Senior Electoral Services Officer INTERNAL APPLICANTS ONLY

We are looking for someone with high level elections experience who is able to step up into senior service delivery, providing high level assistance and administrative support to the Returning Officer in the organisation and the good conduct of all elections and referenda in the Borough. The post holder will be required to undertake a lead role on key activities within electoral services, including the annual canvass, the maintenance of the property database and the running and management of elections, alongside supporting colleagues in the delivery of registration services, as appropriate., The post holder will be required to support the delivery of all elections in the Borough, including significant pre- and post-election activity. In addition, they will need to lead on the delivery of the annual canvass and the maintenance of the property database, as well as supporting the Electoral Services Manager and Head of Electoral and Democratic Services in delivering on corporate and national drivers such as the Mission Waltham Forest project and the implementation of the Elections Act 2022.
They will need to have good computer literacy skills, including in relation to specialised electoral databases, and excellent customer service skills - including with the public, internal colleagues and political and governmental officials.
This post will report to the Electoral Services Manager, and will deputise for them as appropriate and required.
The post holder will sometimes be required to work outside of core hours, including evenings and weekends, in order to meet responsibilities in relation to registration deadlines and election preparation, for example. Annual leave will be restricted during certain times of the year; for example, before and during election and canvass periods.
There is no direct line management responsibility within the remit of this post. However, it includes significant supervisory responsibility for temporary and casual staff recruited to work on key elements of election activity, including the canvass, polling, postal vote opening and the count.

To be considered for this position, you should meet the following requirements:
The post holder will need to have significant experience of working in elections.
It is preferable that the post holder has experience of working with specialist electroral management software, with experience in using Civica Xpress an advantage.
The post holder should be a member of the Association of Electoral Administrators and hold, or be working towards or willing to work towards the AEA Certificate in Electoral Administration., 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.

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 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., 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.