Trainee / Assistant Governance Officer

We have an exciting opportunity to join our busy team as a Trainee/Assistant Governance Officer.

The Governance (Democratic Services) team is responsible for ensuring that the Council's democratic decision-making functions are carried out in an effective, transparent and legally compliant manner.

We also provide an Independent School Admission Appeals Service and the post holder will have a key role in supporting the administration of this service. The role demands a methodical approach towards working to statutory deadlines and the successful candidate will need to be comfortablewith being guided by more senior staff and handling several concurrent tasks simultaneously with very high attention to detail and accuracy.

We are looking for someone who can demonstrate excellent IT skills and who ideally has some understanding of how the council's governance arrangements operate. Experience of taking minutes at meetings and using Modern.gov software would be advantageous, but not essential if you have a willingness to learn. The successful candidate will be well organised with a flexible approach, there will be periods during the year when the service is particularly busy and pressurised and opportunities to take leave during these peak periods will be more restricted.

Although there is scope for agile working, there will be an expectation that you are office based for part of the week and you will need to be flexible, particularly during the initial training phase and during peak periods.

The team that you will be supporting is friendly and conscientious and you will receive appropriate support to empower you to forge new opportunities and further your career.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council is a unitary authority employing approximately 4,600 staff who deliver 700 services to more than 260,000 residents. Our city comprises of six towns: Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Stoke and Tunstall. We are a city of strengths, with a proud heritage and bright future. We have undergone significant changes over the last few years. New ways of working have already transformed many service areas and we are determined to continue to develop more innovative approaches to ensure that we can maximise the benefits of transformation.

Our city

Although the 13th largest city in the UK, Stoke-on-Trent is rapidly outstripping a number of parts of the country with our economic growth and recovery.

Stoke-on-Trent is a city with a strong sense of civic pride - we've been voted the kindest city in the UK - and a place where you'll receive a hugely warm welcome. We have a rich and diverse culture, steeped in our prestigious industrial heritage as the celebrated 'world capital of ceramics'. But we don't just want to celebrate our proud past - we firmly believe that Stoke-on-Trent's best years are ahead of it. We are determined to raise aspirations and match them with high-quality education and health provision, as well as improved opportunities to secure fulfilling and well-paid work. Through uniting social and economic opportunities, we are maximising the full power of the city council as a secure and steadfast institution within the city.

When you work for Stoke-on-Trent City Council you'll be helping to improve the lives and wellbeing of our residents. We'll provide you with support, learning opportunities and flexible working options and some amazing benefits including; a competitive salary, generous holidays, an excellent defined local authority benefit pension scheme, annual leave purchase scheme, cycle to work schemes just to name a few. We also have access to lifestyle benefits which offer a wide range of discounts such as family days out, travel, retail and many more.

Our commitment to you

Vibrancy and diversity are two of Stoke-on-Trent's greatest assets. A city founded on creative endeavour should value and celebrate the multitude of voices, ideas and identities that shape its culture. We are committed to creating a culture which is truly inclusive, where all staff feel valued, listened to, supported and able to do their work to the best of their abilities at all times. And we must ensure that our decisions and policies nurture and empower communities across our city and do not inadvertently disadvantage groups and individuals that we want to help to thrive.

Our approach to Equality and Diversity is an invitation to all our communities to work with and for us so we can continue to improve how we deliver services residents need.

Our employee networks are inclusive, open forums for colleagues with similar lived experiences. They allow staff to meet, support and mentor each other, alongside being a voice for under-represented groups to advise and support the organisation when developing policies and services.