Democratic Services Officer, Brighton & Hove City Council

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 your career within a busy and high-profile democratic services environment.

Key qualities we are looking for:

• 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.

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.

As a council, we want to be connected, confident, innovative and creative, diverse and inclusive, and healthy and psychologically safe.

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.

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.

Deadline for applications: Monday 7th September 2026.