About Southwark:

As a council, we are successful, passionate and forward thinking. We are committed to tackling injustice and inequalities and rebuilding our local economy following the pandemic, ensuring that our residents and businesses are central to everything we do.

As a diverse central London borough, Southwark faces a range of challenges, which we aim to address through the Council Delivery Plan and Borough Plan. We are looking for candidates to join our team to help us continue to make Southwark an inclusive borough for all our communities.

Southwark Council is an Equal Opportunity Employer and we welcome applicants from all backgrounds. We monitor our recruitment practices to check that we are employing people in a fair and non-discriminatory way. We also publish annual workforce reports. We are proud to have a workforce that reflects the diversity of our borough.

The Role:

Do you have political or local government experience?

Would you welcome the opportunity to work in a political environment, and to provide excellent research and administrative support to the Liberal Democrat opposition of the Council?

Providing research, administrative and policy support to the opposition group, including the Majority Opposition Group Leader and the shadow spokespeople, you will draft and present reports and briefs for Liberal Democrat councillors, plan agendas, undertake projects on behalf of the opposition group, attend and minute high level meetings and liaise with outside bodies.

Working as a key part of the team supporting the Liberal Democrat group on the council, you will support opposition councillors fulfil their roles in scrutiny, Council Assembly, community forums and other key meetings.

You will be knowledgeable about the functions of a local authority, aware of the roles of councillors and able to work in a politically sensitive environment.

Equally importantly, you will bring considerable initiative in order to support the opposition to undertake their role effectively, and will display a very organised and self-motivated approach, backed by a high level of IT literacy and a sensitive approach to managing confidential information.

Finally, you will need to be able to understand the diverse needs of the opposition and to balance individual councillors’ demands and expectations.