Local government officer Job Information | National Careers Service

The work

You could work in a variety of departments and roles, such as planning council services in a policy section, or delivering services in a department like education or housing. Job titles at this level could include best value officer, external funding officer, policy officer and democratic services officer.

Your day-to-day tasks would vary according to the department and your level of responsibility. They may include:

• managing and evaluating projects
• writing reports and briefing papers
• dealing with enquiries and giving advice
• presenting information at meetings
• supervising administrative work and managing clerical staff
• keeping records
• preparing and managing contracts
• liaising with other agencies
• managing budgets and funding.

Hours

In a full-time job you would work 35 to 37 hours a week, Monday to Friday. You may occasionally need to work extra hours to complete a project, or go to evening meetings. Part-time work may be available.

You would be based in an office that may be open to the public. You may need to travel within your local authority area to go to meetings, or to visit other council offices or sites.

Income

Starting salaries can be between £16,000 and £20,000 a year, depending on the job. With experience this can rise to between £22,000 and £38,000.

Some local authorities have performance-related pay schemes.

Figures are intended as a guideline only.

Entry requirements

The skills and experience that are needed will vary depending on the duties and level of responsibility, so you should check the entry requirements carefully for each job. For some jobs, employers will ask for qualifications to degree standard, or equivalent work experience. Most councils value life experience and may accept you without the exact qualifications that they have asked for, as long as you have enough relevant experience and the skills needed for the job.

If you have a good degree in any subject, you may be able to join many local authorities in England and Wales through the National Graduate Development Programme. Some other local authorities run their own graduate or management training schemes for new entrants. See the National Graduate Development Programme website for more information.

• National Graduate Development Programme

You could also start in local government as an administrative assistant and work your way up to more senior roles. See Local Government Administrative Assistant job profile for more details.

Training and development

Your local authority will provide induction training when you start your job. This would be followed by on-the-job training from experienced staff, plus any training courses that you might need.

Some employers provide structured training schemes, such as the National Graduate Development Programme. You may also be given the chance to study for a nationally recognised qualification such as:

• Open University Level 3 Certificate in Democratic Services Practice
• professional qualifications from the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA)
• Certificate, Diploma and Advanced Diploma from the Institute of Administrative Management (IAM).

Another option is to study for qualifications related to your own department, for example in housing, personnel or public finance. If you want to progress into senior management, you may find it useful to study for a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree.

Skills and knowledge

To become a local government officer, you will need to have:

• excellent written and spoken communication skills
• the ability to deal with people from a wide variety of backgrounds
• good negotiating skills
• good organisational skills
• a logical approach to solving problems
• accuracy and attention to detail
• the ability to analyse and interpret information
• maths skills, for working with statistics, invoices or budgets.

More information

LGcareers
www.lgcareers.com

Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA)
16 Park Crescent
London
W1B 1AH
Tel: 020 7580 4741
www.icsa.org.uk

Institute of Administrative Management (IAM)
Caroline House
55-57 High Holborn
London
WC1V 6DX
Tel: 020 7841 1100
www.instam.org

Opportunities

You could be employed in any local authority department, for example policy and funding, environmental health, housing, education or leisure. Many jobs are fixed-term contracts that depend on the funding available.

With experience, you could progress into management. You could also choose to move into other public sector areas such as the NHS or the voluntary sector.

Jobs are advertised in the local press and national press, in Jobcentre Plus offices and on local council websites. You may also find the following useful for vacancies and general reading (links open in a new window):

• LG Jobs
• Jobs Go Public
• Society Guardian

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