Principal Democratic Services Officer

Role Responsibility

We are looking for two enthusiastic governance professionals to join and take a leading role in a team that:

• Processes and advises on Executive decision-making in line with the constitution and relevant legislation.
• Organises and supports all meetings of the council, cabinet, overview and scrutiny committees to ensure they function in accordance with statutory and constitutional requirements.
• Provides an effective and efficient support service for other meetings, decision making processes and independent appeals.
• Supports the effective governance of the authority by advising Members and Officers on policy and procedure for formal Executive and Committee decision-making.

You must have a good understanding of local government as you will lead a team that advises Officers and Elected Members. You will prepare agendas, reports and minutes, organise meetings, respond to correspondence and assist with the maintenance of work plans. You will have experience of working in a local authority governance role and supervising or managing staff.

Working as part of a professional and friendly team in a challenging and stimulating environment, you will be organised, accurate, able to think logically, plan ahead and be able to work under pressure to pre-determined deadlines.  You will be an effective and experienced communicator, accustomed to engaging with senior people in an organisation when dealing with complicated and sensitive matters. In particular, you will be confident and tactful in dealing with elected Members and Senior Officers, showing political sensitivity and an understanding of the local authority landscape. You will also have an excellent standard of written English and be competent using Microsoft Office 360, Microsoft Teams and be able to learn new programmes like Modern.Gov.

Please note, KCC supports flexible working, including remote / home working but there is an expectation of some office-based work in addition to attending and supporting Council meetings in person at Sessions House, County Hall, Maidstone.  Travel both inside Kent and out of the County to attend and support external meetings at other venues will also be required from time to time.

This post is considered by KCC to be a customer-facing position. The Council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English/Welsh sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the Job Description/Person Specification.

This post is subject to a Basic Disclosure Application to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Interviews – week commencing 28 March 2022. Candidates invited to interview may be asked to complete a written exercise for submission prior to interview.

Contact Details

For further information regarding this role, please contact:

Joel Cook

Tel: 03000 416892 |  Email: joel.cook@kent.gov.uk

About the Company

KCC is committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the county's working residents, encouraging applications from people of all ages, abilities, genders, sexual orientations, ethnic backgrounds and faiths, and aspires to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves at work.

Please note – if you are interested, please apply as soon as possible as the closing date for this advert may be earlier than stated should a number of suitably qualified candidates apply.