Business Manager - Leadership Office
Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest
Directorate: Leadership Office
Salary: PO8 - £56,172 - £59,328
Contract Type: Full Time / Permanent
Working hours per week: 36
Application Deadline: Wednesday 31st July
Proposed Interview Date(s): w/c 5th August
Reference: 1299
About Us:
Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work.
We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.
London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London's Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.
The Council's preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method.
About the role:
Waltham Forest is an ambitious Borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities and increase social cohesion. Our ambition is to ensure all of our residents can enjoy a good quality life. This includes working with residents to tackle the inequalities they face. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focussed on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.
To deliver on our ambitious agenda, we are recruiting to an influential role in the Leadership Office. Working at the heart of the organisation, you will support Strategic Directors to deliver on the priorities of the administration, working closely with senior officers and politicians and manage a small team of Executive and Personal Assistants.
You will provide policy and project management to support decision making and drive the best possible outcomes for residents. You will need to be someone who can develop high quality, well researched communications and recommendations in a dynamic environment. You will take a leadership role within the team and across the directorate, managing a small team that provide high quality administrative support to Strategic Corporate Directors. You will also have the ability to influence far beyond your direct reports, managing stakeholders at all levels of the organisation.
This is a fantastic opportunity to bring your experience, skills and ideas to influence the strategic direction of the Council and make a real difference to people's lives. The successful applicant will have the following key skills:
- Able to work effectively across multiple teams and navigate a complex stakeholder environment, influencing at all levels of the organisation
- Operate at pace to prioritise work and the work of the team
- Have excellent communications skills and ability to analyse new information quickly to communicate to a range of audiences
- Be politically astute and able to deliver projects in political environments
>> Click here to download the Role Profile <<
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead on forward planning for the directorate
- Lead on service and business planning activities for the directorate
- Lead the effective running of support to the Strategic Director's Leadership Team
- Project manage a range of complex priority projects on behalf of the Strategic Director, in line with the Chief Executive and Leader's Priorities
- Manage a team of Executive and Leadership Support Assistants
Qualifications and Requirements:
- Educated to degree standard or equivalent relevant professional qualification
- Experience of providing services to senior leadership in a fast paced political environment with resilience in the face of contradicting priorities and demanding workload
- Experience of managing complex projects
- Experience of writing high quality communications, including briefings and policy documents
- Excellent interpersonal and presentational skills, with proven ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of audiences.
- Experience of developing solutions through collaboration with a range of external and internal stakeholders, including senior leaders.
- Good understanding of the context in which Waltham Forest Borough Council operates, including major issues facing local government, key stakeholders and relevant national policy context.
- Line management experience desirable, but not essential
- Experience of working in local government desirable, but not essential
Terms and conditions:
Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks
Satisfactory declaration of interest;
How to Apply:
Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the 'Apply' button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
Equal Opportunity Employer:
Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.
To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.
We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.
For more information on the benefits of working for the Council, please visit https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/jobs-and-training/find-jobs-and-other-opportunities/working-us.
Contact Information:
If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Rianna Terry, Head of Leadership Office at rianna.terry@walthamforest.gov.uk.
If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk.
Click here for further information on the Human Resources recruitment privacy notice.