Local government officer

Local government officers put council policies into practice and provide local public services.

Also known as: Policy officer, finance officer, administration officer

• Starter salary£24,000 a year
• Experienced£38,000 a year
• Typical hours37 to 39 a week

What you'll do

The work you'll do will depend on the department that you work in and your level of responsibility.

As a local government officer, you could:

• manage and evaluate projects
• keep records, write reports and prepare briefing papers
• answer enquiries over the phone, online, in writing or in person
• present information at meetings
• supervise administrative work and manage clerical staff
• prepare and manage contracts
• deal with other agencies
• manage budgets and funding

Working environment

You could work in an office.

Skills and knowledge you'll need

You'll need:

• customer service skills
• administration skills
• excellent verbal communication skills
• business management skills
• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• the ability to work well with others
• the ability to use your initiative
• the ability to organise your time and workload
• to be able to use a computer and the main software packages confidently

How to become a local government officer

You can get into this job through:

• a university course
• a college course
• an apprenticeship
• working towards this role
• applying directly
• a graduate training scheme

University

You may need to do a degree or a job-specific qualification, depending on the department you want to work in.

Subjects include:

• town planning
• urban design
• historic building conservation
• housing

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree

College

You could do a college course in a subject like business and administration before applying directly for this role.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements for these courses vary.

Apprenticeship

You could apply to do an apprenticeship. The exact apprenticeship will depend on your duties.

Examples include:

• Business Administrator Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship
• Public Service Operational Delivery Officer Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship

These usually take between a year and a year and a half to complete.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship

Work

You could start in local government as an administrative assistant, providing support to council departments.

You could then work your way up to more senior positions through training and promotion on the job. Experience in office work would be useful.

Direct application

You can apply for jobs directly if you've got the right skills and experience. Some local authorities may ask for a minimum of 4 GCSEs, A levels, or equivalent qualifications, depending on the vacancy.

For certain jobs, you may need a degree or specific professional qualification in an area like town planning or public policy.

Experience of working in customer service and using common computer packages like Word and Excel, are also valued by employers, and could help your career prospects.

Other routes

You may be able to join a local authority's Local Government Graduate Programme if you've got a second class degree or higher. Most subjects are acceptable.

You could also get into this job through an internship .

Career path and progression

With experience, you could:

• move to different local authority departments
• progress into management
• work for other public sector organisations, like the NHS
• work in areas like the voluntary sector

Guides for this industry

• Administration: pay, interviews and getting started →

Related roles

• Job roleDiplomatic Service officer
• Job roleCivil Service executive officer
• Job roleAdmin assistant
• Job roleLocal government revenues officer

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0