Democratic Support Officer

Organisation

Southampton City Council

Service Area

N/A

Job Location

Civic Centre

Contract Length

Permanent

Work Hours

37 hours per week

Salary

£37,280 - £40,777 per annum

Closing Date

26/11/2025

Job Reference

16177

Job Description and Person Specification

We have an exciting opportunity for a Permanent, Full Time, Democratic Support Officer to join Southampton City Council (SCC) in the Legal and Governance Team.

As Southampton City Council prepares for the significant changes brought about by the establishment of a Mayoral Combined Authority and Local Government Reorganisation, we are excited to announce an opportunity to join the Democratic Services team working as a permanent, full time, Democratic Support Officer.

About the role:

The Democratic Services team is an agile, busy team supporting effective political governance of the Council. The team are also responsible for the coordination, delivery and management of the Independent Education Appeals Service for Southampton Schools.

As a Democratic Support Officer you will play an important role in the delivery of the council's constitutional and decision-making process, providing expert advice and support to elected councillors and senior leaders. You will have specific responsibilities including the preparation and publication of committee agendas, reports and minutes as well as participating in other activities supporting the democratic and school appeal processes.

About you:

We are looking for someone enthusiastic and is a flexible team player, who can work both independently and collaboratively with colleagues in a busy deadline driven environment with:

• Relevant administrative or governance experience, within a local government setting.
• Exceptional organisational skills, attention to detail and to be able to work well under pressure at pace.
• Confident communicator who is cognizant of the issues of working in a sensitive, political environment.
• An excellent standard of written English and able to demonstrate a good set IT literacy skills within Microsoft 365 suite of packages, including MS Teams and SharePoint.
• An understanding or experience of working with the ' agenda management' and Appeals Pro systems would be advantageous although not essential.

We operate a flexible working environment that combines home and office-based working, depending on business needs. Due to the nature of the role, some evening work will be required to support committee meetings. There is an expectation to work in the office three days per week.

If you feel you have the necessary background, experience, and skills to undertake this role we would like to hear from you.

What we can offer you:

Salary: The salary band for this role is £37,280 - £40,777 per annum. The starting salary is £37,280 with annual progression through the salary bands.

Here at SCC we have a range of different benefits, a few examples can be found below.

• Excellent local government pension with 16.8% employer contribution
• Death in service benefit of x3 salary, and optional salary sacrifice shared cost AVC (additional voluntary contribution)
• Generous holiday 25–31 days, based on role and service
• Flexible working options (role-dependent)
• Family-friendly policies - Maternity, Paternity, Adoption, Shared/Unpaid Parental Leave, Time off for Dependents
• Training and development, including coaching and mentoring
• Health and wellbeing support - Employee Assistance Programme, Menopause Pledge, Mental Health First Aiders and access to a variety of staff networks
• Veteran-friendly employer with the Armed Forces Covenant
• Retail discounts and savings through the Southampton City Council benefits platform
• Discounted memberships at local sports and fitness centres
• Sustainable travel benefits - low emission car scheme, cycle to work, season ticket loans
• Employee volunteering scheme with 2 paid days leave to volunteer

For further information on our benefits package please visit:Employee benefits )

Contact details for informal discussion:

For further information and details regarding the position, please contact Senior Democratic Support Officers, Judy Cordell on

Recruitment contact details:

Email:

Tel:

For more information about SCC please visit Southampton City Council

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