Shared Services Partnership
Research and Support Officer to Leader of the Opposition WCC624476
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Job Details:
- Salary range: £42,912 - £49,155 pro-rata, per annum (actual salary £34,329 – £39,324 per annum). Salary negotiable depending upon experience
- Work location: Westminster City Hall, 64 Victoria Street, Westminster, SW1E 6QP
- Hours per week: 28.80
- Contract type: Permanent
- Closing date: 15 August 2026
- Interview date: Week commencing 24 August 2026
About Us:
THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF THE CARRICK YARD INVESTMENT
The Finance Team in Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories, where we go above and beyond for our residents – in all sorts of pioneering ways. Our work has the ability to have profound impact on residents’ lives. By being smart and courageous with the council’s finances means we can achieve more for our residents.
Take the Carrick Yard housing development in Luton Street. When a big international building firm couldn’t find a sales partner, we stepped in to create a joint venture partnership and underwrite any unsold units to protect our investment. Then when we felt a big banking partner would be overcharging the venture for financing the development, we decided to finance it ourselves. The result? 171 homes are now under construction, leading the redevelopment of the Church Street area, whilst the council is projecting a potential return on investment of almost 14% – far in excess of anything that can be achieved on cash deposits in current market conditions. And why does this success matter? Because it allows us to invest even more in public services that are the lifeblood of our communities. Please view the extraordinary story of the Carrick Yard Investment here.
The Role:
As Research and Support Officer for the Leader of the Opposition, you can make your own contribution to Westminster’s success.
This is your opportunity to support a high-profile, highly driven group of councillors, and help them to deliver on their ambitions. A great introduction into the world of policy and politics, this early career-level role will provide you with the chance to witness the inner workings of an exceptional local authority, first-hand. This role is offered at four days per week (28.8 hours) and so you will be able to flexibly manage your workload in conjunction with your line manager. Joining a team that sits within Governance and Councillor Liaison, you will provide high-quality briefing, research and casework assistance, with an overall focus on ensuring the Leader of the Opposition (LotO) is well-informed on key areas of council policy and delivery. With exposure to officers and services across the council, you will get involved in tackling a range of issues and see to it that trends and insights emerging from casework are fed back, so that the LotO is on top of every issue. As well as commissioning and drafting briefings, speeches and other materials, you will provide light-touch, seamless administrative and secretarial support, handling the LotO’s diary, taking minutes, following up on agreed actions and ensuring they can get on with their job.
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Please refer to the Job Description for more information.
About You:
You’ll bring experience of working with senior internal and external stakeholders, with the confidence to build trust and communicate well at all levels. Experience supporting politicians or senior officers at Director level would be an advantage.
You’ll understand what it means to work in a politically sensitive environment, bringing your diplomacy and sound judgement to the way you handle information and competing priorities. You’ll also have a good understanding of the issues facing local government.
You’ll be comfortable working independently and using your own initiative to carry out research, follow up cases and provide flexible support to the Leader of the Opposition. In complex subject areas, you’ll know how to act as a reliable point of reference or quickly find accurate information when it is needed.
This is a role where priorities can shift quickly. That means you’ll need to stay calm under pressure, manage deadlines and know when to ask for support. You’ll be able to understand the impact of working in a political environment.
You’ll be confident taking in large volumes of information, sifting through what matters and challenging details where needed. Strong research skills will help you horizon scan across local and national issues, identifying what may be relevant to the Council and the Leader of the Opposition.
An excellent communicator, you’ll excel at drafting reports, preparing written material or working with colleagues and partners. Just as importantly, you’ll build effective relationships and work well as part of a team.
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Westminster City Council is committed to supporting Care Leavers into the workplace. Care Leavers seeking their first job and who wish to be considered under our scheme will automatically be invited to interview should they meet the essential criteria for the role.
We reserve the right to extend or close this vacancy early without warning, subject to the volume of suitable applicants.
What We Offer:
Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to more than 200,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster. Westminster City Council is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city’s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe. At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that, at all levels, represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best, that is Our Westminster Way. To find out more about how we do this, visit https://www.westminster.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/
As a forward-thinking Council, we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore, our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working.
The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application, we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for an interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever possible.
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