Constituency Assistant (12 hours per week) to cover ongoing staff sick leave

Job Duties

• Day to day administrative duties in the constituency office
• Meeting constituents, taking note of their queries and making representations on a variety of issues which include benefits, housing issues, planning, roads and health.
• Drafting correspondence on various issues on behalf of the MLA and liaising with the statutory agencies involved to satisfactorily resolve the issues concerned.
• Opening incoming mail and prioritising it for MLA’s consideration and ensuring follow up responses where necessary, including inputting appointments into the MLA’s Diary.
• Strong record keeping and data base management.
• Coordinating the MLA’s diary ensuring all appointments are made and documented in an agreed format.
• Inputting data into a cloud-based casework management system, follow up and communication. Meticulous attention to detail in keeping up-to-date cloud based records of constituent casework and contacts is essential.
• Photocopying, scanning and formatting of documents and general administrative duties.
• Build strong relationships with local stakeholders and statutory bodies. Engagement with communities on live issues.
• All other duties upon request by the MLA

Qualifications / Experience

The successful candidate must have:

• Experience working within a constituency office or advice centre / bureau environment.
• A good knowledge of benefits, housing and planning issues as well as knowledge of services / responsibilities of government departments / agencies in Northern Ireland.
• A high standard of verbal and written communication skills.
• A confident and professional attitude when working both inside and outside the constituency office.
• Strong organisational, record keeping and time management skills.
•  Resilient and capable of dealing with large and varied workloads.
• The ability to work to tight deadlines and complete tasks to a high standard at short notice in a high pressure environment.
• Comfortable with working independently as well as part of a small team. Discretion at all times on matters sensitive or otherwise.

Additional:

Successful candidates must be:

• Willing to commence work as soon as possible and be available for an indefinite period.
• Willing to travel throughout the Constituency if required
• Willing to be flexible in terms of working hours, as occasional out of hours work may be required.