Job title: Leadership Assistant
Salary: C1 £27,711 to £30,060
Hours: 37
Contract: Permanent
Location: Merrion House (requirement to work from other offices when necessary), hybrid working offered
As a Leadership Assistant you’ll thrive on working in a fast paced environment providing vital administrative support to our Senior Leaders. Our leadership support teams ensure that they deliver efficient and effective administrative support for those that are responsible for making major decisions to help and support the citizens of Leeds.
Each day is unique, your work will have variety, will be interesting and meaningful, you will have the opportunity to gain new skills. Our teams are visionary and strategic, and have the capacity to anticipate, they act with initiative and responsiveness and excel in challenging situations. They are responsible for providing our senior management with the resources they need to guarantee they can perform their role with excellence.
We are looking for enthusiastic and motivated individuals. Main duties will include diary management, supporting and minuting meetings, managing inboxes and responding to queries. You will be required to have a high level of accuracy and attention to detail to ensure meetings are administered to a high standard. You may be asked to support other members of the team and therefore will need to be flexible and adaptable.
Leeds City Council is one of the largest employers in the region with over 14,000 employees. We seek to recruit and develop talented individuals who embody our council values and ambitions.
About you
As a Leadership Assistant, you will bring to the role:
- Excellent organisational skills, attention to detail and recognising the importance of confidentiality
- Being proactive, thinking ahead, and working on your own initiative with the ability to adhere to timescales
- Good communication skills and being able to work collaboratively with colleagues and develop strong working relationships
- Flexibility and resilience
- An ability to prioritise and negotiate with colleagues, external partners and members of the public
About the role
As our next Leadership Assistant you’ll be part of a highly effective, highly skilled cohesive team who proudly demonstrate the Council’s values and behaviours.
This role may also require you to work across different directorates within the Council as and when necessary.
We are committed to your professional development and will ensure you have the right resources and training to enable you to provide a first class service. The nature of work is varied and there are lots of opportunities to expand your knowledge, skills and experience. You will work closely with senior leaders in a fulfilling and rewarding role.    
What we offer you
We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:
- a competitive salary and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays
- membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions
- flexible and hybrid working arrangements subject to service requirements
- a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities
- a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further
How to apply
Please complete the online application form.
Read our guidance for further advice. Please check your information carefully and ensure you complete all sections before submitting your application.
If you have any queries or would like an informal chat about the role please Alison Ward, Principal Admin Manager, alison.ward@leeds.gov.uk, 0113 3783875.
All new Leeds City Council appointments are made subject to the satisfactory completion of a six-month probationary period.
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 £38,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. Ensure you are eligible before applying.
Leeds City Council
Directorate: Strategy & Resources
Service Area: â€Business Administration Service â€
Job Title: â€Administration Officer / Leadership Assistantâ€
Grade: C1
Conditions Of service: NJC Conditions apply
Responsible To: â€Administration Team Leader / Directorate Support & Governance Manager â€
Responsible For: â€N/A â€
Job Purpose:
Shared Services consists of over 700 employees in the Business Support Centre and Business Administration Service. Both of these services provide administration support activities to a wide range of teams and services across the council.
We help the council to streamline operations by redesigning processes, reviewing models of delivery to enable better sharing of resources and exploiting existing or introducing new technology to modernise the way we work.
Our staff use a range of computer programmes and systems to support services which include those working with teams based across the council in a number of different administration roles. The role involves hybrid working (home/office dependant on service need), potentially working face-to-face with customers and working within the council boundaries as required.
Specific job purposes for all Business Administration Teams are detailed below. Further details regarding the vacancy you have applied for are detailed in the advert.
Responsibilities for Grade:
- Supervise and develop staff to ensure work is prioritised and carried out effectively and efficiently to ensure deadlines are met to high standards.
- Manage your own workload and meet targets whilst maintaining quality as part of a team.
- Assist with the presentation of a variety of information in a clear and concise way with high attention to detail – through both written reports and verbally.
- Experience of adhering to legislative business, financial, audit, and operational requirements of the service, and the impact on its day-to-day work.
- Knowledge of adhering to procedures and legislation relating to confidential information and financial regulations.
