Thangam Debbonaire wants to recruit a part-time Office Manager to join her busy constituency team in central Bristol and help them provide an excellent service to Bristol West residents.

This position is a fixed-term contract, initially offered for six months

The role
The role is two days per week. The duties of the role overlap with the current Communications Manager, who will be covering the other three days of the week.

For two days per week, the Office Manager will supervise the constituency office team. The successful candidate will also lead on other duties, including paying bills, organising events, financial record-keeping and human resources matters for the team. Ultimate responsibility for the team will rest with the Communications Manager.

In addition to these duties, the Office Manager must be flexible and able to cover some of the duties of the Communications Manager in their absence, and vice versa. In practice, this means the Office Manager will act as the first port of call for enquiries from local and national media. On occasion, this will also involve drafting press releases, statements and blogs to tight deadlines.

Person specification
The successful candidate will be able to communicate clearly and concisely both verbally and in writing. They will have sound political judgement and, ideally, a good knowledge of local and national politics. They’ll be able to spot opportunities and pitfalls, and offer reassurances and alerts with equal confidence.

To excel in this role, the candidate must be enthusiastic about managing a small team, with the ability to keep a clear overview of its work; a willingness to learn and work as part of that team; great research skills; and a good sense of humour. Excellent organisational skills are essential.

Key responsibilities

• Help to supervise the office team and its work, ensuring accurate personnel records are kept and keeping an overview of the budget.
• Carry out administration and budgetary duties, including liaising with the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA).
• Monitor media coverage, liaise with the media and other organisations as necessary. Prepare press releases, blog posts and statements as required.
• Draft responses to enquiries from constituents, lobbyists, the voluntary sector and others.
• Work closely with the Communications Manager in order to cover eachother's duties during the course of the working week.