Community Development Officer

Job profile

The job requirements are detailed below. Where applicable the skills, qualifications and memberships required for this job have also been included.

Job reference

REQ

Date posted

29/10/2025

Application closing date

23/11/2025

Location

Kendal

Salary

£38,220 - £39,152

Package

Contractual hours

31.8

Basis

Part time

Attachments

Job description

Location: South Lakeland

Contract Type: Fixed Term: 30 September 2027

About this opportunity

We are recruiting for a new role to deliver the work of the community development teams in South Lakeland locality. This is an exciting opportunity to take on a role providing working with communities to support them and to help deliver the council's objectives.

The role will support key locality-based programmes of work especially in relation to place based working, community development and enabling the ways of working as agreed by the relevant Locality Board.

The successful applicant will work closely in a specific geographic area within South Lakeland to enable robust community development and engagement and building and supporting effective capacity within communities. In addition, the postholder will work on a specific cross-cutting theme across all of South Lakeland. Building and maintaining key relationships across organisations and the VCFSE sector to effectively deliver against council objectives and priorities.

Who we are looking for…

The successful applicant will have experience of

• Developing and delivering asset based community development and place based initiatives
• Working in partnership to achieve outcomes
• Formulating evidence based recommendations to enable decision makers to ….

You will also have excellent interpersonal skills that enable motivating teams and communities to achieve shared goals

What can we offer you

Working at Westmorland and Furness Council you will receive a variety of benefits, including a competitive pension scheme, enhanced annual leave allowance and other various perks and discounts schemes. For more information about life at Westmorland and Furness Council and what we can offer you, please visit our Careers site. Our benefits | Careers )

Would you like to find out more?

For further information about this role, such as responsibilities and essential criteria please view the below attachments:

• Post Specification
• Role Profile

If you have any queries about this role or would like an informal chat about this opportunity, then please contact Derek Houston on

Application and Interview information

Closing date: 23rd November 2025

We are currently operating both in-person and virtual interviews. Options will be discussed with candidates once they have been invited to the interview stage of the process for this specific position, and if you have any concerns or adjustments are needed, we are happy to discuss this with you.

Westmorland and Furness Council are now able to offer sponsorship for Skilled Worker Visa applications for eligible roles. Please note, we cannot guarantee the eligibility of all of our roles, therefore, if you would like more information on roles that may be eligible please visit the government website - Skilled Worker visa: eligible occupations and codes - GOV.UK.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

Westmorland and Furness Council is committed to improving the diversity of its workforce to better reflect the communities we serve. We welcome applications from everyone and work to promote an inclusive, supportive culture that values and celebrates our differences.

As a Disability Confident Leader, disabled applicants, who meet the essential criteria of this job, are guaranteed an interview.

We also offer guaranteed interviews to Armed Forces personnel and veterans and those in care or care experienced and under 24 years old (someone who has been looked after by a local authority at any point, for any length of time, e.g. foster care, residential care, or under the guardianship of a local authority) that meet the essential criteria for the role.

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