Responsible to: Assistant General Secretary

Hours: 35 hours per week to be worked flexibly

Salary range: £58k – 69k

Pension: Defined benefit career average pension scheme

Location: Hybrid working basis – the FDA head office is in central London. 

FDA National Officer job description and person specification

We are looking to recruit a National Officer who will support our members and help sustain our record growth.

Why choose the FDA?
The FDA prides itself on being a great place to work with a strong collaborative team, focussed on advancing the interests of our members and supporting each other to achieve that. We work hard to maintain a working culture that gets the best from people who enjoy working for us. We offer a highly competitive remuneration package that includes a good salary, defined benefit pension scheme and opportunities for training and development.

 We are not just any union. For over a century we have been defending civil servants and the impartiality of the civil service. We live the values of our members – a commitment to public service through an impartial and professional civil service.

We are the only union that represents civil servants in every Government and parliament of the UK. Strong, pragmatic advocates on behalf of our members, seeking to improve their working lives and play our part in improving the public services they deliver. We have always been non-party political, ensuring we can represent our members regardless of which party is in power.

That’s why through some of the most challenging times in our history, we have grown by more 50% in the last five years.

To sustain that growth, we must continue to ensure we are relevant – alert to the challenges our members face and visible in our advocacy on their behalf – not an easy task.

Does that sound like the sort of union you’d like to be part of? 

What we are looking for

There’s no escaping that this is a challenging role: you will need to think and lead strategically but also deliver operationally.

We pride ourselves on:

• providing excellence in individual member representation; 
• being  pragmatic in both central and local negotiations; 
• having a strong voice defending the impartiality, integrity and professionalism of civil servants; and
• providing career development and support for members. 

Your role

Each National Officer has a balanced pitch made up of a number of employers and/or specialist areas. The National Officer will have a significant degree of autonomy in their pitches and will be responsible for representation, negotiation, working with lay reps and organising in their pitches. 

The post is based at the FDA head office in London. You will have flexibility to organise your own diary and work remotely. The role will require attendance at HQ for team meetings as well as face to face meetings and work with members, branches and employers that can be in a range of locations (but predominantly in London). The role does, on occasion, involve some travel throughout the UK. It’s not a desk job, but we do not prescribe a working pattern, giving National Officers autonomy over how they organise their work.

A more detailed summary of the key responsibilities of the role together with an outline of the skills, experience and personal qualities that we are seeking for this position are set out in the job description and person specification.

The package
The FDA offers a good package of terms and conditions including: 

• 31 days annual leave 
• a high quality defined benefit pension scheme. 
• becoming a part of the FDA’s team of national officers, with the opportunity to enhance your skills and experience with tailored development and support

The FDA is committed to equality of opportunity and treatment both in the service it provides to its members and as an employer.

Prior experience as a National Officer is not essential, although all applicants will need to demonstrate a successful track record in their field of related expertise. The National Officer salary range is £58k –£69k – the starting salary will be dependent on experience. 

If you would like an informal conversation with one of the Assistant General Secretaries prior to applying to get a better understanding of the role, please get in touch at info@fda.org.uk

To apply
To apply, candidates should submit a curriculum vitae together with a cover letter of no more than 750 words, outlining why your skills, experience and motivation make you the right person for the job. Submit your CV and cover letter by email, for the attention of Esther Farnese, to info@fda.org.uk.

Closing date for receipt of CV’s and cover letter is: 5pm on 18 September 2024

Interviews will be held on: 2 October 2024 at our office in London Bridge.

• FDA National Officer job description and person specification