Team Leader - Democratic & Electoral Services

Gloucestershire County Council; Gloucester; Hybrid; GBP 42,000 - 54,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible, Hybrid/Agile working

Annual leave 25 days rising to 30

LGPS pension

Training and qualification support

Employee Assistance Programme

Cycle to work

Car salary sacrifice

Employee discounts

Free flu-jabs

Staff networks and equality groups

Job summary

Gloucester City Council is seeking an experienced and motivated team leader to head the Democratic and Electoral Services Team on a maternity cover basis. You will manage the delivery of high-quality democratic services, support Council decision-making, and ensure efficient administration of elections and electoral registrations.

You will lead a small team, collaborate with elected Members and external partners, and oversee committee meetings, constitutional advice, and Member development while

Qualifications

• Experience of working within Democratic and Electoral Services.
• Strong understanding of local government governance arrangements and electoral law.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and provide clear, impartial advice in a politically sensitive environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Democratic and Electoral Services Team to deliver high-quality services.
• Manage delivery of elections, electoral registration and governance administration.
• Provide constitutional advice and support Member development.
• Oversee meetings of Council, Cabinet and committees.
• Develop staff and manage workloads in a politically sensitive environment.
• Support delivery of shadow authority elections as part of local government reorganisation.

Skills

Democratic services

Electoral services

Governance

Stakeholder engagement

Project delivery

IT skills

Tools

Electoral management software

Job description

We are seeking to appoint an experienced, motivated and enthusiastic person as maternity cover to lead our Democratic and Electoral Services Team at the heart of Council decision-making, governance and elections. As Democratic and Electoral Services Team Leader, you will be responsible for managing the delivery of high-quality democratic services, supporting the Council's decision-making processes and ensuring the effective administration of elections and electoral registration. You will lead and develop a small professional team, working closely with elected Members, senior officers and external partners to ensure the Council meets its statutory obligations and maintains the highest standards of governance. The role involves overseeing the administration of Council, Cabinet and committee meetings, providing procedural and constitutional advice, supporting Member development and engagement, and managing the delivery of local and national elections, referendums and electoral registration activities. This will include, alongside the Head of Policy and Governance, playing a leading role in preparations for and delivery of Shadow Authority elections as part of local government reorganisation in Gloucestershire. You will play a key role in ensuring the Council continues to deliver efficient, effective and customer-focused democratic and electoral services and the service is ready for local government reorganisation.

What we need from you

To be successful, you will have experience of working within Democratic and Electoral Services, a strong understanding of local government governance arrangements, constitutional processes and electoral law, and a track record of delivering projects associated with these service areas. You will have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build effective relationships with elected Members, senior officers and external stakeholders. You must be capable of managing competing priorities, working under pressure, exercising sound judgement and providing clear and impartial advice in a politically sensitive environment. You will have experience of leading staff, managing workloads and delivering. A high standard of IT skills and experience of committee management and electoral management software is essential. Applicants must be able to undertake evening work on a regular basis, particularly in support of Council meetings and elections, and provide their own transport. This is a flexible role involving a combination of remote and office-based working. The council is not currently able to offer sponsorship in this role. Candidates will need to have right to work that enables them to commit to at least 6 months employment. Right to work is not transferable from a sponsored role held with another employer. It is a legal requirement, under the Immigration Act 2016, that anyone appointed to a 'customer facing role' must be able to demonstrate an ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in fluent English.

Gloucester City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people or vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Equality and Diversity

We recognise the positive value of equality and diversity and pride ourselves on growing a high-performing workforce that is diverse, skilled and talented; that represents the community it serves. We aim to recruit a diverse pool of talent and will recruit the person who is most suited to the job without regard to their race, colour, religion or belief, age, nationality, ethnicity, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, caring responsibilities or disability. We are a disability confident employer committed to removing barriers to employment to those with disabilities or long-term health conditions. Reasonable adjustments will be made to the recruitment procedure to ensure that no-one is disadvantages because of their disability. Please contact the recruitment team if you require support or reasonable adjustments during the application or recruitment process Further information on our commitment to Equality and Diversity can be found.

We are a dynamic local authority providing essential services to the people of Gloucester. Our main office, based in the Eastgate Centre on Eastgate Street in the heart of the city, is an accessible, modern and light space designed for collaborative working and finding new ways to work. It's all open plan, with a living green wall and other plants without set desks, so you can sit next to someone new every day. We're always looking to improve how we work and we offer flexible and agile working to give our people a great work life balance.

For all your hard work, you will receive the following:

• Flexible, Hybrid/Agile working opportunities
• Generous Annual Leave entitlement 25 days annual leave rising to 30 days after 5 years continuous service
• An option to purchase 10 days of additional leave per year (pro rata for part-time staff)
• 2 days paid leave every year to participate in local volunteering activities
• Excellent Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) & Life Cover of 3 times your salary
• Regular Training, career development and qualification opportunities
• Supportive and positive working environment with regular, robust supervision
• Access to our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) that provides free, confidential, counselling and advice for employees, available 24 hours a day, online and by telephone, and an in-house Occupational Health service
• Enhanced family friendly leave and pay
• Cycle to Work scheme (Salary Sacrifice -T&C apply)
• Car Scheme (Salary Sacrifice -T&C apply)
• Employee discount scheme
• Discounted tickets for local events, and reduced rate use of leisure facilities
• Free Flu-jabs
• Access to employee led networks such as Black Worker's, Prism (LGBT+), Carers, Disability and the Young Employees Network, and opportunities to participate in our Equalities Working Group.