Programme Support Officer

Fixed-term position until 31 January 2026 (Maternity Cover)

About the role

The LGA is offering an exciting opportunity to join its dynamic improvement team working on a number of high-profile programmes that support councils to improve services to local people.

We offer a wide range of programmes to help officers and locally elected councillors lead their councils and communities; a programme of “peer challenges” that enables councils to get an external perspective on their operation and performance from other councils; and expert “hands on” support to help councils improve their productivity and efficiency or deal with specific challenges.

The role requires an individual who can: work independently across multiple projects at any one time, update and analyse spreadsheets, produce reports, chase external stakeholders for information, plan and prepare meetings and events, take minutes, raise orders and invoices, monitor budgets, routinely keep project information and records up to date, understand and follow corporate policies and processes.

About you

The successful applicant will need to be: team players who are flexible and capable of working with minimal supervision; well organised with the ability to plan and deliver a varied workload; highly capable and well-motivated; excellent communicators. They will also need to have strong interpersonal skills and have excellent attention to detail.

About us

The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local authorities. We work on behalf of our member councils to support, promote and improve local government.

We are a politically led, cross-party organisation that works on behalf of councils to ensure local government has a strong, credible voice with national government. We influence and set the political agenda on the issues that matter to councils to help them deliver local solutions to national problems.

We also provide councils with the tools and resources to respond to challenges present and emerging, and support improvement across the sector.

We value diversity and encourage applications from all sections of the community to this high-profile role.

To apply

If you would like to be considered for this role, please complete this offline application form which includes a supporting statement detailing how you meet the criteria for the role and email this to Recruitment@local.gov.uk.

We are specifically assessing candidates against the following criteria:

• A strong track record of working independently across multiple high-profile projects, to tight deadlines and with excellent attention to detail

• Excellent written skills, with the ability to accurately summarise and convey complex information

• Excellent communication skills, with experience of working with senior stakeholders across high profile and sensitive projects

• Strong experience of Microsoft Office packages, for example, Excel and Word

• A motivated, positive and flexible attitude

• A strong team player

Closing Date:  9pm, Sunday 2 March 2025

Interview Date: W/C 10 March 2025 (virtual)

For enquiries contact Karen Denyer karen.denyer@local.gov.uk

We use anonymous recruitment, which is the practice of hiding candidates’ identities. This process involves removing any identifying information from candidates’ applications which includes names.

At the LGA we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. Our recruitment decisions are based on fair, open competition, with appointment on merit.  

The LGA are proud to be awarded a “Disability Confident Leader”.  Please contact us via Recruitment@local.gov.uk if you require a reasonable adjustment, which is a change to the format or conditions of the recruitment process to accommodate any disability-related needs you may have.

Our benefits

• LGA annual leave entitlement is 29 days, rising to 31 days after three years’ service and to 33 days after five years’ service, plus all UK public holidays (pro rata for fixed term and part time contracts).*

• Flexible & agile working – office-based staff are required to work in the LGA’s London office two days per week as a minimum, subject to business need and this may vary significantly between different roles and from week to week.

• Future development – face-to-face and virtual courses are scheduled in line with developmental goals

• The LGA offers 24/7 access to a free, confidential employee assistance programme managed by Health Assured. This service is also available for Dependants.

• Family friendly policies

For more of LGA’s benefits and working with us, please view our webpage https://www.local.gov.uk/benefits-and-working-lga

Our values & behaviours

Our Values and Behaviours are there to give us an understanding of who we are as an organisation and who we want to be. They are a framework to help us understand:

• how we work with each other

• how we work with our members and stakeholders

• our expectations for ourselves and each other

Our values are:

Inclusive - We ensure that our work is inclusive of all voices.

Ambitious - We are ambitious for councils and their communities and are committed to striving for excellence in all that we do to support our colleagues, our membership and the sector to deliver the best possible outcomes.

Collaborative - We bring together the expertise and skills needed, working as one team.