Job title: Locality Officer
Salary: SO2 £37,280 - £39,152
Hours: 37
Contract: Permanent
Are you passionate about making a difference in local communities? Do you have a knack for turning local insight and knowledge into impactful work and reports? If so, we’d love to hear from you!
We’re looking for a Localities Officer to join our fast-paced team. This dynamic role blends frontline community work with analytical reporting and report writing, helping us shape place and community and services that truly respond to local needs.
We are seeking a motivated and professional individual to support our work with local communities and contribute to evidence-based decision-making through high-quality reporting.
This role offers the opportunity to make a meaningful impact while working within a supportive and forward-thinking team.
What You’ll Be Doing:
- Building strong relationships with Elected Members, community groups, LCC services and local partners.
- Engaging with residents, community groups and stakeholders to gather feedback and foster collaboration.
- Coordinate and attend community meetings, consultations and other engagement events.
- Analyse data and produce clear, structured reports to understand priorities, inform service planning and decision making.
- Support the delivery and evaluation of community initiatives and projects.
What We’re Looking For:
- A ‘can do’ attitude.
- Experience of working with diverse communities.
- Experience in community engagement or public sector work.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
- Strong analytical and report writing skills, including finance.
- Ability to manage multiple tasks, competing priorities and meet deadlines.
- Ability to be adaptable and flexible.
- A proactive, collaborative approach to problem-solving.
Why Join Us?
- Be part of a team that values inclusion, innovation and impact.
- Opportunities for professional development and training.
- Flexible working arrangements.
- Make a real difference to the lives of local people in Leeds.
We welcome applications from everyone and actively seek a diverse range of applicants from all backgrounds and cultures. We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to, women, carers, veterans as well as LGBT+, ethnically diverse, disabled and care experienced people.
This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa.
If you do not have the right to work in the UK, you must consider your own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker visa route before applying. To be eligible for sponsorship you'll usually need to be paid the standard salary rate of at least £41,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. Ensure you are eligible before applying.
Job Description
Job purpose
- To plan and deliver a successful programme of community committee meetings and workshops providing efficient support to community committees
- To promote the work of the community committee using a variety of communication methods
- To ensure the community committee meetings and workshops support the delivery of the council’s priorities and, where appropriate, those of the priority neighbourhoods
- To contribute and work to improve outcomes in priority neighbourhoods and wards
- To promote the implementation of the city’s ambition for locality working as set out in the Best City Plan
Responsibilities
Principal accountabilities:
- To ensure the community committee contributes to council or partnership programmes that support the delivery of the council’s priorities and, where appropriate, those of the priority neighbourhoods.
- To work closely and develop good working relationships with elected members, partners, local communities and residents’ representatives to drive forward the community committee and neighbourhood priorities in line with the council’s values.
- To ensure the community committee operates in ways that support open, inclusive, responsive and accountable government;
- To ensure the work of the community committee and the neighbourhood is promoted through active use of communications tools, including social media and newsletters etc.
- To support work to improve outcomes in local neighbourhoods.
Specific responsibilities:
- Support the work of the community committee and the spending of wellbeing and youth activity funds, seeking match or other sources of funding, where appropriate, and contribute to their further development and promotion.
- Co-ordinate the commissioning and development of local projects to meet gaps in local services against specific local priorities.
- Bring people together to make a difference and to help them do more for themselves and others so that their communities thrive and Leeds achieves its ambition to be the best city for communities.
- Help to build local capacity using an asset based approach to ensure that neighbourhood improvements are sustained.
Qualifications
Educated to degree level or equivalent or have other relevant experience that qualifies you for the post.
Essential requirements Candidates will only be shortlisted if they can demonstrate that they meet all the following essential requirements.
Skills
- Ability to manage and monitor performance effectively and set clear objectives
- Ability to make an effective contribution to internal and external meetings
- Ability to contribute to initiatives and policies from development to implementation
- Ability to prepare and present clear and objective reports for a range of audiences
- Ability to improve service quality and support a culture that drives up standards and performance
- T. competencies to undertake a range of tasks
- Ability to manage competing priorities whilst delivering on a range of projects and adapting to changing circumstances
- Ability to communicate and engage with a wide range of audiences through a number of channels, including social media
Knowledge and Qualifications
- An understanding of locality based service delivery
- An understanding of local government political systems
- An awareness of current issues facing local government and key partners
- An understanding of community involvement issues
- An understanding of community cohesion issues
- An understanding of multiple deprivation in the priority neighbourhoods
Experience
- Working on service delivery co-ordination issues
- Working on community and neighbourhood issues to achieve objectives
- Working in a multi-agency setting to achieve shared objectives
- Producing and implementing plans, monitoring and evaluating plans against objectives
- Working with politicians, organising and servicing meetings involving elected members, stakeholders, residents and community groups
- Supporting the development of projects, funding bids and packages of support
- Collating and analysing data to monitor service delivery and identify local needs
- Undertaking community involvement activities
- Experience of managing and controlling allocated project budgets and using financial management systems
- Experience of working effectively with others to deliver cross sector or cross service projects
- Experience of responding to customer or community needs
- Experience of using communications tools, including social media, to communicate and engage with a wide range of different audiences
Essential behavioural and other characteristics
- Understand and embrace Leeds City Council values and behaviours and codes of conduct
- Committed to continuous improvement in all areas and work towards delivering the Leeds Ambitions of health and wellbeing, inclusive growth, thriving strong communities, and a resilient sustainable city
- Able to understand and observe Leeds City Council policies and procedures
- Carry out duties having regard to an employee’s responsibility under Health, Safety and Wellbeing
- Participate in appraisal, training and development activities to ensure up, to date knowledge and skills
- Be aware of and support difference and ensure equality for all working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding equality and diversity of Leeds City Council
- Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment, victimisation, and any form of abuse, reporting any concerns to the appropriate person
- Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade.
- The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol and the role will be expected to work within these parameters
