Job Introduction
Job Title: Executive Support Officer
Starting Salary: £31,537 opportunity to progress £34,434 per annum (pro rata for part time)
Hours: 37
Location: Stevenage/Hybrid
Contract Type: Permanent
Directorate: Resources
About the team
Our Business Support Service is looking for a highly motivated, enthusiastic, and well‑organised Executive Support Officer, to provide direct executive support to two Directors within the Children’s Services Directorate. This is a permanent position that supports both our Director of Inclusion & Skills and the Director of Education.
Do you enjoy working in a fast‑paced environment and delivering excellent support to your team? Are you a strong team player who also thrives when using your initiative to work independently?
Our Business Support Service is a centralised unit, designed to deliver a co‑ordinated, consistent, and high‑quality service that underpins effective service delivery across the organisation. Business Support plays a vital role in ensuring our departments can provide the best possible services to residents. If you have strong administrative skills and a strong customer‑focused approach, you could be a great fit for our team.
You will be working within the Executive Support Hub, part of the central Business Support Service, alongside more than 400 colleagues. In this role, you will play a key part in supporting our departments to ensure they can deliver critical services to the residents of Hertfordshire.
About the role
We are seeking a diligent, detail‑oriented, and proactive individual to provide effective, high‑quality, dedicated executive support to two of our Children’s Services Directors at Hertfordshire County Council, namely the Director for Inclusion & Skills and the Director for Education.
In this role, you will act as the first point of contact for both Directors and will be responsible for managing their diaries and inboxes.
You will work closely with each Director to understand their working styles and build effective relationships with senior officers across the organisation.
In addition, you will support the effective running of key meetings, including drafting agendas, collating board packs, maintaining forward plans and action logs, and minuting meetings.
You will also work closely with internal and external stakeholders and partners, representing the organisation, as well as the Director of Inclusion & Skills and the Director of Education, professionally and in alignment with the County Council’s values.
This role sits within the Executive Business Support Team (Children’s Services), where you will be part of a wider team delivering excellent support across the Children’s Services Directorate.
About you
The ideal candidate will be an enthusiastic individual with a can‑do attitude, who is self‑motivated, professional, and approachable, consistently providing excellent team support and demonstrating best practice.
Essential
- Experience in complex diary and inbox management, with the ability to use initiative to prioritise issues and invitations on behalf of the Directors for Inclusion & Skills and Education.
- A competent administrator with strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications, including Excel and PowerPoint.
- Demonstrates excellent customer care skills, with experience of handling confidential and sensitive matters while acting as the first point of contact for the Directors of Inclusion & Skills and Education, and representing the organisation professionally, to internal and external stakeholders.
- Highly effective at prioritising multiple tasks, managing time efficiently, and working under pressure with competing deadlines and challenging workload demands.
- Experience of strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Experience of carrying out activities relating to event hire, equipment, catering, and conferences attended by management boards.
Desirable
- Knowledge or experience of working within a political environment, with an understanding of local government corporate objectives and current issues.
- Proficient in using SharePoint and Microsoft Teams
We welcome applications from candidates who currently reside in the UK with established proof of right to work documentation. We are not able to offer sponsorship at this time for this role.
This job role is within the Business Support Services, level 8 job profile. Please locate this via:
Job profiles: Business support services
To hear more about this opportunity please contact
Sandra Barley
Executive Support Team Leader - Children's Services, Business Support Service
Sandra.barley@hertfordshire.gov.uk
for an informal discussion about the role.
Interview Date: 23 April 2026
How to apply
As part of your application, please upload your most recent CV. Ensure your CV is up to date with your employment history (including any employment gaps), and including any training/qualifications. We encourage you to include examples of where you have demonstrated the requirements/criteria in the advert / job profile to allow the panel to fully recognise your skills and abilities. You will have the opportunity to include a short covering paragraph within your application to give us a little more information about your skills, knowledge, and experiences.
Additional information
Disability Confident
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.
English Fluency
The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required). Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.