The Role

Senior Consultation Officer required for Richmond and Wandsworth Council. There has never been a more important time to listen carefully to our residents, service-users, businesses and staff, and to make sure their views are reflected in the way we work and the services we provide.

Are you an experienced professional in the field of consultation and engagement? Do you enjoy using your creative ideas to develop engaging content and innovative approaches to encourage participation? Would you like to make a difference to our local communities?

If so..

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Senior Consultation Officer to join the Chief Executive’s department at the London Boroughs of Richmond and Wandsworth. You will be key in ensuring our reputation for industry-leading public consultation is maintained and that we use the latest intelligence-led approaches to empower people to have their say on issues that affect them.

Our Goals and Vision

The London Boroughs of Richmond and Wandsworth are home to over half a million Londoners and thousands of businesses. Through a joint staffing structure we also employ around 4,000 staff. The role of the Consultation Team is to deliver best practice consultation and engagement with all of these groups, and to ensure their feedback is incorporated into the councils’ decision-making processes.

As the Senior Consultation Officer, you will work with the Consultation Manger to review and evaluate our protocols, ensuring we use technology and resources to best effect, and ensuring we deliver excellent customer service to our internal customers and the residents we serve.

About the team

The successful candidate will be joining an experienced and ambitious Consultation Team that includes several permanent staff and a pool of casual consultation, research and insight analysts.

The Consultation Team works across the two councils, carrying out public consultations and staff surveys, analysing the results, using the data to provide insight to officers and councillors and feeding back to the public. This work is vital to help the councils understand what is most important to our communities and make decisions about how we can provide the best possible services for them.

The team works closely with a huge range of people across the organisation, including elected councillors and officers at all levels, and the wide range of consultation projects means that no two days are ever the same. 

About the role

We are looking for a proactive and motivated individual to support the Consultation Manager and continue to grow our innovative and intelligence-led approach to consultation and engagement.

To be shortlisted for interview your work experience and support statement will show:

• You have extensive experience in a consultation, research, analysis, or other relevant role
• You have knowledge of and are up to date with developments and trends in Local Government and the consultation industry, the legislative framework for consultation and engagement, and best practice principles around this
• You are up to date with the latest technology and can demonstrate outstanding data analysis skills
• You have excellent written and verbal communication skills and a high level of attention to detail
• You are proactive and can evidence your ability to think strategically with a solution-focused approach
• You have experience of successfully delivering a high standard of projects to multiple, competing deadlines
• You have experience of dealing with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders
• You have an understanding of the need to consider accessibility, information security and privacy requirements in all aspects of your work

At Richmond and Wandsworth Councils, we care more about how you work and what you achieve, rather than where you work on any given day. The difference you can make to our local communities is what really matters most to us, service delivery must always come first. We have carefully considered agile ways of working to provide the best experience for residents, stakeholders and our staff. Our agile working strategy actively supports and encourages a dynamic work environment and daily working experience. Agile working helps put the needs of our staff at the centre of everything we do, so if specific flexible working arrangements helps you with this, feel free to let us know.

Your wellbeing and the flexible way in which you can work is and will remain a key priority for Richmond and Wandsworth Councils. We want you to thrive and feel empowered in your work!

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working including, working from home, compressed or part-time hours, term time only, job shares and other arrangements. Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you’d like to explore. We also offer a generous holiday allowance of 39 paid days (pro rata) including bank holidays and a wide range of learning and development opportunities.

In addition, we offer a comprehensive range of staff benefits such as membership of the Local Government pension scheme, childcare vouchers, new technology scheme, interest-free loans on annual travel cards, discounts with many leisure activities, restaurants, shops and other establishments.

This is a evergreen campaign. Applications submitted by the 31st of July will be shortlisted for the first stage of interviews. 

Indicative Recruitment Timeline

Shortlisting Date: 31st July 2022

Interview Date:  8th & 9th August 2022

For an informal conversation relating to the role please contact Catherine Pierce Consultation Manager via Catherine.Pierce@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk

Useful Information:

The shortlisting process is anonymised

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. We strongly advise you to complete your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Please note that the advertised dates for interviews may change due to the current Covid-19 situation. If they do, we will let you know as soon as possible.

Your health and wellbeing is our top priority. Should you become unwell due to Covid-19 during the recruitment process we would very much appreciate receiving an update from you as soon as possible.

We particularly welcome applications from sections of the community who are currently underrepresented within our teams.

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services. We are proud to be a Disability Confident

Important Information:

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils