Lola McEvoy is seeking a Research and Policy Assistant to work in her consituency office in Darlington, on a three day a week basis. We are looking for a candiate who can demonstrate a good understanding of the below responsibilities, has a good knowledge of Darlington, enjoys working with the public and works well within in a team. The role would involve working to a high professional standard across a diverse variety of policy topics. 

Key responsibilities:

Research and Policy

• Assist in the compilation of briefing packs
• Assist with casework as required
• Attend and participate in meetings as appropriate
• Compilation of briefing packs for MPs, take notes of meetings and draft appropriate submissions
• Give advice on policy issues
• Lead on researching policy responses and local issues
• Monitor social media activity and report any relevant trends to the Office Manager/MP
• Progress casework as required
• Project Management
• Provide generalist admin support
• Respond to routine correspondence and enquiries
• There may be a requirement for the role holder to work outside of normal working hours and travel for work occasionally
• Undertake research on relevant subjects as directed
• Work with colleagues in communications/casework to identify potential impacts from the research work and disseminate them effectively

Administration

• Assist in the updating of social media on request
• Database management using office software (e.g. Microsoft Office) to handle administrative cases
• Efficient data and file management to ensure the office complies with the data protection legislation
• Engage professionally, confidentially and with care and integrity with members of the public, through a variety of methods
• Handling administrative arrangements for meetings with members of the public/MP surgeries
• Open, handle and action email, post and social media enquiries
• Photocopying, filing, minute taking, record-keeping and typing correspondence
• Respond to enquiries by telephone, e mail and social media, passing on queries to another team members/MP as appropriate

Skills Required

• Excellent, proven written communication skills, customer service and Proficient use of administrative software (e.g. Microsoft Office)