Job Title – Graduate Project Officer

Salary Range - £31,586 (2026/7 pay award pending)

2 Year Fixed Term Contract

Full Time- 36 Hours

Location: Richmond and Wandsworth Council Offices

NB PLEASE NOTE THERE IS A TECHNICAL ERROR ON THIS ADVERT WHICH WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING TO FIX PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

We are looking for a diverse group of highly talented and motivated graduates to join our Graduate Development Programme as Project Officers. You will be innovative, adaptable, enthusiastic and able to demonstrate a strong commitment to working to improve the boroughs of Richmond and Wandsworth. You will quickly take on responsibility for projects that will make a real contribution towards the impact and efficiency of local public services including contributing to our work supporting local communities, organisations and businesses. Successful applicants will have the opportunity to work across both councils, each with distinct political priorities and ways of working. You will be based across locations including Wandsworth and Twickenham , contributing to high‑profile programmes such as Climate Change, Cost of Living initiatives, Adult Social Care and Public Health, Children’s Services, Housing, IT and Digital Transformation and wider organisational change through our Transformation Programme. The role is varied and may involve developing policy, supporting events and communications, undertaking research, and engaging directly with local communities.

Throughout the programme you will have a placement manager and a supervisor as well as your colleagues to support your development. There will be opportunities to shadow Executive Directors and senior managers, to attend meetings with Elected Members to understand the political context of your work, and to participate in events.

You will also undertake a work-related qualification which will enhance your career prospects by developing your planning, communication, organisation, and management skills.

About You

Essential Qualifications, Skills and Experience

We welcome graduates from all backgrounds, degree subjects and universities but you must have (or expect to achieve) a minimum of a 2:2 undergraduate degree by July 2026. You also need to:

have the right to work in the UK (we are unable to apply for visa’s). be within two years of graduating from your first degree. a minimum of 5 GCSE’s grades A-C or grades 4-9, including Maths and English (or equivalent). have been ordinarily resident in the UK for the last three years (to meet funding requirements for training that you will undertake).

Successful candidates will have the opportunity to progress to pay Scale 6 in their second year (subject to meeting requirements).

About the role

Please see Job Description and Person Specification which describes the varied tasks in this role which includes:

Assisting in the formulation, planning and monitoring of policies and procedures. Supporting the implementation of council decisions and circulate reports accordingly. Coordinating, scheduling, and providing support for meetings, including preparing agendas, sending invitations, booking venues or virtual meeting links, taking minutes, and ensuring necessary materials and technology are available. Researching, preparing and writing up reports and briefing papers for managers and Elected Members. Working collaboratively with council departments and external partners and agencies, including the private and voluntary sector.

Please see the attached Power Point Presentation on the Graduate Development Programme Applicants Information Session 2026

Indicative Recruitment Timeline

Closing Date

Monday, 25th May at 23:59 (any applications submitted after this time will be automatically rejected by our online recruitment service, this is a non-negotiable deadline)

Interview and Assessment Dates:

Wednesday 15th July 2026 and Thursday 16th July 2026 you will be required to attend Wandsworth Town H all for one full day normally from 9.00am – 5.00pm and you will need to bring a laptop with you. Unfortunately, we are unable to cover interview expenses for the Assessment Day.

NB if you are successful in being shortlisted for the assessment day, we hope to notify you by the end of June 2026 however due to the anticipated number of applicants the shortlisting process may take longer than expected, we would hope to give you a minimum of 7 days notice (including weekends) of invitation to interview.

Start date :

Monday 21st September 2026 (start date is non-negotiable) this will be your induction week, and you will therefore be required to come into work each day, this is non-negotiable. If you are successful at interview (we aim to contact, you within a week of your offer) you will be required to provide all necessary information for the onboarding process within a week of the offer. The onboarding process is managed by our recruitment team who will contact you directly. If they do not receive the information as requested and/or you are unavailable so that they cannot carry out the necessary checks then we reserve the right to withdraw our offer.

For some placements (e.g. Childrens Services and Adult Services) it may be necessary to undertake a DBS check before starting.

Useful Information:

We strongly advise you to take time to complete your application fully before submitting it to us.

Any applications which are not fully completed will automatically be rejected.

All shortlisting is undertaken anonymously i.e. your personal details are removed from the application process.

We will reject applications which we feel have relied too heavily on AI (i.e. over 30% of the application is AI generated)

Important Information:

Applicants who declare that they are care experienced or have a disability may qualify for our guaranteed interview providing they meet the minimum criteria for the role ( as listed on the Job Description and Personal Specification) and have successfully completed all parts of the online application process to the required high standard including the word-count, questions and personal statement.

Richmond & Wandsworth Better Service Partnership are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer. If you require any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment and selection process, please let us know.

We are also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Some posts may be exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to these posts will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

We offer a wide range of benefits designed to attract, develop, and reward our employees such as 40 days annual leave (including Bank Holidays), flexible working and a generous pension plan.