Hybrid INTERNAL APPLICANTS ONLY Head of Democratic Services presso London Borough of Waltham Forest
London Borough of Waltham Forest · Walthamstow, Regno Unito · Hybrid
- Professional
- Ufficio in Walthamstow
***Internal Applicants Only***
Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest
Salary: PO8 - £57,663 - £60,819
Contract Type: Full-time -Permanent
Working hours per week: 36
Application Deadline: 15.08.2025
Reference: 1781
About Us:
Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work.
We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.
London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.
The Council’s preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email [email protected] so we can arrange an alternative application method.
About the role:
Waltham Forest is an ambitious Borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities and increase social cohesion. Our ambition is to ensure all of our residents can enjoy a good quality life. This includes working with residents to tackle the inequalities they face. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.
To deliver on our ambitious agenda, we are recruiting to an influential role in the Leadership and Democracy Team.
This is a fantastic opportunity to bring your experience, skills and ideas to influence the strategic direction of the Council and make a real difference to people’s lives. The successful applicant will have the following key skills:
- Able to work effectively across multiple teams and navigate a complex stakeholder environment, influencing at all levels of the organisation
- Operate at pace to prioritise work and the work of the team
- Have excellent communications skills and ability to analyse new information quickly to communicate to a range of audiences
- Be politically astute and able to deliver projects in political environments
Experience of working in local government in a role that supports Council governance or Committee Services is desirable, however, candidates will need a sound understanding of the political workings of local government.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead on forward planning for the service and committees, ensuring that the business of the Council’s committees support the organisation’s priorities
- Ensure that decisions made by the executive, committees and officers comply with statutory and best practice requirements
- Provide appropriate and timely advice to officers, directorates, Councillors and the public on the operation of the Council’s political functions
- Develop and maintain the Council’s constitution
- Manage a team of democratic services, scrutiny and political support officers
Qualifications and Requirements:
- Educated to degree standard or equivalent relevant professional qualification
- At least 3 years’ experience providing governance services in a fast-paced political environment with resilience in the face of contradicting priorities and demanding workload
- Experience of writing high quality communications, including briefings and committee reports
Terms and conditions:
Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks;
Satisfactory declaration of interest;
As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English. This means that they must have a command of spoken English, with confidence and accuracy, sufficient for the effective performance of their role. This requirement does not refer to any particular English language qualifications, regional or international accents, dialects, speech impediments or the tone of conversations. It does not require staff to speak only in English.
How to Apply:
Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the ‘Apply’ button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
Equal Opportunity Employer:
Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.
To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.
We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.
For more information on the benefits of working for the Council, please visit https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/jobs-and-training/find-jobs-and-other-opportunities/working-us.
Contact Information:
If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Rianna Terry, Head of Leadership Office at [email protected]
If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at [email protected].
Click here for further information on the Human Resources recruitment privacy notice.
