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Help us keep good governance at the heart of local public service

Do you enjoy variety, attention to detail and working with people? Are you highly organised, passionate about transparency and public service, comfortable communicating and building relationships with colleagues at all levels and able to stay calm when managing competing priorities?

We’re looking for a proactive and confident Corporate Governance Assistant to join our friendly and supportive Policy and Governance team at Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. This is a key role in ensuring the Council meets its legal obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Environmental Information Regulations 2004, and the Data Protection Act 1998, while also supporting the Council’s complaints and performance management processes to ensure that they are responded to accurately, professionally and on time.

You’ll be part of a small team that works closely with services across the Council, helping to ensure we meet our legal, transparency and customer service responsibilities. No two days will be quite the same — you could be logging and coordinating Freedom of Information requests, supporting responses to data protection enquiries, helping maintain transparency information on our website, or assisting with complaints, performance and risk reporting.

This is a great opportunity for someone with strong administrative skills, excellent attention to detail and a genuine interest in public service, transparency and doing things properly.

You’ll be part of a small team that works closely with services across the Council, helping to ensure we meet our legal, transparency and customer service responsibilities. No two days will be quite the same — you could be logging and coordinating Freedom of Information requests, supporting responses to data protection enquiries, helping maintain transparency information on our website, or assisting with complaints, performance and risk reporting.

This is a great opportunity for someone with strong administrative skills, excellent attention to detail and a genuine interest in public service, transparency and doing things properly.

What you’ll be doing

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the first point of contact for all access to information requests.
• Log, coordinate, and respond to FOI, EIR, and Subject Access Requests, ensuring compliance with statutory deadlines.
• Redact and assess information for disclosure, applying exemptions where necessary.
• Maintain accurate records and produce performance statistics on information requests and complaints.
• Manage and update the Council’s Transparency pages, publication scheme, and disclosure log.
• Support the final stage of the Council’s complaints process and liaise with the Local Government Ombudsman.
• Assist with corporate performance and risk reporting.

What we’re looking for

Essential Experience:

• Experience handling complaints and customer feedback.
• Strong administrative background.
• Proven ability to meet tight deadlines in a complex environment.
• Experience working in a politically sensitive setting.
• Previous experience dealing with FOI requests or applying relevant sections of the FOI or Data Protection Acts.

Qualifications & Training:

• A-Level education (or equivalent) is essential.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Excellent IT skills, particularly Microsoft 365 (Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneDrive).
• Ideally, experience using a case management system.
• Strong interest in the transparency agenda and public access to information.
• Awareness of relevant legislation (FOI, DPA, EIR).
• High standard of literacy and numeracy.
• Excellent attention to detail and organisational skills.
• Ability to produce high-quality written correspondence and manage multiple priorities.
• Strong customer service skills and the ability to handle sensitive or distressed customers with diplomacy and calm.

Personal Attributes:

• Confident, enthusiastic, and self-motivated.
• Able to work independently and as part of a team.
• Comfortable building relationships with colleagues at all levels.
• Customer-focused with a commitment to service excellence.

Why join us?

You’ll be joining a supportive and friendly team, where people value the variety of the work and work well together.

We offer:

• An attractive basic salary within a clear pay structure. A starting salary of £26,060 increasing to £26,746 after one year’s service and increasing to £27,342 upon completion of two years in post (subject to managerial approval).
• 22 days annual leave (increasing to 27 days after 5 years continuous Local Government service) plus three additional days in December and bank holidays.
• Membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme (CARE – Career Average (Revalued Earnings) Pension Scheme – Employer contribution of 19.7%
• Free staff parking
• Hybrid working after successful completion of the probation period
• Employee Assistance Programme: The Council has partnered with Health Assured to provide staff with access to EAP (Employee Assistance Programme) to assist in balancing everyday life with the requirement of work and home.
• Development: corporate training, e-learning, on-the-job learning and work shadowing
• Access to HAPI an all‑in‑one benefits hub, giving you easy access to a wide range of employee perks, wellbeing support, discounts, and everyday savings.

To learn more about working at Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, explore the kind of place we are, work that matters with people who care, and our pay, benefits, and hybrid working.

Interested?

If you’re organised, people-focused and ready to play an important part in supporting governance at Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, we’d love to hear from you.

Equal Opportunities

Tunbridge Wells – Working for Equality. We welcome applications from all sections of the community.

Safeguarding

The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all employee and volunteers to share this commitment.