Policy & Equalities Officer

Job Introduction

Role Purpose

This is an exciting time to join the council’s policy team, we are ready to launch our corporate strategy ‘A shared vision for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole’ 2024-2028, which sets out the council’s priorities and ambitions, alongside this we are developing and implementing corporate dashboards for monitoring performance and reporting on our progress.

You will be joining a team that lead on corporate policy, who are at the forefront of translating national and regional policy and advising both officers and cabinet members on changes to legislation and policy changes.

We are looking for a policy officer to join our busy team, who is excited by new challenges and wants to be part of local government, making a difference for our residents, business and local democracy.  

You will help to shape or influence local and national policy to improve the health, wellbeing and prosperity of local residents, providing effective equality, policy and strategy advice and support across the Council. This involves researching, writing and interpreting local and national policy to help the organisation and partners fulfil their legal and social responsibilities. You will also support and drive the Council’s diversity and equalities policies and programmes, leading on and developing innovative, sustainable approaches to diversity and equalities activity across the Council and key partners. 

Main Responsibilities

• To proactively horizon scan the external environment for changing government policy & legislation and translate and communicate at a local level enabling service units and partners to:  
  • be responsive to local need
  • understand and discharge their public sector equality duties
  • pursue external funding opportunities that reduce demand on council resource
  • comply with the Localism Act and empower communities.  
• To develop and communicate new corporate policy and strategy as required and support the production of policy documents and guidance for internal stakeholders.
• Collect evidence and research to assist with policy changes.
• To facilitate the development of strategic partnership opportunities which bring together and enhance the public sector, private and community capacity to meet local needs.  
• To support the planning and delivery of a range of initiatives and events to foster good relations and build resilience in communities.  
• To ensure key stakeholders (Members, Directors, Heads of Service etc.) are regularly informed about the impacts of changing government equality policy & legislation and new opportunities.  
• To support the development of an overarching corporate strategy or plan, informed by reliable insight and intelligence that sets out clear priorities and measurable outcomes.
• To keep abreast of developments in the field of diversity and equalities and ensure that the council operates in compliance with appropriate legislative and regulatory requirements.
• Use professional curiosity in developing and implementing programmes aimed at improving understanding and awareness of diversity and equalities among officers, councillors and partners.
• To research, design, implement and evaluate projects to deliver the Council’s duties under the Equality Act 2010, providing expertise and examples of best practice, to improve the council’s level of understanding and progress.
• To develop reporting mechanisms to gather equality performance information, including primary responsibility for the Equality Impact Assessment process.
• Carry out and support Equality Impact Assessments for all strategies, budget proposals, policies and procedures across all council activity.

The Ideal Candidate

• Demonstrate our values and behaviours of respect, passion, integrity, innovation and pride
• Ability to understand and analyse data and information, be accurate, neat and pay close attention to detail 
• Ability to interpret and present proportionate & relevant performance information to Members, Management Team and lead partners
• Effective interpersonal and communication skills; able to resolve barriers to collaboration with others by communicating openly and challenging unhelpful behaviour. Able to demonstrate tact and diplomacy in situations which may become contentious
• Make evidence-based decisions, assessing risks and outcomes
• Team player, contributing to and celebrating the success of the whole team
• Encourage and listen to everyone’s ideas, sharing feedback constructively
• Be positive about change
• Good organisational skills and ability to plan and prioritise own workload and complete projects accurately to deadlines
• To be confident liaising with officers at all levels of the organisation  
• Appreciation of diversity in both colleagues and service users and recognise individual needs
• Educated to degree level or similar qualification
• Good knowledge of ICT and work practices, processes and procedures relevant to own area of work  
• Be able to plan and organise own workload
• Some legal and regulatory knowledge, with an understanding of the non-compliance consequences  
• Experience of dealing with complex work which requires regular problem solving  
• Experience of policy development, including the completion of Equality Impact assessment   
• Relevant experience relating to the practical knowledge of processes as they relate to Equalities legislation and policy information
• Experience of analysing sets of data and present information in an engaging way
• Ability to demonstrate experience of developing a corporate approach to policy  
• Ability to demonstrate extensive experience of developing a corporate approach to equality, diversity and inclusion
• Ability to develop strong relationships and provide complex advice which can affect and influence change

For an informal chat about the role please contact Gail Scholes on gail.scholes@bcpcouncil.gov.uk

About BCP Council

BCP Council provides services to a diverse community of 400,000 residents and employs more than 5,000 people. Our area includes over 15 miles of beautiful world-renowned coastline. We can offer career defining roles to transform and improve services. By working with us, you can help deliver a vision of a thriving, word-class, prosperous and inclusive place for generations to come.

Our Benefits

We offer an excellent benefits package to colleagues. Find out more here: support" style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(54,30,84);text-decoration:none;">Colleague benefits and support | BCP (bcpcouncil.gov.uk)

As a result of the creation of BCP Council in 2019, we are working on simplifying our terms and conditions of service and will be creating a single pay structure which is to be applicable for all employees. It is important to us that we offer benefits that our colleagues value as part of their total employment package and we are reviewing these to make sure we have it right. We are in the process of establishing a timescale for implementation and colleagues joining us will be included in these changes. This is expected to be in place in 2024 or early 2025.