How you’ll make a difference
As Service Director Legal, Governance and Democratic Services Monitoring Officer you will play a pivotal strategic leadership role at the heart of South Gloucestershire Council. As the councils statutory monitoring officer and chief legal adviser, you will help ensure that the authority operates lawfully, ethically and and transparently, enabling confident decisionmaking that delivers real benefit for residents.You will be central to shaping modern, responsive and proportionate governance arrangements that support innovation, pace and organisational change.
Shaping and leading a complex and highprofile portfolio for legal, governance and democratic services, you will maintain a strong professional presence and trusted relationships with elected members,senior leaders and partners. Through your leadership, you will strengthen governance, manage risk, support effective scrutiny and safeguard the councils reputation, while enabling innovation, transformation and inclusive service delivery.
What you will be doing
- It will be your responsibility to provide strategic and operational leadership across the Legal, Governance and Democratic Services Division, ensuring statutory,constitutionaland legislative compliance within a politically led organisation.
- Acting as the councils monitoring officer, you will promote high standards of governance and ethical conduct, providing authoritative advice on complex, sensitive and highrisk matters.
- You will lead and develop professional teams across legal, democratic, electoral, registration and governance services, embedding a culture of high performance, accountability and continuous improvement.
- It will be key for you to provide trusted, evidenceled advice tomembers and senior officers, supporting effective scrutiny, transparent decisionmaking and sound risk management.
- You will oversee and modernise the constitution and governance frameworks, ensuring they are clear, accessible and aligned with the councils operating model and strategic ambitions,while enabling agile, well-governed decision-making that can respond effectively to change and transformation.
What we need from you
- It is essential that you area qualified solicitor or barrister with substantial postqualification experienceinprovidinglegal, governance and constitutional advice within a complex, politically led organisation.
- We require you to have a strong track record of strategic leadership, governance redesign and organisational change, with the ability to influence across professional,managerialand political boundariesandexperience ofshapinggovernance arrangementstosupport continuous improvement,transformationand confident decision-making.
- With highly developed communication, interpersonal and influencing skills, you will be confident to give clear, independent and evidencebased advice under pressure.
- You will bring substantial experience of risk management, assurance and ethical governance, supporting sound decisionmaking and protecting organisational reputation.
- A clear commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, alongside leadership on climate and carbonneutral ambitions, will be central to how you lead and deliver services.
- It would be advantageous to have experience at monitoring officer level, involvement in regional or national policy development, and knowledge of emerging areas such as data protection and AI governance.
What you need to know
- This post is politically restricted.
- The role requires flexibility, including attending evening meetings and occasional weekend working to support democratic processes.
- The post holder will join the councils Emergency Coordination Officer rota as a strategic lead responderandfull training will be provided.
The interview assessment day will take place on the 2nd July 2026.
A second stage council members interview panel will take place on the 3rd July 2026.
These will both be in person at our office at Badminton Road, Yate.
How a career at South Gloucestershire Council is different
We value our people and invest in their development, offering highquality leadership support and learning opportunities that make a lasting difference.
Whats special here is the strength of the senior leadership culture collaborative, supportive and committed to doing the right thing for our communities.We welcome candidates who are energised by improvement, comfortable leading through change and motivated by the opportunity to shape effective governance in a modern council.
We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, welcoming applications from everyone and ensuring people are selected and developed on merit.
Our benefits package includes generous annual leave, wellbeingsupportand access to a wide range of staff discounts.
Our teams at South Gloucestershire Council are making a real difference to the lives of people who live, work and learn here.
- Wereshaping strong communities, supporting democracy and good governance, and ensuring the Counciloperateswith integrity and confidence.
- Were providing essential services across our communities to ensure they are safe and well maintained.
We’ve achieved a great deal, but we need talented and dedicated people to ensure we continue to make a difference.
Were making a difference be part of it!
To view the full job description, please click this link: Service Director Legal Governance and Democratic Services and Monitoring Officer job description
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