Opportunities

Working for Seaford Town Council, your days will never be dull and you will get to know the town of Seaford better than you thought possible!

Seaford Town Council is seeking an Assistant Town Clerk on a locum basis for approximately 18 months, as extended maternity leave cover. Ideally, we will find someone with previous local council experience but for the right person with the right skills, we will work with you to undertake training to get you up to speed.

The post of Assistant Town Clerk is an exciting one in that you will work closely with the Chief Officer, the Town Clerk, in really driving the activities of the Town Council and will also hold your own diverse areas of responsibility, managing a team of two and you’re very unlikely to ever experience two days that are the same!

This post is for 37 hours per week and we can be relatively flexible with the working pattern of these hours. We are also continuing to adopt a hybrid approach to working, with some working from home, some from the office and some doing a split of both! You will be one in a departmental team of three, in an overall workforce of around 30, but will undertake a refreshing variety of work across the activities of the Town Council.

In return for your commitment to the Town Council, you will be offered a flexible working environment, committed and passionate staff members, a generous pension package, salary qualification increments, ample holiday entitlement, sickness arrangements and parental leave, to name a few. Despite being on a temporary contract, we will commit to your continued personal development and will support you undertaking relevant training within your role.

This might be the job for you if:

You have previous experience as a mid-level or senior manager leading a team, ideally in a local council or similar authority in the public sector.

You are very comfortable juggling multiple projects at once and keeping track of their progress – including being happy to chivvy others along too! You don’t get flustered easily. You are patient, level-headed and cool under pressure.

You are motivated and driven. You like to empower your staff, balancing this with keeping your finger on the pulse.

You are comfortable in, yet not seeking, the spotlight. You are quick to think on your feet. You like learning new things and can learn quickly. You adapt well to change and know how to roll with the punches. You can communicate with anyone, through any media.

You pay attention to the details. As far as you’re concerned, anything worth doing is worth doing right, every single time. You stay focussed and nothing falls through the cracks on your watch.

You are motivated by knowing that you are a part of this organisation which operates purely for the town of Seaford and helping to maintain, improve and support its future.

An example day in the life of the Assistant Town Clerk could consist of; logging on and catching up with emails and internal communications, followed by touching base with your staff members. You have time to push forward a couple of longer-term projects you have been working on; relating to Town Council outside body representatives and a complaint relating to a conflict between users on Town Council land. You then stick the kettle on and prepare for the management team meeting, which will last the rest of the morning. You’ll type up the action notes from the meeting before nipping out for a lunch break. After lunch, you hop onto the Town Council’s Facebook page, share anything relevant from other organisations/authorities and check any unread messages. You then email your staff with any key updates from the management meeting and add any specific tasks to your work list. You’ve set aside the rest of your afternoon for focus time – you need to push forward preparation works for the public engagement with the upcoming review of the Town Council’s Strategic Objectives. Part way through this you receive an urgent email to deal with, relating to a report that needs amending ready for the agenda being published – this has to be prioritised so you know you’ll have to juggle some things to look at the public engagement tomorrow. You finish the day with a final sweep of your emails, responding to a number of queries from the Town Clerk, councillors and a Freedom of Information request which you acknowledge and note down the deadline for responding. You then switch off and unwind, ready for tomorrow!

If the above has struck a chord, for full details of the role of Locum Assistant Town Clerk at Seaford Town Council and how to apply, please visit the vacancies page on our website. Georgia Raeburn, Executive Support Officer, is also happy to be contacted for an informal chat about the role on 07712 538 299.

We welcome applications from disabled, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and LGBTQ candidates, as BAME, LGBTQ and disabled people are currently under-represented throughout the Town Council but we are committed to improving this.

Application forms will need to be submitted electronically (cv’s will not be accepted) by email to [email protected]

Closing date for applications: Monday 15^th November at 5pm.

Interview date: Tuesday 23^rd November 2021 (we will confirm whether these are to be held in person or virtually, depending on COVID-19 guidelines in place at the time).