Clerk to the Finance and Services Committees

Introduction
The Clerk to the Finance and Services Committees provides high quality support to the Committees, in particular working closely with the Chairs to ensure they are well briefed to deal with a range of corporate and Member-handling issues.

The Chairs of the Committees (“the Chairs”) are key relationships for the House of Lords Administration and the postholder plays a key part in managing and supporting those relationships, as well as supporting the Committees as a whole.

The postholder works closely with the Chairs and senior officials, in particular the Clerk of the Parliaments, Director of Facilities and Finance Director, as well as senior officials in the Parliamentary Digital Service and the House of Commons.

The Role
The post-holder’s key activities include:

• Supporting the Chairs by providing high level and timely oral and written briefing and advice including on current corporate issues; commissioning and drafting correspondence, including replies to Questions for Written Answer; and representing the Chairs’ views to stakeholders within Parliament including the Usual Channels. 

• Ensuring delivery of effective secretariat services to the Committees, including commissioning papers and briefing; advising on their content and presentation, attempting to forestall problems and questions from the Chairs or Committees and advising authors accordingly; and drafting papers as necessary.

• Constructing schedules and work plans for the Committees that will give them an effective overview of their business areas and allow them to execute their roles at the right time, including horizon-scanning for issues likely to be of interest to the Chairs and the Committees. 

Competencies

Personal effectiveness
• A high degree of initiative and organisational skills, with the ability to deal effectively with conflicting demands, operate under pressure, and deliver results in challenging environments.
•The ability to become proficient in new topics quickly.
•The ability to be able to resolve conflicts, find compromises, represent the views of a range of stakeholders and act as an honest broker between different parties.

Leadership
• A track record of planning your own and others’ work effectively, and experience of supporting and developing colleagues.
• The ability to work as part of a team and to support others to produce better results.

Parliamentary knowledge
•Thorough understanding of the work of the House of Lords, including a good knowledge of the House’s governance arrangements, or relevant experience of the governance arrangements in a similar body.
•Political awareness, including a good understanding of the needs and work of the Members of the House.

Building stakeholder relationships
• A track record of developing effective working relationships and working collaboratively with a range of stakeholders at different grades and positions.
•Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to deliver advice robustly where required, including to senior members and officials.

Communication skills
•Strong written communication skills, including the ability to draft documents requiring little or no correction, and the ability to propose edits to the work of others in a constructive and collaborative way.
•Strong oral communication skills, with the ability to persuade and influence.

Professionalism
•The ability to exercise tact and discretion.

•The ability to exercise sound judgement in a political environment.

Next Steps
If you would like to apply for this role, please submit an application form demonstrating how your skills and experience meet all criteria on the Job Description.

More information on the role and the full list of duties and criteria can be found on the Job Description.