly, we are looking for someone who enjoys being visible, talking to people and taking ownership.

What success looks like

You will know you are making a difference when our markets are well run and welcoming, problems are dealt with quickly, traders understand what is expected of them and officers feel confident making good decisions.

You will also help us increase occupancy, improve income collection, strengthen compliance and create opportunities for more independent businesses to trade in Hackney.

This is a role where the results of your work are visible every day.

More than day-to-day operations

You will also have opportunities to contribute to wider initiatives across the service, including:

– Supporting new traders and young entrepreneurs into business.

– Developing seasonal, cultural and community market activity.

– Trader recruitment and business engagement campaigns.

– Sustainability and environmental initiatives.

– Improving licensing and customer journeys.

– Emergency planning and operational resilience.

– Testing new approaches to how markets and public spaces are managed.

Our service has previously delivered initiatives including Hackney’s Zero Plastic Markets, youth and cultural market programmes and targeted trader recruitment campaigns.

A genuinely frontline role
We want to be clear about the working pattern.
This is not predominantly a desk-based role.

You will spend much of your working week at markets and street trading locations across Hackney, working directly with colleagues, businesses and the public.

The post requires every Saturday and at least two Sundays each month, as well as some evening and public holiday working.

For the right person, that is also part of what makes the role different. You will be leading the service at the times when our markets are busiest and when your leadership can have the greatest impact.

Why Hackney?

You will be joining a service with a strong track record but with the ambition to keep changing and improving.

Our markets support hundreds of independent businesses and form an important part of Hackney’s local economy and identity.

You will have the opportunity to gain experience across operations, commercial development, licensing, business support, compliance, events and place management.

It is an unusually broad operational role and an excellent opportunity for someone looking to build the experience needed for their next step into operational or service management.

As a Council, our most outstanding asset is our staff, who are highly dedicated to serving our residents and committed to our goals as an organisation.

If you want to work in a place where you can represent our values so we achieve the best for our residents, please click on the apply button below.

We operate a fair and open anonymous selection process. Therefore, we do not accept supporting statements or CV’s.

To proceed with your application, you will need to create an account and submit your application.

As part of the application process, you will need to complete a number of competency based questions. These questions allow you to demonstrate your suitability for the role and provide examples of your skills, knowledge and experience outlined in the job description.

We understand the benefits of using AI in the workplace. However, if you are thinking of using this tool to submit your application, we ask you to think about what value it will add. AI tools tend to lack the personal touch and authenticity we value in candidates. We encourage you to showcase your unique knowledge and skills using your own voice.

Closing date for applications: 12 November 2026 (22.59)

Interview date: TBC

Please note – we reserve the right to close applications early if we receive a high number of applications.

We are also working towards our vision, which is to be a place for everyone; where residents and staff can be proud. In order to achieve this, we are seeking individuals who embody our “PROUD” values: Purpose and Respect, where we foster belonging through active inclusion, kindness, and open dialogue; Ownership, where we champion proactive collaboration and accountability for our shared success; and Unity and Diversity, where we work as one Council to break down silos and champion anti-racist behavior.

Hackney Council works to eradicate discrimination on the basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.We also recognise that people can be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will also work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class. We also welcome those interested in flexible working. We particularly welcome applications from disabled people, as this group is currently under represented in our workforce.

The Council has a dedicated employment support service (Hackney Works), which offers Hackney residents guidance in relation to applying for jobs. If you are thinking about applying for a job, please contact the Hackney Works team to find out what support is available: hackneyworks@hackney.gov.uk

Documents

• Senior Markets Service Officer - JD/PS