Support Officer WCC619289

As a Support Officer with the Regeneration, Economy and Planning Directorate you can make your own powerful contribution to Westminster's success. When you join us you'll work at the heart of our Future of Regent Street, Haymarket and Piccadilly Circus Public Realm programme, which is an exciting and forward-thinking initiative that will revitalise and rejuvenate this iconic area of our city. Helping the senior management team achieve its strategic objectives by providing them with high quality administrative support, you'll work collaboratively with your colleagues, partners and other stakeholders to develop our reputation as a successful council delivering great value for its residents.

You'll have a wide range of specific responsibilities - these include acting as a first point of contact and managing the diaries of assigned members of the senior leadership team or project, making and verifying appointments, and negotiating the arrangements for meetings. Offering clarity on timings and keeping space free for the team members' appointments, you'll use your initiative to respond to enquiries from colleagues and members of the public, and handle requests for information and data in a sensitive and confidential manner.

But your work won't stop here - we'll also expect you to manage the logistics of key meetings, work that will include booking rooms, arranging catering, ensuring external participants are greeted and helping to prepare and distribute briefing papers. It's also important that you maintain a good awareness of the Council's work and raise awareness of any issues that might be relevant to the effective operation of the department, maintain up-to-date records, and remind members of the project of their actions and commitments to help keep the project on track.

To be a success in this vital role you'll have well developed experience of diary management for senior executives, a strong customer focus and the ability to build trust with all your colleagues. Capable of working at pace while providing high quality support and managing a number of different deadlines at the same time, your proactive problem solving skills will enable you to identify gaps and find creative solutions to any issues that arise.

We'll look for wide-ranging knowledge of the issues facing local government and a good understanding of the legal, financial and political context of public sector management. In addition, it's important that you have experience of working with and responding to enquiries from key stakeholders and members of the public, and comfortable receiving and fielding questions in a proactive and respectful way.

Highly resourceful and self-motivated with strong emotional intelligence and excellent critical thinking skills, you'll possess the ability to prioritise your tasks while working accurately and with good attention to detail. You should be committed to the principles of equity, inclusion and diversity, and with this in mind you'll understand that we work in a wider context and it is only by taking care of each other that we're able to create the change we need.

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF THE POWER OF LISTENING

Regeneration, Economy and Planning in Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories, where little things can have a huge impact on people's lives.

Take Mitin, our Head of Estates Services. Mitin's team is responsible for cleaning, gardening and bulk refuse removal across several housing estates where many of our residents require a greater degree of assistance. It's not just about keeping our blocks and estates shipshape, it's about human contact and letting residents know that we care.

Mitin's team contribute to our Smart City commitment and make full use of new technology to help track and solve problems such as fly tipping and graffiti. But what many residents value most is his ability to listen. For example, when residents were telling him about carrying out gardening improvements and the positive impact that it has on their wellbeing, he and his team engaged with residents, working closely with them to give them garden areas they could be proud of and a vibrant community.

Mitin is immensely proud of the relationships he's built with residents, not only because it helps them feel proud of where they live in a greener and cleaner city, but because it makes him proud of where he works., Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to more than 200,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster.

Westminster City Council's strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster. A Fairer Westminster is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city's future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.

At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that, at all levels, represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best, that is the Westminster Way. To find out more about how we do this visit https://www.westminster.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/public-health-strategy-policies-and-reports/equality-duties

As a forward thinking Council we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working.