Job title: Leadership Assistant

Salary: C1 £28,598-£31,022

Hours: 37

Contract: Permanent

Location: Merrion House (requirement to work from other offices when necessary), hybrid working offered

As a Leadership Assistant, you’ll enjoy working in a fast‑paced environment, providing essential administrative support to our Senior Leaders. Our team helps them work efficiently and make important decisions for the people of Leeds.

The work is varied and will be interesting and meaningful. There will be the opportunity to learn new skills and work within different directorates. Our teams are forward thinking and proactive – they use their initiative, respond quickly and handle challenging situations with confidence. They ensure our Senior Leaders have everything they need to do the job well.

We’re looking for enthusiastic, motivated people who enjoy variety in their work. Day‑to‑day, you’ll help manage diaries, support and minute meetings, look after inboxes, and respond to queries. Accuracy and attention to detail are really important, as you’ll play a key role in keeping meetings running smoothly. You may also step in to support other team members, so being flexible and adaptable is a must.

Leeds City Council is one of the largest employers in the region with over 14,000 employees. We seek to recruit and develop talented individuals who embody our council values and ambitions.

About you

As a Leadership Assistant, you will bring to the role:

Excellent organisational skills, attention to detail and recognising the importance of confidentiality
Being proactive, thinking ahead, and working on your own initiative with the ability to adhere to timescales
Good communication skills and being able to work collaboratively with colleagues and develop strong working relationships
Flexibility and resilience
An ability to prioritise and negotiate with colleagues, external partners and members of the public

About the role

This role is working in the Leadership and Governance support area of the Business Administration Service , which is responsible for providing administrative support to the Council’s Leadership Team. You will monitor and respond to incoming emails, telephone calls and correspondence, providing diary and work programming support. This will require communication with a wide variety of people, including members of the public, organisational partners and Elected Members. You will work with the team to coordinate reports and information, and you will also organise, facilitate and provide effective complex meeting support including the production and distribution of supporting documentation and meeting records, which may be highly sensitive or confidential.

You will be working across two directorates, Resources & Strategy & City Development. Within Resources and Strategy, you will be supporting the Deputy Chief Officer for HR. This is a demanding role supporting our workforce to deliver key activity across the whole employee lifecycle. You will assist HRLT with the facilitation of the weekly leadership team meeting as well as other high-level Councillor and Trade Union Meetings. Additionally, you will support the City Development Leadership Team, joining a highly experienced team of Directorate Support Officers. City Development covers a diverse range of services to keep our city moving and making it a great place to live and work including Active Leeds, Culture, Events, Highways, Planning and Regeneration.

This role may also require you to work across different directorates within the Council as and when necessary.

We are committed to your professional development and will ensure you have the right resources and training to enable you to provide a first-class service. The nature of work is varied and there are lots of opportunities to expand your knowledge, skills and experience. You will work closely with senior leaders in a fulfilling and rewarding role.

What we offer you

We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:

a competitive salary and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays
membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions
flexible and hybrid working arrangements subject to service requirements

a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities
a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further

How to apply

Please complete the online application form. These roles tend to receive a high volume of applications, and sometimes it may be necessary to close the advert early. We advise you to be proactive and submit your application promptly to avoid disappointment.

Read our guidance for further advice. Please check your information carefully and ensure you complete all sections before submitting your application.

If you have any queries or would like an informal chat about the role please contact Alison Ward, Principal Administration Manager, alison.ward@leeds.gov.uk, 0113 378 3875 or Liz Patterson, Executive Leadership Support Officer, liz.patterson@leeds.gov.uk, 0113 378 3137 or Helen Green, Governance Manager, City Development helen.green@leeds.gov.uk, 0113 378 7291.

We welcome applications from everyone and actively seek a diverse range of applicants from all backgrounds and cultures. We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to, women, carers, veterans as well as LGBT+, ethnically diverse, disabled and care experienced people.

This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa.

If you do not have the right to work in the UK, you must consider your own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker visa route before applying. To be eligible for sponsorship you'll usually need to be paid the standard salary rate of at least £41,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. Ensure you are eligible before applying.

Job description

Job Purpose: This role is working in the Leadership & Governance Hub, to ensure that we deliver an efficient and effective administration support and assistance to Senior Leaders within the organisation. This will include the facilitation and support of strategically significant meetings and the organisation and programming of work commitments.

Responsibilities:

Supervise and develop staff to ensure work is prioritised and carried out effectively and efficiently to ensure deadlines are met to high standards.
Manage your own workload and meet targets whilst maintaining quality as part of a team.
Assist with the presentation of a variety of information in a clear and concise way with high attention to detail – through both written reports and verbally.
Experience of adhering to legislative business, financial, audit, and operational requirements of the service, and the impact on its day-to-day work.
Knowledge of adhering to procedures and legislation relating to confidential information and financial regulations.
Experience of dealing with sensitive and confidential information.
Establish and maintain records, accurately entering and retrieving information.
A commitment to the continuous improvement of quality standards, business procedures and processes through continuous review and development.
Work flexibly and move within service areas – working at different locations depending on service demand.
Willing to abide by the Council’s Equal Opportunities and Health and Safety Policies.
Willing to actively participate in training and development activities to ensure up to date knowledge, skills and continuous professional development.

Qualifications

PERSONAL SPECIFICATION

Method of Assessment will be through one or more of the following Application Form, Test, Interview or Certificate.

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS: It is essential that the Candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria for the post within the context of the specific role duties and responsibilities: Candidates will only be shortlisted for interview if they can demonstrate on the application form that they meet all the essential requirements.

Skills Required

Able to work with, and within, multiple teams of staff and contribute to its development with suggestions for new ways of working.
A commitment to personal development and to keep informed of legislative and policy changes.

Knowledge Required

Knowledge and experience of adhering to legislative business, financial, audit and operational requirements of the service, and the impact on its day-to-day work.
Knowledge and experience of adhering to procedures and legislation relating to confidential information and financial regulations.

Experience Required

Of dealing with sensitive and confidential information.
Of supervising and developing staff to ensure work is prioritised and carried out effectively and efficiently to ensure deadlines are met to high standards.
Of managing your own workload and meeting targets whilst maintaining quality as part of a team.
Of working on your own and using your initiative to adhere to timescales and deadlines.
Of providing excellent customer services and dealing with queries from a range of people.
Of the applications, systems and IT programmes utilised by the service and being able to accurately record and retrieve information.
Of communicating clearly and effectively with a wide range of people and being able to develop strong working relationships.

Behavioural & other Characteristics required

Committed to continuous improvement.
Able to understand and observe Leeds City Council Equality and Diversity Policies.
Carry out all duties having regard to an employee’s responsibility under Health & Safety Policies.
Willingness to actively participate in training and development activities to ensure up to date knowledge, skills and continuous professional development
Understand and embrace our values, behaviours and codes of conduct.

DESIRABLE REQUIREMENTS: It is desirable that the Candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria for the post within the context of the specific role duties and responsibilities: Candidates are not required to meet all the Desirable requirements however these may be used to distinguish between acceptable candidates.

Knowledge Required

Recruitment & Selection & Safeguarding