Description
We are committed to the development of our workforce. This position is only available to applicants who already work for Surrey County Council. We thank you for your interest in our roles and would encourage you to review our vacancies which are open to all.
This role has a starting salary of £33,552 per annum, based on a 36-hour working week.
We are excited to be hiring a new Senior Development Officer to join our fantastic Policy and Systems Team. The team is based in Woking (Victoria Gate) and is pivotal to the smooth running of the directorate, both for our customers, and for our staff. With responsibilities ranging from the management of policies and process to supporting business continuity. Are policies up to date? Are they efficient? Are we, across all teams, resilient enough to be able to cope in an emergency, such as bad weather? Our team helps to ensure that the answer to this will be yes!
We are committed to being in the office 2 days out of 5 as a minimum and at present these are Monday and Tuesday in line with team meetings.
Our Offer to You
1. 26 days' holiday, rising to 28 days after 2 years' service and 31 days after 5 years' service
2. Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
3. A generous local government salary related pension
4. Up to 5 days of carer's leave and 2 paid volunteering days per year
5. Paternity, adoption and dependents leave
6. An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
7. Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources
8. Wellbeing and lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, and shopping
9. A chance to make a real difference to the lives of our residents
About the Team
We're looking for a Senior Development Officer to join our Policy and Systems Team within the Children, Families and Lifelong Learning (CFLL) directorate. This is a unique opportunity to play a key role in shaping how our services operate, respond to challenges, and prepare for future inspections and developments. This is a small, but vital team with a wide-ranging remit.
You'll be joining a small, resilient team that is at the heart of CFLL's strategic and operational success. With three other team members, your contribution will be vital in ensuring the directorate can meet its goals, respond to emergencies, and continuously improve services.
About the Role
Join Us as a Senior Development Officer. Would you like to be part of a team that makes a real difference to the lives of children and families across Surrey? Do you thrive working in a collaborative environment, where everything you do, directly supports service improvement and strategic planning?
As our Senior Development Officer, you'll be at the heart of supporting service managers and senior leaders to:
10. Drive smarter working practices across CFLL, especially around lone working and business continuity
11. Improve management information to help leaders make informed decisions—working closely with performance teams and service managers
12. Track and enhance training compliance in areas like safeguarding, health and safety, and early years development—partnering with the Children's Academy and Health and Safety teams
13. Support inspection readiness, including SEND Local Area Inspections, by gathering and presenting evidence of achievements and collaborative working
14. Respond to ad hoc requests from senior leadership to resolve policy and process issues or contribute to short-term projects
15. Manage critical business tasks that occur infrequently but are essential—like annual reporting or emergency mailbox oversight
16. Build resilience within the team by sharing knowledge and supporting succession planning.
This role is perfect for someone who enjoys variety, gets excited by problem-solving, and thrives whilst working across different services and teams. You'll be a key player in helping CFLL adapt to change, meet compliance standards, and deliver better outcomes for children and families.
Your Application
In order to be considered for shortlisting, your application will clearly evidence the following skills and align with
17. Good IT skills including Word, Excel, Outlook
18. Ability to prioritise and plan your own workload in the context of conflicting priorities and work on own initiative
19. Good written communication skills with the ability to build sound relationships and work collaboratively with others
20. Ability to understand and use relevant legislation and associated procedure regulations
21. A methodical approach to information gathering, recording and reporting
22. High level administrative/organisational and analytical skills.
To apply, we request that you submit a CV and you will be asked the following 4 questions:
23. Please describe a time when your attention to detail was critical to the success of a task or project. What was the situation, what specific steps did you take to ensure accuracy, and what was the outcome?
24. Tell us about a time when you had to quickly learn a new process, system, or piece of legislation to complete a task or meet a deadline. How did you approach the learning process, and what did you do to ensure you understood and applied the information correctly?
25. Please tell us about an occasion where you have had to work collaboratively with another team to achieve the end goal. How did you approach this? What were the advantages of working together? And did you achieve your goal?
26. Please tell us about any other relevant skills or experience you have, related to this role.
Before submitting your application, we recommend you read the job description and our to get an insight into working at Surrey.
Contact Us
Please contact us for any questions relating to the role. This could be to discuss flexible working requests, transferable skills or any barriers to employment.
For an informal discussion please contact Jo McSherrie by e-mail.
The job advert closes at 23:59 on the 8th October 2025 with interviews planned for 21st October 2025.
We look forward to receiving your application,