Do you have experience of working in a governance, administration or democratic services environment and want to play a key role in supporting local decision-making?
Brighton & Hove City Council is an established unitary authority with 54 councillors.
We are looking for a highly organised and motivated Democratic Services Officer to support the effective delivery of the Council’s democratic functions. Working as part of a dedicated and supportive team, you will help to facilitate the council’s decision-making processes by arranging and servicing a wide range of meetings and providing procedural advice to councillors and officers.
In this role, you will be responsible for preparing agendas, reports and minutes, providing clerking support ensuring that meetings are conducted in line with the Council’s Constitution and legal requirements, and that decisions are accurately recorded and communicated.
You will work closely with elected Members (Councillors), senior officers and external stakeholders, building effective working relationships and providing clear, timely and professional advice on governance and procedural matters.
The role also includes supporting the delivery of school admission and exclusion appeals where required, contributing to training and guidance activities, and helping to ensure that information is accessible to Members, officers and the public.
This is an excellent opportunity for someone who is detail-focused, politically aware and committed to high standards of public service, looking to develop their career within a busy and high-profile democratic services environment.
Contract type: This role is permanent
Interviews to be held: To be confirmed
Shortlisting and interviews happen on a frequent basis, please submit applications as soon as possible. This advert may be withdrawn if the vacancies are filled.
There is full information about the role below and attached but, if you would like an informal discussion, please contact Raymond Bruce-Cathline, Democratic Services Manager, on 01273 29 1354 or email
[email protected].
About the role
Key qualities we are looking for
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Strong knowledge of local government governance and procedures, with the ability to provide accurate and authoritative advice on constitutional and procedural matters.
- Excellent organisational and time management skills, with the ability to manage multiple meetings, prioritise competing deadlines, and deliver high‑quality outputs.
- Highly developed written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to produce clear, concise agendas, reports and minutes on complex issues.
- Strong interpersonal skills and political awareness, enabling effective working relationships with councillors, senior officers and external stakeholders.
- Attention to detail and professional judgement, particularly in handling sensitive or confidential information and ensuring compliance with relevant legislation and procedures.
- Confidence using IT systems, including Microsoft Office, Committee Management Systems and electronic diaries.
Encouraging a diverse workforce
Our city is known and loved for its diversity. Not only is the mixture of people, culture and skills vital to the economic and social development of the city, it's what makes Brighton & Hove such a great place to live, work and visit. We are committed to developing and retaining a workforce that is representative of the diverse communities we serve so we welcome applications from individuals from all backgrounds. In order to achieve our aims of proportionate representation, we particularly encourage applicants from a BME or White Other background as well as those who identify as disabled, male or trans.
Find out more about our commitment to being a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone can achieve their potential by reading about our fair and inclusive actions, our anti-racism strategy and the work we are doing to encourage a diverse workforce (brighton-hove.gov.uk).
Why work for us?
As a council, we want to:
- be connected
- be confident
- be innovative and creative
- be diverse and inclusive
- be healthy and psychologically safe
For more information about our values and the benefits of working at the council, visit Why work for us which gives details of our wellbeing support, our benefits including leave and pensions as well as details of our training and development.
How to apply
Please read our Apply for a job at the council pages carefully. They give you all the guidance you need to complete your application as well as information on what will happen after you’ve submitted your application and at interview.
As part of your application, you will need to provide your education and career history and answer some application/shortlisting questions. Your answers to the application/shortlisting questions are the most important part of your application as they will be used in the shortlisting process to assess whether you meet the essential requirements for the role that are set out in the person specification and to decide whether you should be offered an interview. Before you start your application, please read our Shortlisting questions guidance (brighton-hove.gov.uk) as this gives important advice which will increase your chance of success in the shortlisting process.
AI advice for candidates
We are interested in hearing about your experience and skills in your own words. While we value people who know how to use AI, we ask that you minimise using it in your application.
We are keen to hear how your experience and skills align to our values and the skills and experience needed to perform well in our roles with clear real examples from you. To support you in this, we have guidance on using the STAR model which can help you ensure you are telling us your whole story. We also provide clarity on the skills we are looking for in our adverts and in the job description/person specification attached to each job advert.
All the applications we receive are read by at least two hiring managers and we do not use AI in this process. Our experience of reading applications is that those that have heavily used AI contain generic paragraphs that are strikingly similar to other applicants’ responses. This makes it extremely difficult to differentiate between applications, and doesn't give us enough evidence of your individual skills. There is a risk that we will therefore not be able to shortlist you. Instead, we recommend you ensure your application stands out by presenting clear examples of your actual skills and experiences in your own words.
Additional information
Your starting salary will be pro rata if the above position is less than 37 hours or term-time only.
We are a workplace that supports flexibility and employee wellbeing in the way we work whilst providing the best service for our customers. Team and service working arrangements are designed to support both employee work life balance and team collaboration. These would be part of your individual working arrangements alongside any personal preference agreed with your manager in advance of joining. Your contractual location will be the designated council office for your team and travel to and from your contractual location would be at your own expense.
