Become our Chief of Staff

We’re setting our sights high—transforming our services with purpose, ambition, and our communities at the heart of it all.

Our vision is bold: to reshape how we work and deliver, guided by our organisational priorities and driven by the voices of those we serve. This is a pivotal moment for us, and we’re looking for a leader who’s ready to make a real impact.

As Chief of Staff, you’ll be a driving force behind this transformation. A key member of our Executive Leadership Team, you’ll bring strategic clarity, alignment, and momentum to our most critical priorities. You’ll play a central role in delivering an ambitious transformation programme while preparing the organisation for Local Government Reorganisation across Norfolk.

This is a role that goes far beyond the traditional remit of a Monitoring Officer. You’ll be a trusted advisor, a connector of ideas and people, a champion of change and speaks truth to power—ensuring governance, transparency, and ethical leadership are embedded at every level.

The postholder will directly oversee Legal Services, Civic, Licensing, Procurement, Democratic Services, Elections and Corporate Governance.

We’re looking for someone who:

Thinks strategically and influences confidently at the highest levels
Leads with authenticity, inclusion, and a spirit of collaboration
Communicates with clarity and turns complex priorities into action
Advocates passionately for our communities, ensuring services deliver best value and reflect local needs

This is a unique opportunity to lead with purpose and shape the future of local government. If you’re ready to take on a role with real influence and drive transformation that matters—we’d love to hear from you.

A video from Kate Blakemore our Chief Executive about this exciting opportunity.

Working at the Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk

Kate Blakemore joined as our Chief Executive in September 2024 and is leading an exciting programme of organisational transformation alongside shaping our place-based agenda, working closely with the Senior Leadership Team and Cabinet.

We are ambitious to make this council fit for the future and ensure all projects and services run effectively and align with the needs of our communities, maximising the significant opportunities for the borough while proactively addressing our challenges.

Our Corporate Strategy has four priorities:

Promoting growth and prosperity
Providing efficient and effective delivery of our services
Protecting our environment
Supporting our communities

See our Action Plan 2025-2027 for more information.

Politically, the local elections in May 2023 enabled the first minority administration in 20 years to be formed and it is the first in West Norfolk to be made of up a partnership of independent councillors and other parties. See our constitution for how the Council operates.

More about the borough

Our borough is renowned for its rich built and natural heritage, from its ancient towns, historic buildings and maritime links, through to the fens, countryside and stunning coastline.

West Norfolk is a large borough with a diverse landscape and history, and a strong arts and culture scene. We are fortunate to serve a place people want to visit. You can enjoy countryside and coast, admire and visit town centre locations steeped in history, and attend major cultural events such as the King’s Lynn Festival and Festival Too.

Vision and Expectations of the role

We have set ourselves the challenge of transforming our services to deliver the organisational vision and priorities, placing our communities at the heart of what we do. We are ambitious and committed to be the best we can and to make a difference. This role is central to transforming how we operate – ensuring our services provide best value while keeping communities at the heart of what we do.

This role is a high level, strategic role responsible for overseeing the operations of the Executive team, managing cross organisational projects and ensuring business objectives are achieved. Providing critical support in decision making, driving key initiatives and ensuring organisational goals are aligned across all service areas. It requires a high level of problem solving skills combined with clear leadership. Acting as a central point of communication between the CEX, senior leaders and external stakeholders, ensuring transparency and clarity.

This role will also lead and champion delivery of a range of services and will form part of the Executive Leadership Team. Act as the designated officer under and for the purpose of Section 5 of the Local Government Act and Housing Act 1989, as amended by Schedule 5 paragraph 24 of the Local Government Act 2000, operating as the Monitoring Officer to ensure that the Council fulfils its lawful obligations, statutory duties and performs its functions and activities in accordance with the law and the principles of good governance.

Effective collaboration and engagement through role modelling is critical and this means working with and supporting and engaging colleagues on the senior leadership team, elected members and colleagues across the council as well as partners and stakeholders.

Recruitment timeline

Recruitment timeline for vacancy
Date	Process
29 October 2025 (12 noon)	Advert closes
31 October 2025 2025	Candidate invites sent via email
3 November 2025 (12 noon)	Deadline for candidates to submit their personality profile
6 and 7 November 2025	Assessment Centre including formal interview

Relocation package

We offer a relocation package of up to £8k to newly appointed officers who move their home into the borough.

The package includes financial assistance with relocation expenses including such items as temporary accommodation expenses, removal expenses and travelling and house purchase expenses.

Other Benefits

A competitive salary with performance related pay
A generous annual leave entitlement of 36 days, increasing to 39 days with continuous service (including bank and general holidays)
A comprehensive benefits package including discount schemes, cycle to work, online GP and more
Employee Assistance Programme including access to counselling services
A good work/life balance with an agile working environment
Relevant Professional subscription payment
Committed training programme and development opportunities
Membership of the local government pension scheme

Job description

You can view the full job description below.

Chief of Staff job description

Apply

If this sounds like the perfect opportunity for you, then we would love to hear from you. Please apply via the link below where you will also see the full job description.

Application is through our applicant tracking system for you to provide your details and upload a CV together with a supporting statement – please save these as one document before submitting.

For an informal conversation before you apply, contact:

Kate Blakemore, Chief Executive: Chief.ExecutiveandLeaderPA@west-norfolk.gov.uk
Alexa Baker, Monitoring Officer: Alexa.Baker@west-norfolk.gov.uk

Apply for the Chief of Staff role

The closing date for this role is 12 noon on 29 October 2025.

Become our Chief of Staff