Service Director - Legal and Governance Monitoring Officer

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 and will be central to shaping modern, responsive and proportionate governance arrangements that support innovation, pace and organisational change. Acting as the council's statutory monitoring officer and chief legal adviser, you will help ensure that the authority operates lawfully, ethically and and transparently, enabling confident decision-making that delivers real benefit for residents. Shaping and leading a complex and high-profile 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 council's 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, constitutional and legislative compliance within a politically led organisation.
• Acting as the council's monitoring officer, you will promote high standards of governance and ethical conduct, providing authoritative advice on complex, sensitive and high-risk 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, evidence-led advice to members and senior officers, supporting effective scrutiny, transparent decision-making and sound risk management.
• You will oversee and modernise the constitution and governance frameworks, ensuring they are clear, accessible and aligned with the council's operating model and strategic ambitions, while enabling agile, well-governed decision-making that can respond effectively to change and transformation., The role requires flexibility, including attending evening meetings and occasional weekend working to support democratic processes.
• You will be required to join the council's Emergency Co-ordination Officer rota as a strategic lead responder and full training will be provided.
  
  It is essential that you are a qualified solicitor or barrister with substantial post-qualification experience in providing legal, 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, managerial and political boundaries and experience of shaping governance arrangements to support continuous improvement, transformation and confident decision-making.
• With highly developed communication, interpersonal and influencing skills, you will be confident to give clear, independent and evidence-based advice under pressure.
• You will bring substantial experience of risk management, assurance and ethical governance, supporting sound decision-making and protecting organisational reputation.
• A clear commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, alongside leadership on climate and carbon-neutral 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.
  
  How a career at South Gloucestershire Council is different
We value our people and invest in their development, offering high-quality leadership support and learning opportunities that make a lasting difference. What's 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, wellbeing support and 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.
• We're shaping strong communities, supporting democracy and good governance, and ensuring the Council operates with integrity and confidence.
• We're 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. We're making a difference be part of it!