Policy Officer

**About Us**:
**THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM**

Innovation and Change in Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories. Where people use their vision and commitment to open doors for the next generations.

Nothing beats the feeling of helping someone find their passion. At Westminster City Council, our City Lions team helps young local people engage with culture, creativity and dreams. When they came across a lonely, isolated 16-year-old who called himself a failure, they knew what to do. They worked 1-2-1 to find the thing this boy really loved. YouTube, it turned out. But it’s impossible to turn that into a career, right? Wrong. A week later, he was enrolled on the British Film Institute film-making programme. It was the ultimate light-bulb moment. And it turned him into what he is today - a budding Spielberg with a world of opportunity at his feet.

**The Role**:
As a Policy Officer, you can make your own powerful contribution.

You’ll play a key role in our ambition to build a sustainable, resilient future for our residents. By helping deliver our strategic and statutory priorities, you’ll be helping us reach our ‘City for All’ objective, where all our residents can live in a borough that enriches their lives and helps them fulfil their potential.

You’ll work across a range of projects and programmes designed to tackle key issues in Westminster. Your work has a wide remit, covering research, planning, communications, stakeholder management, event planning and more. Effective project management is a key element of the role and you’ll need to build excellent working relationships with contacts across the council and beyond.

On top of this, you’ll advise senior officers and councillors on policy direction to inform their decision making.

Above all, you’ll be making a significant impact on our residents’ lives, all while contributing to a high-profile area of council activity.

Please refer to the **Job Description** for more information.

**About You**:
You’ll need experience in policy research, advising on policy, building partnerships and handling complex data.

As well as a strong track record delivering relevant projects, you’ll have a solid understanding of local government and a keen eye for strategy. Naturally, you’ll be an excellent communicator. Good IT literacy is also essential.

You should have a relevant academic qualification or the equivalent experience.

**What We Offer**:
Westminster is an amazing place. There are 250,000 diverse residents, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people working here every day. Our mission is to create city for all. We’re an organisation that wants the very best for our residents: a supportive and safe environment, the chance to grow and learn throughout their lives, to build fantastic careers in world-leading industries, to have access to high-quality, affordable housing and to retire into the community with dignity and pride.

We want Westminster to be a place you can make the most of your talents and thrive as an individual. That’s why we’re proud to have won Best Health & Wellbeing Initiative in the 2020/21 Business Culture Awards. By being the best you can be, you’ll help us adapt to the changing needs of our organisation and communities.

At Westminster City Council, we are passionate about our aim to be an inclusive workplace for all that reflects the communities we serve, and we believe everyone is valued. We particularly welcome applicants from underrepresented backgrounds, including B.A.M.E, Black, Asian and Multiple Ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ and those with hidden or visible disabilities. We’re committed to ensuring all our staff - regardless of gender, age, religion, sexuality, ethnicity or disability - can succeed. We value diversity and appreciate that people work in different ways. So, as a Timewise employer we work to provide flexible working arrangements and an empowering environment that enables you to be your best, that is the Westminster Way.