Member Support Officer

Job Title: Member Support Officer
Starting Salary: £30,559 opportunity to progress to £33,366 - Pro Rata for Part-Time
Hours: 18.5
Location: Stevenage - Hertford - Hybrid
Contract Type: Permanent
Directorate: Resources

About the team

The Corporate Strategy and Policy Team are positioned within the corporate centre of the organisation. The team works within a political environment and oversees all member support and member development.

Reputation, high quality and a 'can do' approach are at the centre of our team's ethos where we work with County Councillors, senior officers, and stakeholders to ensure high quality outcomes to meet the needs of our residents.

Member Support Officers provide confidential support to senior stakeholders including the Lord Lieutenant, Chairman, and County Councillors, ensuring they receive high quality support during their time in office.

Note: County Councillors are elected officials who represent the interests of their local area in Hertfordshire. They are accountable to the people who elect them and work together to set the Council's main policies, budget, and strategy. County Councillors regularly interact with local communities and organisations and handle issues on behalf of local residents.

About the role

1. To provide a confidential and direct support service to senior members of the County Council including the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council, Cabinet Members, Chairman of the Council, Opposition Group Leaders, and to provide general support to all other County Councillors. This includes liaising with senior council officers, MPs, and external agencies, dealing with confidential and sensitive matters as needed, in order to:

• Manage and monitor diaries, arranging meetings and other appointments and prioritising as necessary, accepting invitations, and making necessary transport arrangements.
• Deal with correspondence to ensure that items requiring action or attention are properly identified, and responses drafted as necessary.
• Prepare papers or information for meetings, including presentations.
• Undertake research for members, preparing briefings and reports, as necessary.
• Organise and support meetings and events as necessary.
• Arranging for the attendance of members at Conferences; and
• Maintaining Member rooms as appropriate.

2. To deal with the day-to-day administration of the Members' Locality Budget Scheme:

• handling all general matters including advising members, communicating with grant applicants, and processing the payment of approved grant applications, according to locally agreed procedures; and
• updating and managing computer databases and spreadsheets, providing reports, and compiling information and managing and tracking expenditure.

3. To develop and maintain information systems, including group files, member profiles on the County Council website and membership lists.

4. To co-ordinate the appointment of members to fill vacancies on Scrutiny Committees and other member bodies and to find substitute members for those unable to attend meetings

We would require the post-holder to work Thursday and Friday's and the remaining hours would be more flexible.

About you

Essential:

• Experience of providing support to senior managers or elected officials and building trusted and respected relations.
• Experience in handling administrative tasks, with strong IT skills and experience of using Microsoft Office.
• Excellent communication skills, both oral and written.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, acting as a first point of contact for members and professionally representing the organisation.
• Good organisation and planning skills, able to complete work by set deadlines and to a high standard.
• Ability to work with political awareness and sensitivity.
• Maintains high ethical standards both personally and professionally; shows integrity and is reliable and trustworthy.

Desirable:

• Knowledge and understanding of the role of Hertfordshire County Council and the services it provides to Hertfordshire residents.
• Knowledge or experience of working in a political environment and understanding of the political nature of Hertfordshire County Council and its elected member/ officer structures and relationships.
• Experience of working quickly and accurately under pressure.
• Able to take a flexible approach to work and changing priorities.
• Displays a high level of personal drive and energy, with the ability to act on their own initiative.

This job role is within the , level BUS8 job profile 8. Please locate this via:

Job profiles: Business support services

To hear more about this opportunity please contact

Alice Sims, Strategy and Business Delivery Manager:

Telephone: 01992 556782 Email: alice.sims@hertfordshire.gov.uk

Or

Alex James, Head of Corporate Strategy and Policy:

Telephone: 01992 588259 Email: alex.james@hertfordshire.gov.uk

for an informal discussion about the role.

Interview Date: 5th February 2025

Benefits of working for us

How to apply

As part of your application, please upload your most recent CV. Ensure your CV is up to date with your employment history (including any employment gaps), and including any training/qualifications. We encourage you to include examples of where you have demonstrated the requirements/criteria in the advert / job profile to allow the panel to fully recognise your skills and abilities. You will have the opportunity to include a short covering paragraph within your application to give us a little more information about your skills, knowledge, and experiences.

Disability Confident
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

English Fluency
The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required). Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.