Business Manager

Surrey County Council; Reigate and Banstead; Hybrid; GBP 53,000 - 62,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government authority is seeking a Business Manager to Cabinet and the Chairman, providing essential strategic and operational support within a fast-paced environment. The role requires collaboration with senior leaders and effective management of key priorities. Applicants should have strong stakeholder relationship management skills and experience in project management. This fixed-term position offers a competitive salary and encourages hybrid working to promote a balanced work environment.

Benefits

26 days' holiday

Local government pension

Employee Assistance Programme

Wellbeing discounts

Opportunity to buy extra leave

Qualifications

• Ability to navigate complex political landscapes.
• Experience running complex projects effectively.
• Confidence to build strong stakeholder relationships.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic support to the Leader of the Council.
• Manage multiple priorities and sensitive requests.
• Lead Cabinet Support and Chairmans Office teams.

Skills

Stakeholder relationship management

Project management

Team leadership

Political awareness

Operational support

Job description

Business Manager to Cabinet and the Chairman

Details

• Reference: SCC/TP/421232/4418
• Positions: 1
• Contract type: Fixed term
• Working hours: 36 hours per week
• Posted on: 22 January 2026
• Closing date: 11 February 2026
• Directorate: Resources
• Location: Woodhatch Place, 11 Woodhatch Road, Cockshot Hill, Reigate

We are committed to the development of our workforce.This position is only available to applicants who already work for Surrey County Council.We thank you for your interest in our roles and would encourage you to review our vacancies which are open to all.

This role has a starting salary of£53,713per annum, based on a 36-hour working week.

This is a fixed term contract / secondment opportunity. For internal candidates interested in a secondment position, please discuss with your Line Manager before submitting your application.

Any secondment can run until 31st March 2027. Any fixed term contract may run beyond 31st March to provide cover until May 2027.

We are excited to be hiring a Business Manager to Cabinet and the Chairman, working as part of our Leadership Office team. The team is based in Woodhatch, Reigate but the role is open to hybrid working and as a team we split our time between collaborating with colleagues in the office for 2 days a week and working from home.

Our Offer to You

• 26 days' holiday, rising to 28 days after 2 years' service and 31 days after 5 years' service
• Optionto buy up to 10 days ofadditionalannual leave
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Up to 5 days of carer's leave and 2 paid volunteering days per year
• Paternity,adoptionand dependents leave
• An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources
• Wellbeing and lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, and shopping
• A chance to make a real difference to the lives of our residents

About the Role

The Leadership Office plays a central role in ensuring the smooth running of the organisation and aligning its work with Surrey County Council's wider priorities, including the commitment that no one is left behind. The team provides comprehensive and dependable support to the Chief Executive, the Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) and Cabinet Members, enabling senior leaders to focus on their core responsibilities. In addition to supporting senior leaders directly, the team works closely with colleagues and partners across the council, aiming to be responsive, constructive, and solution-focused. It continually looks for practical ways to improve its approach and ensure that it adds value across all areas of its work.

The Leadership Office is committed to providing an excellent service experience. It has developed a strong internal reputation and strengthened the processes and practices that allow it to support senior leaders effectively and consistently.

The Business Manager to Cabinet and the Chairman provides strategic and operational support to the Leader of the Council, ensuring the execution of complex tasks and high impact projects. The role sits at the heart of the Council and works in a fast paced environment, managing multiple priorities and requests that can often be of a sensitive nature and require discretion to be applied appropriately.

As a Business Manager you will be required to work flexibly both in terms of executing planned and unplanned tasks, meeting deadlines and the requirement to adapt to their stakeholders priorities as required. The role requires a solution focused approach, and the ability to work collaboratively across the organisation with key stakeholders and senior officers to enable decisions to be executed swiftly and confidently.

As well as supporting Cabinet and the Chairman, the role has a key deliverable in people management. They are responsible for building, maintaining and supporting key stakeholder relationships with the Cabinet, Corporate Leadership Team and the Chairmans Office.

The Business Manager has line management of two teams within their remit – the Cabinet Support Team and the Chairmans Office and is responsible for leading these teams.

Your Application

In order to be considered for shortlisting, your application will clearlyevidencethe following skills and align with ourbehaviours :

• Ability to understand and navigate a complex political and organisational landscape, recognising how decisions are influenced by internal and local priorities, national pressures, partnership relationships, and public expectations, and using this understanding to build and maintain effective relationships with key stakeholders.
• Knowledge / understanding of the organisational challenges and priorities for the organisation at Corporate Leadership level.
• Capability to support senior leaders and/or elected members effectively, including preparing clear briefings and reports, managing a forward plan of priorities and helping ensure agreed actions are followed through.
• Experience running complex projects from start to finish, making sure they stay on track and support the wider aims of the organisation.
• Experience and capability of line management of a team, to lead, manage and develop delivery of key organisational deliverables andhigh qualityperformance.
• Confidence to build strong internal and external stakeholder relationships amongst peers to enable strong collaboration and drive strategic initiatives.

To apply, werequestthat yousubmitaCVand you will be asked the following application questions:

• Tell us about a time you were responsible for steering a complex piece of work with multiple stakeholders who had different priorities or pressures. Please provide the context, the steps you took to understand the competing priorities or pressures, and how you managed these to ensure the delivery of a shared goal/outcome.
• Demonstrate a time when you have had to line manage a team with difficulties – for example, low morale, conflict or resistance to change. Please give the situation, the actions you took and the outcome.
• Provide an example of a time where you have demonstrated your ability to drive continuous improvement by identifying opportunities within a team you have worked in. Please state how you identified this, and how you lead the piece of work from concept to delivery.

Applicants are asked not to use AI tools to write their application. We want to understand your own experience, judgement and communication style, and it is important that the examples you provide reflect your personal work and abilities. This helps us assess each applicant fairly and ensures that the information we consider is accurate and genuinely representative of the person applying. You are welcome to use standard tools for spelling and grammar checks, but the content of your application should be your own. Thank you for helping us maintain a fair and transparent selection process.

Beforesubmittingyour application, we recommend you read the job description &OurLife at Surrey handbook to get an insight into working at Surrey.

Contact us

Please contact us for any questions relating to role requirements, flexible working requests, transferable skills or barriers to employment. For an informal discussion, please contact Natalie Weakner.

The job advert closes at 23:59 on Wednesday 11 th of February 2026 with interviews planned for Monday 23 rd of February to Wednesday 25 th of February 2026.

Local Government Reorganisation

Surrey County Council is undergoing Local Government Reorganisation, moving from a two-tier system to two new unitary councils in April 2027. If you are employed by Surrey on 1st April 2027, your role will transfer with current terms and conditions to one of the new organisations, supporting local devolution and greater powers for our communities.

We are a disability confident employer which means if you have shared a disability on your application form and haveevidencedyou meet theminimumcriteria, we guarantee you an interview.

Your skills and experience truly matter to us. From application to your first day,we'recommitted to supporting you with any adjustments you need, we value inclusion and warmly welcome you to join and help build a workplace where everyone belongs.