Community Board Clerk

This special place in South West London between the capital and the country has been a Royal borough longer than anywhere else - it is where the first kings of England were crowned.

Today it is a vibrant and diverse borough, with a long history and strong cultural and community heritage. Kingston's riverside location, fantastic retail offer, historic market place and church, parks and gardens all make Kingston town centre the vibrant space it is, and each of our district town centres (Surbiton, New Malden, Tolworth and Chessington) have something unique to offer.

Situated in Zone 6, Kingston is among the best-connected town centres in London – with direct train links from Kingston and Surbiton stations to Clapham Junction and London Waterloo, as well as Wimbledon for an interchange with the London Underground and Tramlink.

Kingston’s people are innovative and entrepreneurial, and have a strong sense of community pride. The borough has been home to great industry and creativity for many years, reflected in assets such as the Rose Theatre, the International Youth Arts Festival and Kingston University, which boasts more new graduate business start-ups than any other.

We have seen tremendous generosity and compassion within our communities, particularly in response to COVID-19, which is a demonstration of Kingston’s key strength. The council offers a strong level of support to vulnerable groups and those who need additional support, which has also increased significantly as a result of the pandemic. Like most places, the average age of our population is rising as more people are living longer, so we are working closely with residents to help them maintain their independence and further improve the cost effectiveness of our service to meet the ongoing rise in demand.

Kingston is home to people from diverse and interesting cultures and backgrounds, which helps to create the rich sense of community shared across the borough. In particular, Kingston has a large Sri Lankan Tamil community and is home to more people from Korea than any other part of the UK.

The role reports to the Resident Engagement & Social Value Lead and is responsible for the administration tasks for the successful organisation and delivery  of the Community Board meetings and associated administrative tasks. 

The main duties are to:

1. Organise, attend and minute Community Board and sub groups meetings;  workshops and training sessions
2. Organise the agenda and papers for the meetings in liaison with stakeholders
3. Maintain action logs, trackers and forward plans
4. Handle enquiries for the Community Board and liaise with the Chair
5. Arrange the administrative aspects of training and support for the Board

The Cambridge Road Estate

Kingston Council and housing developer Countryside Properties are working in partnership to deliver a regeneration programme at Cambridge Road Estate (CRE). The proposed plans will deliver high-quality new homes, gardens, play areas, streets, community facilities, new jobs and local training opportunities. Together, we are working closely with residents and neighbours, to shape the regeneration plans for the estate.

The CRE Community Board

The Community Board is made up of residents; community group representatives; ward councillors and council officers. The Board represents the interests of residents by reviewing proposals and providing feedback and ideas.

This is a casual role which will be paid at an hourly rate depending on the hours worked each month. hours per year. The time commitment will vary from month to month but, generally speaking,  the expectation is approximately 14 hours per meeting adding up to roughly 84 hours per year.

Please note that the benefits listed below are not available to casual workers. Further details can be provided at the interview.

Essential qualifications

1. A commitment to flexible working hours.  The successful candidate will need to commit to flexible working as meetings can take place in the evenings and, occasionally, some events at weekends.
2. Due to the potential of a conflict of interest, candidates who are members of the Community Boar are not eligible.
3. Excellent verbal and written communication.
4. Attention to detail.
5. Excellent planning and organisational skills.
6. Ability to work in a team and individually.
7. Familiarity with office tools including email; spreadsheets, calendar and document management.
8. Be sensitive to and manage confidential matters and material.
9. Ability to work with a range of stakeholders in a professional and sensitive manner.
10. Task driven and meet deadlines and timescales.

Desirable skills and experience

• Experience of local government or similar organisations
• Proficient with Google Suite

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

In addition we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff supported by our IT infrastructure, Google Chromebooks and Google Apps, which have acted as a key enabler for collaborative and streamlined working. The COVID-19 pandemic has required us to be even more flexible in how we work and manage staff workloads, ensuring they have the correct equipment and resources to be able to maximise their talents and looking after their wellbeing.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)
• Three volunteering days per year
• Flexible and agile working arrangements
• Comprehensive learning and development programme
• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Zip car scheme
• Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
• Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
• Subsidised gym membership

We pride ourselves on being a diverse, tolerant and welcoming Borough and we aim to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve. We are respectful of difference and realise the positive value of diversity in our workforce. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds and particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates and disabled candidates as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce.

We are proud to be recognised as a Disability Confident employer, and are committed to thinking differently about disability and taking action to improve how we recruit, retain and develop disabled people. We guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role.   

We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums, and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are an accredited London Living Wage Employer and this means that everyone working at the Royal Borough of Kingston, regardless of whether they are permanent employees or third-party contractors and suppliers receive the London Living Wage. The real Living Wage is higher than the government’s minimum, or National Living Wage, and is an independently calculated hourly rate of pay that is based on the actual cost of living.

The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.