Job title: Directorate Support Officer

Salary: C3 £32,061-£33,699

Hours: 37

Contract: Permanent

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

As a Directorate Support Officer, you’ll thrive on working in a fast-paced environment providing vital administrative support to our Senior Leaders. Our leadership support teams ensure that they deliver efficient and effective administrative support for those that are responsible for making major decisions to help and support the citizens of Leeds.

Each day is unique, your work will have variety, will be interesting and meaningful, you will have the opportunity to gain new skills. Our teams are visionary and strategic, and have the capacity to anticipate, they act with initiative and responsiveness and excel in challenging situations. They are responsible for providing our senior management with the resources they need to guarantee they can perform their role with excellence.

We are looking for enthusiastic and motivated individuals. Main duties will include diary management, supporting and minuting meetings, managing inboxes and responding to queries. You will be required to have a high level of accuracy and attention to detail to ensure meetings are administered to a high standard. You may be asked to support other members of the team and therefore will need to be flexible and adaptable.

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 Directorate Support Officer, 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

As our next Directorate Support Officer, you’ll be part of a highly effective, highly skilled cohesive team who proudly demonstrate the Council’s values and behaviours.

The team support the Children & Families Senior Leadership Team to make a positive difference to the lives of children and families across the city of Leeds. The priorities that guide the work of the directorate have been developed through consultation across the city, including the views of children and young people, ensuring that our Best City Ambition delivers for the children and young people of Leeds, we will focus on;

Children in all areas of the city have the best start in life and enjoying a healthy, happy, and friendly childhood
young people having the skills that enable them to realise their potential and to thrive. Details of the Children and Young people's plan can be found here

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 Cheryl Murphy, Team Leader, Children’s & Families, Cheryl.murphy@leeds.gov.uk, 0113 5351047 or Alison Ward, Principal Admin Manager, alison.ward@leeds.gov.uk, 0113 3783875.

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. In this role you will deputise for Team Leaders, manage staff, workloads, support decision making and service improvement, working as an individual and as part of a highly effective team.

Responsibilities:

Present a variety of information concisely both through written reports and verbally with high attention to detail.
A commitment to the continuous improvement of quality standards, business procedures and processes through continuous review and development.
Provide suggestions to management for the improvements of processes and services.
Attend service relevant meetings and take minutes when required.
Resolve customer queries, including those of a complex nature.
Maintain effective relationships with other Leeds City Council staff, Elected Members, members of the public and other partnership organisations as appropriate.
Work flexibly moving within service areas, working at different locations depending on service demand
Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade
Participate in appraisal, training and development activities as necessary to ensure up to date knowledge and skills
Improve own practice through observation, evaluation, discussion with colleagues and development programmes.
Work collaboratively with colleagues, knowing when to seek help and advice.
Contribute to the overall ethos, work, and aims of the service by attending relevant meetings, training days/events as requested.
Be aware of and comply with Leeds City Council policies and procedures e.g. child protection, health, safety and security, confidentiality and data protection, reporting all concerns to an appropriate person
Be aware of and support difference and ensure equality for all working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding and promoting the values, standards and equal opportunities of Leeds City Council.
Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment or victimisation and any form of abuse of equal opportunities, ensuring compliance with relevant policies and procedures.
The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol, and this role will be expected to work within these parameters.
The duties outlined are not meant as an exhaustive list and will also comprise any other duties within the spirit of the post commensurate with the job evaluation outcome for this post.

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 and other Characteristics required

Understand and embrace Leeds City Council Values and Behaviours and codes of conduct.
Committed to continuous improvement in all areas and work towards delivering the Best City Ambition of Health & Wellbeing, Inclusive Growth and Zero Carbon
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 and Safety Policies.
Willingness to actively participate in training and development activities.
Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade.
Participate in appraisal, training, and development activities.
Be aware of and comply with Leeds City Council policies and procedures.
Be aware of and support difference ensuring equality for all, working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding, equality & diversity.
Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment, victimisation, and any form of abuse, reporting any concerns to the appropriate person.
The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol and the role will be expected to work within these parameters.

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