The Electoral Commission
Senior Adviser Electoral Performance
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Basis: Permanent, Full time 36 hours per week
A £312 tax-free working from home allowance is also payable annually.
Location: Cardiff, Belfast, Edinburgh (Hybrid – min. 2 days in office), or Remote UK
Benefits: Outstanding benefits including Civil Service Pension Scheme, flexible working, 28+ days holiday, and more.
About the Electoral Commission
The Electoral Commission is the UK’s independent body overseeing elections and regulating political finance. Everything we do is about ensuring trust, participation, and integrity in the democratic process.
As we continue to deliver our five-year Corporate Plan, the Commission is building on a period of growth and change, expanding our workforce and modernising how we deliver our services to better support the needs of a changing democracy. As our organisation develops and adapts to meet future challenges, this post will play a vital part in supporting that progress and helping ensure we remain responsive to the democratic needs of voters, campaigners, parties and electoral administrators across the UK.
About the role
As a Senior Adviser in our Electoral Performance Team, you will work to improve the effectiveness, resilience and performance of electoral services in local authorities. You will work with Returning Officers, Electoral Registration Officers and electoral stakeholders to develop and embed the Commission's approach to performance standards and drive improvements across the electoral community.
This is an exciting time for the team, as we develop the future approach to monitoring electoral performance. You will have the opportunity to shape new frameworks, tools and ways of working that will influence how electoral performance is measured for years to come.
Key responsibilities include:
- Developing and embedding the Commission's performance standards framework for electoral services.
- Leading projects and initiatives that improve electoral performance and support good practice across the sector.
- Working closely with internal and external stakeholders to develop and refine our approach to performance monitoring.
- Providing expert advice on performance standards, consultations, legislation and electoral policy developments.
- Analysing data and insights to identify trends, challenges and opportunities for improvement.
- Planning and delivering communications, guidance and engagement activities with electoral stakeholders across the UK.
About the team
You'll join the Electoral Performance Team within the Electoral Administration & Regulation Directorate – based across the UK.
The team is responsible for developing and maintaining the Commission's performance standards for Returning Officers and Electoral Registration Officers. The team works closely with colleagues across Guidance, Policy and Research, Communications, English Regions and the devolved offices to help improve electoral outcomes across the UK.
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This is a highly collaborative team with a strong external focus. You'll regularly engage with local authorities, Returning Officers, Electoral Registration Officers, the Association of Electoral Administrators, Electoral Management Boards and government departments. The team currently includes the Electoral Performance Manager and senior advisers, offering a supportive environment with opportunities to influence significant national projects.
Who we’re looking for
We're looking for a talented professional who enjoys using evidence, insight and stakeholder engagement to drive improvement.
You may come from a performance management, regulatory, audit, public sector, governance or operational improvement background. You'll be experienced in working with performance frameworks, analysing information, influencing stakeholders and delivering improvement initiatives.
To be successful in this role, you'll bring:
- An understanding of performance standards, performance monitoring or continuous improvement approaches.
- Experience of working with legislation and providing advice on its application.
- Experience of delivering work through formal project management approaches.
- Experience of analysing complex information and developing evidence-based recommendations.
- Strong written communication skills, with the ability to tailor messages for different audiences.
- Excellent stakeholder management, influencing and relationship-building skills.
- Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities effectively.
Experience of electoral services, delivering training or guidance, or applying improvement methodologies would be advantageous but is not essential.
Why work for us?
The Role:
This role offers a rare opportunity to influence how elections are delivered across the UK. You'll work on high-profile projects that directly support electoral administrators and contribute to strengthening democracy.
You'll have the opportunity to:
- Help shape the future of the Commission's electoral performance framework.
- Work with senior stakeholders across government, local authorities and the wider electoral sector.
- Lead nationally significant improvement initiatives.
- Develop expertise in electoral performance, regulation and public service improvement.
- Build a strong network across the UK's electoral community.
Our offices in London, Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh provide welcoming, collaborative spaces where colleagues can connect, share ideas and work together across teams. We also support a range of flexible working arrangements, including hybrid and remote working, ensuring all colleagues can contribute, collaborate and feel connected wherever they are based.
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The Benefits:
We offer a strong total reward package, including:
- Flexible working and hybrid model for office-based staff, with a minimum of 40% of working time spent in the office.
- Flexi-time scheme, allowing flexible hours with the option to accrue and take flexi leave.
- 28 rising to 30 days annual leave + bank holidays.
- Civil Service pension scheme (28.97% employer contribution).
- Performance-related pay.
How to apply
We are committed to fair and inclusive recruitment. To help reduce unconscious bias and ensure all applicants are assessed solely on their skills, knowledge and experience, we use an anonymous recruitment process.
When applying, please provide an anonymised CV which omits your protected characteristics and any personally identifiable information:
Do not include:
- Your name, address, phone number, email or other contact details.
- Your date of birth or age.
- Gender, ethnicity, nationality or other personal identifiers.
- A photo of yourself.
- Remove educational dates as these are a clear indication of your age.
- There is no requirement to include your primary education details.
Do include:
- Your employment history including employers and dates of employment.
- Explanation for gaps in your history.
- Your duties, responsibilities and achievements.
If your CV contains personal details (such as your name or contact information), we will be unable to consider your application. Please double-check your documents before submitting, including the file name you use to save and upload your CV.
Supporting disabled applicants
The Electoral Commission is proud to be a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer. As part of this commitment, we aim to prioritise interviews for disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria listed in the job description.
There may, however, be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria. For example, during periods of exceptionally high application volumes or seasonal recruitment activity, the Commission may need to limit the overall number of interviews offered to both disabled and non-disabled applicants.
If you have a disability and would like to be considered under this commitment, please indicate this when you apply. We also welcome requests for reasonable adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process or within the workplace.
Key dates
- Application deadline: Monday 28th September (23:59).
- Interviews (1st stage): Week commencing Monday 12th October.
- Anticipated start date: TBC.
Interviews are expected to be conducted virtually via Microsoft Teams.
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