- Experience of dealing with sensitive and confidential information.
- Establish and maintain records, accurately entering and retrieving information.
- A commitment to the continuous improvement of quality standards, business procedures and processes through continuous review and development.
- Work flexibly and move within service areas – working at different locations depending on service demand.
- Willing to abide by the Council’s Equal Opportunities and Health and Safety Policies.
- Willing to actively participate in training and development activities to ensure up to date knowledge, skills and continuous professional development.
The above list is not exclusive or exhaustive, and the service may require the job holder to undertake duties commensurate with the level of the role. The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol and this role will be expected to work within these parameters.
PERSONAL SPECIFICATION ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS: It is essential that the Candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria for the post within the context of the specific role duties and responsibilities: Candidates will only be shortlisted for interview if they can demonstrate on the application form that they meet all the essential requirements.
Method of Assessment will be through one or more of the following Application Form, Test, Interview or Certificate.
- Experience of communicating clearly and effectively with a wide range of people and being able to develop strong working relationships. (A/I)
- Work with, and within, multiple teams of staff and contribute to its development with suggestions for new ways of working. (A/I)
- Experience of working on your own and using your initiative to adhere to timescales and deadlines. (A/I)
- Experience of providing excellent customer services and dealing with queries from a range of people. (A/I)
- Experience of the applications, systems and IT programmes utilised by the service and being able to accurately record and retrieve information. (A/I)
PERSONAL SPECIFICATION DESIRABLE REQUIREMENTS: It is desirable that the Candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria for the post within the context of the specific role duties and responsibilities: Candidates are not required to meet all the Desirable requirements however these may be used to distinguish between acceptable candidates.
- Safeguarding
Relationships: The post holder will be required to maintain effective relationships with other Leeds City Council staff, Elected Members, members of the public and other partnership organisations as appropriate.
Physical Conditions: Primarily office based, potentially working face-to-face with customers, working within the council boundaries as required. Leeds City Council has a no smoking at work policy.
Social Conditions: Annual leave of 24 days, plus 5 days following 5 years local government service pro rata. 8 statutory holidays.
Economic Conditions: Grade: C1
Hours: â€37†hours per week, any part time opportunities will be detailed in the advert
Flexitime: Eligible to participate in flexi-time scheme
Conditions of Service: NJC National Agreement on Pay and Conditions of Service for Local Government Services apply.
Prospects: Promotion: Whilst there is no automatic progression to any more senior posts, opportunities do exist for advancement and promotion, dependent upon normal staff movements and on the capabilities of the individual post holder.
Training: The Department encourages training both “in-house” and external to meet the needs of the individual and of the Department.
DBS Checks: Some posts may be subject to checks with the Disclosure and Barring Service. A criminal record will not necessarily be a bar to obtaining employment; this will depend on the circumstances and background to any offence.
Disabled Employees: Where the postholder is disabled, every effort will be made to supply all necessary aids, adaptations or equipment to allow them to carry out all the duties of the job. If, however, a certain task proves to be unachievable, job redesign will be given full consideration.
Council Values: The council values are at the heart of everything we do. They inform the way we design and deliver our services and the way we all work and behave. Our values | Leeds Jobs
Job Description Updated March 2025
Leadership & Governance (Leadership Assistant)
This role is working in the â€Leadership and Governance support area of the Business Administration Service â€, which is responsible for â€providing administrative support to the Council’s Leadership Teamâ€.  â€â€You will monitor and respond to incoming emails, telephone calls and correspondence, providing diary and work programming support. This will require communication with a wide variety of people, including members of the public, organisational partners and Elected Members. You will work with the team to coordinate reports and information and you will also organise, facilitate and provide effective complex meeting support including the production and distribution of supporting documentation and meeting records, which may be highly sensitive or confidentialâ€â€.
Payments HUB
This role is working in the Business Administration Service supporting the finance hub which is responsible for the smooth running of financial administration processes on behalf of Council services.  You will be responsible for raising and making payments, adhering to the financial policies and working in partnership with services to ensure organisations and individuals are paid in a timely manner. You will contribute to process improvement activities to continue to deliver a high-quality service to customers.
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