Senior Community Engagement Officer - The Midlands

Basis: Permanent, Full time 36 hours per week

A £312 tax-free working from home allowance is also payable annually.

Location: The Midlands Region (Remote with some travel required within region)

Regional Vacancy InformationThis vacancy is being advertised separately across three regions in England. Applicants should apply for their preferred region.

While every effort will be made to appoint successful candidates to their preferred region, there may be occasions where this is not possible. In these circumstances, candidates who meet the required standard may be considered for a suitable Senior Community Engagement Officer vacancy in another English region. Any alternative regional appointment would be discussed with and agreed by the candidate before an offer is made.

Benefits: Outstanding benefits including Civil Service Pension Scheme, flexible working, 28+ days holiday, and more.

About the Electoral Commission

The Electoral Commission is the UK’s independent body overseeing elections and regulating political finance. Everything we do is about ensuring trust, participation, and integrity in the democratic process.

As we continue to deliver our five-year Corporate Plan, the Commission is building on a period of growth and change, expanding our workforce and modernising how we deliver our services to better support the needs of a changing democracy. As our organisation develops and adapts to meet future challenges, this post will play a vital part in supporting that progress and helping ensure we remain responsive to the democratic needs of voters, campaigners, parties and electoral administrators across the UK.

About the role

This is an exciting opportunity to lead the development and delivery of community engagement activity across your assigned region, helping more people understand, engage with and participate in democratic processes. This is one of three newly created Senior Community Engagement Officer positions and forms part of the Electoral Commission's newly established Community Engagement team. The team has been created to strengthen engagement with communities across England and support greater participation in democratic processes.

As Senior Community Engagement Officer, you will build strong relationships with community organisations, local authorities, civil society groups and community leaders, acting as a trusted representative of the Electoral Commission. Using local insight, stakeholder feedback and participation data, you will identify barriers to democratic participation and develop targeted engagement initiatives that help reach under-registered and under-represented communities.

Key responsibilities include:

• Developing and managing strategic relationships with community partners and stakeholders.
• Delivering engagement activity that promotes democratic participation and voter awareness.
• Using insight and data to identify engagement opportunities and inform decision-making.
• Leading partnership projects and collaborative initiatives across the region.
• Providing expert advice on inclusive and accessible community engagement approaches.
• Representing the Commission at community events, meetings and forums.

This is an opportunity to influence democratic participation at a regional level while contributing to nationally important priorities.

About the team

The Community Engagement team works across England to increase awareness, understanding and participation in democratic processes.

We are a collaborative, supportive and purpose-driven team that brings together expertise in stakeholder engagement, outreach, partnerships and public participation. Team members work closely with colleagues across Voter Engagement, Research, Campaigns and Regional teams to ensure our activity reaches diverse communities and delivers meaningful impact.

This is a team where innovation, learning and continuous improvement are encouraged, and where your work will make a tangible difference to democratic participation.

Who we’re looking for

We're looking for an experienced engagement professional who is passionate about working with communities and building meaningful partnerships.

You will be confident engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, comfortable managing multiple priorities and able to turn insight into effective engagement activity.

You'll ideally bring:

• Experience building and managing external stakeholder relationships.
• Experience delivering community engagement, outreach or participation initiatives.
• Experience using insight, feedback or data to shape activity and improve outcomes.
• Strong communication and influencing skills.
• The ability to manage multiple projects and competing priorities effectively.

Why work for us?

The Role:

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Electoral Commission in a newly created role within our new Community Engagement team. You'll help shape the team's approach, build key stakeholder relationships and influence how we engage with communities across England. Working on issues of national importance, you'll have the opportunity to make a lasting impact from the outset.

The Office:

Our offices provide welcoming, collaborative spaces where colleagues can connect, share ideas and work together across teams. Whether based in London, Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, you will be part of a supportive working environment that balances the benefits of in-person collaboration with the flexibility of hybrid working.

The Benefits:

We offer a strong total reward package, including:

• Flexible working and hybrid model for office-based staff, with a minimum of 40% of working time spent in the office
• Flexi-time scheme, allowing flexible hours with the option to accrue and take flexi leave
• 28 rising to 30 days annual leave + bank holidays
• Civil Service pension scheme (28.97% employer contribution)
• Performance-related pay

How to apply

We are committed to fair and inclusive recruitment. To help reduce unconscious bias and ensure all applicants are assessed solely on their skills, knowledge and experience, we use an anonymous recruitment process.

When applying, please provide an anonymised CV which omits your protected characteristics and any personally identifiable information:

Do not include:

• Your name, address, phone number, email or other contact details
• Your date of birth or age
• Gender, ethnicity, nationality or other personal identifiers
• A photo of yourself
• Remove educational dates as these are a clear indication of your age
• There is no requirement to include your primary education details.

Do include:

• Your employment history including employers and dates of employment
• Explanation for gaps in your history
• Your duties, responsibilities and achievements

If your CV contains personal details (such as your name or contact information), we will be unable to consider your application. Please double-check your documents before submitting, including the file name you use to save and upload your CV.

Supporting disabled applicants

The Electoral Commission is proud to be a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer. As part of this commitment, we aim to prioritise interviews for disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria listed in the job description.

There may, however, be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria. For example, during periods of exceptionally high application volumes or seasonal recruitment activity, the Commission may need to limit the overall number of interviews offered to both disabled and non-disabled applicants.

If you have a disability and would like to be considered under this commitment, please indicate this when you apply. We also welcome requests for reasonable adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process or within the workplace.

Key dates

• Application deadline: Monday 26th October (23:59)
• Interviews (1st stage): Week commencing 2nd November
• Interviews (2nd stage): Week commencing TBC
• Anticipated start date: TBC

Applicants applying for a London-based role should expect to attend interviews in person. For applicants in devolved nations, interviews may be conducted virtually via Microsoft Teams.