Programme Support Officer

**Fixed Term until 31 March 2029**:
**About us**

The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local authorities. We work on behalf of our member councils to support, promote and improve local government.

We are a politically led, cross-party organisation that works on behalf of councils to ensure local government has a strong, credible voice with national government. We influence and set the political agenda on the issues that matter to councils to help them deliver local solutions to national problems.

We also provide councils with the tools and resources to respond to challenges present and emerging, and support improvement across the sector.

**About the role**

The LGA is offering an exciting opportunity to join its dynamic improvement team working on high-profile physical activity and cultural services programmes that support councils to improve services and reduce inequalities, plus wider improvement programmes.

We offer a wide range of programmes to help officers and locally elected councillors lead their councils and communities; a programme of “peer challenges” that enables councils to get an external perspective on their operation and performance from other councils; and expert “hands on” support to help councils improve their productivity and efficiency or deal with specific challenges.

**About you**

The role requires an individual who can: work independently across multiple projects at any one time, update and analyse spreadsheets, produce reports, chase external stakeholders for information, plan and prepare and support meetings and events, raise orders and invoices, monitor budgets, routinely keep project information and records up to date, understand and follow corporate policies and processes.

The successful applicant will need to be: a team player, who is flexible and capable of working with mínimal supervision; well organised with the ability to plan and deliver a varied workload; highly capable and well-motivated; an excellent communicator. They will also need to have strong interpersonal skills and have excellent attention to detail.

This role involves supporting events across England, so the role requires that the applicant will be able to travel to events which may require an overnight stay of one or more nights. This may occasionally involve working during the weekend.

**_ You must have the right to work in the UK, the LGA are unfortunately unable to offer sponsorship visas. Evidence for the right to work in the UK will be requested at the interview stage. _**

**To apply**

If you would like to be considered for the role, please complete the online form and include a supporting statement detailing how you meet the criteria of the role before the closing date.
- Excellent organisation skills - working independently across multiple high-profile projects, to tight deadlines and with excellent attention to detail
- A motivated, positive and flexible attitude
- Excellent communication skills
- Experience of working with senior stakeholders across high-profile and sensitive projects
- Strong experience of using Microsoft Office packages, for example, Excel and Word
- A strong team player

**Closing Date**:5pm, 7 October 2024
**Interview Date**:Thursday 17 October and Friday 18 October 2024**

**Our benefits**
- LGA annual leave entitlement is 29 days, rising to 31 days after three years’ service and to 33 days after five years’ service, plus all UK public holidays (pro rata for fixed term and part time contracts).*
- Future development - face-to-face and virtual courses are scheduled in line with developmental goals
- The LGA offers 24/7 access to a free, confidential employee assistance programme managed by Health Assured. This service is also available for Dependants.
- Family friendly policies

**Our values & behaviours**:
Our Values and Behaviours are there to give us an understanding of who we are as an organisation and who we want to be. They are a framework to help us understand:

- how we work with each other
- how we work with our members and stakeholders
- our expectations for ourselves and each other

Our values are:
**Inclusive** - We ensure that our work is inclusive of all voices.

**Ambitious** - We are ambitious for councils and their communities and are committed to striving for excellence in all that we do to support our colleagues, our membership and the sector to deliver the best possible outcomes.

**Collaborative -** We bring together the expertise and skills needed, working as one team.