Council: Witham Town Council

County: Essex

Salary: SCP 44 - 50 (£48,017 - £55,684 pa)

Closing date: 27/01/2022

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Town Clerk & Responsible Financial Officer

Applications must be returned by 27/01/2022

Witham Town Council is seeking to appoint a Town Clerk & Responsible Financial Officer to join a team of 11 staff in a proactive and forward thinking town council.

The Town Clerk leads a skilled and experienced staff and the Council has recently agreed to subscribe to Investors in People and has signed the Mindful Employer Charter. We are looking for someone with the experience to provide persuasive advice to elected Members, with the imagination to see opportunities both within the Council itself as well as in the town, and with the drive to deliver results successfully.

Witham is a town of some 27,000 residents in a pleasant area of central Essex combining modern and medieval housing, an attractive town centre with a range of supermarkets, quality local traders and food outlets, a busy industrial estate and a wide range of leisure and cultural opportunities for all ages.  Perhaps the “jewel in the crown” is the delightful River Walk owned and cared for by the Town Council, which winds through the town to provide enjoyment to its many visitors as well as an important habitat for nature. The town has a busy main line station on the Liverpool Street-Ipswich-Norwich route with frequent through services, and is bypassed by the A12, planned shortly to become three lanes each way. The East Coast is in easy reach, and nearby Chelmsford and Colchester offer further and higher education services.  Local schools offer a range of primary and secondary education, although access to health services is sometimes problematic, perhaps unsurprisingly in a context of significant and rapid housing development and a pandemic. The Essex and East Anglian countryside and historic cities are very accessible and allow a variety of activities a little further afield.

Duties will include:

  • To manage the strategic direction of the Town Council in order to meet the Council’s priorities as set out in the yearly Business Plans
  • To oversee the budgetary process
  • Engage the local community and community groups for the benefit of the town and its residents
  • Work constructively with elected members and officers and provide sound advice to the Council
  • Manage the day-to-day affairs of the council
  • Attend meetings of the Council and its Committees (except where delegated) the Annual Meeting of the Council and the Annual Town Assembly
  • Ensure that Minutes of all meetings are taken, produced for approval by Council, Committee or Sub Committee and then kept safely
  • Advise the Council on its legal powers for any action that it may wish to undertake
  • Ensure that all properly resolved matters and adopted policies of the Council are followed and appropriate action taken
  • Be the Council’s Proper Officer, Responsible Financial Officer and Data Protection Officer
  • Undertake staff appraisals
  • To be responsible for the conducting of Health and Safety risk assessments in accordance with the act
  • Identify and to bring to the attention of the Council changes that may be required in Council policy and practice in the light of new legislation
  • Undertake any reasonable and/or legal duties that may be required from time to time by the Council
  • To be a named key holder for police and security purposes
  • To attend such conferences as may be required by the Council
  • To oversee production of the Council’s Newsletter
  • To oversee progression of projects undertaken by the Council
  • To oversee the implementation of a Neighbourhood Plan
  • Liaison with appropriate contacts at County and District Councils and other bodies
  • To provide support to the community team for delivery of civic and community events

An extremely high standard of communication and organisation is essential in this role. You should have a reasonable level of I.T and office based skills in addition to a strong desire to build on your skills through the Council’s committed programme of continued staff development. Benefits include inclusion in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), flexible working hours (including at least one evening per week) and additional annual leave for long service. The Council operates a flexible working from home policy by agreement.

Click here to download a Job Description

The closing date for applications is Thursday 27th January 2022.

Application by way of CV and covering letter to be sent to Councillor Susan Ager at [email protected].