Economic Development Assistant

Permanent
Full Time 37 hours per week

INTERNAL ONLY (Devon County Council Employees Only)

About the Role

An exciting opportunity to join the Place and Sector Development Team as an Economic Development Assistant has become available. As a member of the team, you will support the team working with partners and businesses to strengthen the Devon economy. We are seeking a team member to support us in delivering economic development priorities, that support sustainable economic growth across the County. You will help collaborate with businesses, local authorities and government agencies. The role will also focus on supporting the coordination and facilitation of the Devon Food Partnership, which is hosted by the team and supports the delivery of the strategic priorities in Devon’s Good Food Strategy 2023-2028. Supporting the agri-food sector and wider food system transformation is a key area of focus for the team to address priorities around sustainability, health, resilience, and economic growth.

Key Responsibilities Include

• Effective delivery and evaluation of programs or projects as allocated.
• To provide signposting, liaison and information sharing services that will support the ongoing management and further development of effective partnerships with a range of businesses, external agencies and colleagues to deliver economic priorities.
• To demonstrate understanding of Devon County Council's identified priority trade sectors and contribute to the development of sector specific plans and strategies by undertaking of appropriate research.
• To communicate by telephone, email and face to face with a wide range of internal and external, private and public sector, stakeholders to promote and deliver Devon County Council priority outcomes.
• To work in partnership with colleagues and external partners to coordinate the promotion and delivery of a range of economic development activities through the use of research and evaluation reports, organisation of events including workshops, conferences and steering groups, maintenance of team websites, targeted social media campaigns and development of content for newsletters and press releases.
• To work with more experienced members of the Economy service to develop skills in the use of DCC finance system software in order to provide assistance with purchase orders and budget monitoring.

About You

You will have experience in supporting projects, ideally within or alongside the public sector.

Key attributes include

• Experience of coordinating, and delivering projects, activities and initiatives.
• Good knowledge and understanding of the Devon economy and good knowledge of small, medium & micro business sectors
• Experience of organising events
• Experience of working with external partners
• An understanding of local food systems and the agri-food sector would be useful in this role

For an informal discussion please contact Stuart Anderson [email removed]

How to apply

Please ensure when completing your application form that you provide a supporting statement which demonstrates how you meet the essential and desirable criteria as described in the person specification of the job description. Applications may not be taken forwards if the supporting statement is not adequately completed.

Internal Applicants, please note: If you are an existing DCC employee, please use your iTrent Employee Self Service (ESS) details to log in and apply.

Please click here to see the Job Description

• DCC embraces the positive benefits of a diverse workforce and is committed to providing an environment that is inclusive and safe. We welcome applications from people who share our commitment to stop discrimination, challenge inequality and promote diversity across Devon. More information can be found on our Equality and Diversity webpages.
• For details on the use of AI in applications and Devon County Council’s use of AI in Recruitment please see Use of AI in Our Recruitment Processes - Working for Devon | Devon County Council
• Happy to Talk Flexible Working - The Council offers flexible working arrangements in terms of when and where people work e.g. hybrid working, part-time, condensed hours etc.
• We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
• This role requires the ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence and fluency in English.
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• For more information about Working for Devon please visit our Working for Devon page.
• We cannot consider visa sponsorship at this time. UK Right to Work is required.For further guidance on right to work in the UK, please visit: Work in the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).