Democratic Services Officer – Tendring District Council

Tendring, Essex

37 Hours per Week, 4 Weeks Contract*

£18.39 PAYE / £23.71 Umbrella

Closing Date: Wednesday 28th October 2026

Essex County Council (ECC) are delighted to be supporting Tendring District Council in recruiting a temporary Democratic Services Officer on an initial 4 week contract, we view to extend.

Due to the nature of this role, the successful candidate will be required to be on-site up to 2 days per week dependant on the schedule of meetings, with evening attendance also required.

“Maternity Leave required for Democratic Services Officer

Come and be at the heart of the decision making of one of the most ambitious local authorities in England that often has a high public profile. Can you bring your skills and knowledge to help deliver that ambition? Then, we want to hear from you.

The Job

To put our aspirational Corporate Plan into place there are many decisions to be made. You will be responsible for arranging and attending meetings to achieve this. You will often be the service area’s primary representative at those meetings. You’ll have the chance to undertake research, analyse findings and draft reports, offer professional advice and produce agendas, reports and minutes for the meetings.

To work effectively you’ll need to develop good working relationships and the ability to keep them going. Through the programme of local government re-organisation the world of local government decision making in Greater Essex is transforming to embrace unitary authorities, and you will be at the very centre of helping Tendring District Council deliver that for North East Essex.”

Job Purpose

The post holder will be required to be innovative, proactive, forward looking and challenging in suggesting areas for improvement, or changes, in practices and procedures to the Committee Services Manager and take the lead in implementing those improvements and changes, where agreed by the Committee Services Manager. This will greatly assist in the efficient provision of a comprehensive and centralised committee service for the benefit of the Council and its departments.

The post-holder will be the system sponsor for the Modern.Gov committee services IT system, acting as the single point of contact for the authority (both internally and externally) and responsible for driving forward change and improvements, working in conjunction with the Committee Services Manager.

Job Activities

• To provide information and advice to Councillors and other officers on Council procedures and protocols and the requirements of the Council’s Constitution.
• To provide efficient administrative support to Council, Cabinet, Committees, Sub-Committees, Working Parties and Panels including:
  • checking draft reports against agreed standards and providing advice to report authors on those standards generally and in relation to specific draft reports;
  • collating reports from Assistant Directors, Heads of Service and other report authors and preparing and publishing agendas for Council, Cabinet, Committees, Sub-Committees and other Councillor-level Groups;
  • writing reports, including reference reports to and from Overview and Scrutiny Committees, Work Programme scoping reports and the annual review/work programme reports from Overview and Scrutiny Committees to Annual Council, on behalf of the Head of Democratic Services and Elections;
  • writing draft minutes of Councillor-level meetings for the circulation to relevant officers for comment and then publication on the Council’s website (with the aim being that this will be within 5 working days of the meeting);
  • preparing agendas and supporting papers for informal Cabinet (ICab) if required;
• Work closely, when necessary, with colleagues in the Leadership Support Team, especially to support Working Parties and Panels and general liaison on the maintenance of the Corporate Business Schedule and colleagues in the Elections Team, especially in the pre-election periods;
• To attend various meetings both internally and externally (including as the representative of the Committee Services Manager), ensuring the microphones are deployed and audio-visual equipment supports the meeting requirements and provides a public live stream and recorded record of all meetings the public have a right of access to.

Supervision and Responsibilities

• The post holder will communicate with other departments and outside organisations. The work may involve changing rapidly from one task to another during the working day.
• The post holder should seek the advice of the Committee Services Manager/Head of Democratic Services and Elections on particularly difficult, or contentious, decisions.
• Work out of normal working hours will be necessary including attendance at evening meetings.
• You must keep up to date with, and implement, any changes insofar as they apply to your role be they new, or amended, legal requirements, internal and external policies, or any Council, or delegated decisions.

Corporate Responsibilities

• You must contribute to high quality management standards and best practice across the service, reflecting the values of the Council and provide, through positive example, a clear sense of direction and purpose to other employees
• You must maintain high quality corporate and service standards and best practice as required.

Special Conditions

• You will be required to attend evening meetings.
• You will be required to be able to drive and to have access to a car for work purposes and a full driving licence is essential.

Knowledge, Experience and Formal Training

• Experience of working within a customer focused organisation an advantage
• Accurate and prompt document preparation
• Drafting and collating report
• Minute taking
• Previous Local Government experience or knowledge of Local Government functions and legislation.

Competency Requirements

Working with people

Relating and Networking

Writing and Reporting

Applying expertise and technology

Delivering Results and Meeting Customer Expectations

Coping with Pressures and Setbacks

What you should do next

If you are interested in finding out more about this role, we would love to hear from you. Please apply via the Working for Essex website. If you have any queries relating to this post or would like to see a copy of the full job description, please email Ashleigh.Drake@essex.gov.uk