Head of Democratic Services
5 days ago
Slough
We are recruiting for an Interim Head of Democratic Services to lead and stabilise a key function within a local authority setting. This role requires someone who can step in immediately, take ownership of live projects and provide leadership during a critical period, including supporting upcoming Budget and Full Council meetings. Salary - £625 Per Day Key Responsibilities • Lead and manage Democratic Services, ensuring high-quality committee, member and scrutiny functions aligned to council priorities., • Provide expert constitutional and governance advice to councillors, senior leaders and officers, ensuring compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements., • Oversee democratic decision-making processes, ensuring effective planning, transparency and accountability., • Act as the statutory Scrutiny Officer, developing and embedding an effective scrutiny function and ensuring robust challenge and oversight., • Lead Member Services, including support to Cabinet, political groups, civic functions and member development programmes., • Manage and lead a team of up to 15 staff, overseeing service delivery, performance, and continuous improvement., • Manage a service budget of approximately £1m, ensuring effective use of resources., • Drive service improvement, including organisational change, digital development and process efficiencies.Skills and Experience, • Experience leading Democratic Services or a similar governance function within a local authority., • Strong knowledge of local government governance, constitutional requirements and democratic processes., • Experience preparing for and supporting Budget Council and Full Council meetings., • Proven ability to deliver or support service restructure and organisational change., • Experience managing and leading teams of up to 15 staff., • Ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver to tight deadlines in a fast-paced environment., • Confident in driving service improvement and implementing effective processes and controls. (Essential), • Able to hit the ground running across existing workstreams, • Experience managing or delivering a service restructure, • Confident leading and engaging a team of 12–15 staff, • Experience preparing for and supporting Budget Council and Full Council meetings, • Office Requirement: Minimum 3 days per week in the officeINDRRH