Project Support Officer

• 22.2  Hours a week
• 1 year fixed term contract
• 25 days annual leave pro rata, excluding bank holidays
• Opportunity to work within a team across all Children’s Social Care services
• Based at County Hall, Taunton, with flexibility around working hours/days and option for some home working

A unique and exciting opening has arisen for a Project Support Officer within the Service Improvement team, providing a fantastic opportunity to support the programme of service improvement activities across children’s services, including FIS, Youth Justice, SEND and Children’s Social Care.

We’re working to improve the lives of children and families in Somerset and you’ll be a key part of that. Your day-to-day work will involve:

• Coordinating and supporting a variety of service improvement projects—organising meetings, tracking progress, and ensuring project milestones are met.
• Maintaining accurate project documentation, assisting with data collection and reporting, and helping prepare reports and presentations that drive real change for children and families.
• Collaborating with colleagues across the council and partner organisations, supporting meetings, scheduling activities, and keeping everyone on track.
• Playing a key role in quality assurance—helping to coordinate audits, quality assurance activities, and contribute to evidence-based improvements in Children’s Services.

We offer ongoing support, training and guidance to help you be the best you can be. But it will really help if you:

• Experience in providing administrative or project support, ideally within a public sector or children’s services environment.
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to coordinate meetings, maintain accurate records, and manage multiple tasks.
• Confident using digital platforms (such as SharePoint) to update and share information.
• Effective communication skills—able to work collaboratively with colleagues and partners, both verbally and in writing.
• A proactive approach to learning and development, with a willingness to build knowledge of service improvement and quality assurance.

We’re proud to be here for the people of Somerset. And that means everyone in Somerset. An important part of this is ensuring that we are as diverse and inclusive as the people and communities we serve.

We welcome applications from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences to enrich our team. You can always contact the hiring manager for a chat if there’s anything you want to talk about before you apply.

We are proud to offer an environment that is supportive and rewarding, working as part of a team who are passionate about the work they do to improve the lives of people in Somerset.

We offer great training and development opportunities, with supportive management. As well as this, we have some fantastic employee benefits available:

• We promote a healthy work-life balance and offer flexible working arrangements wherever possible, including working from home.
• Generous annual leave allowance, with the opportunity to purchase additional leave
• Staff discounts in gyms.
• Employee Assistance for the times you may need some support and a variety of employee wellbeing services.
• Auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme and optional pension enhancement through our Additional Voluntary Contribution scheme.
• A Flexible Benefits Scheme via salary sacrifice to obtain a cycle for work and health screenings.
• My Staff Shop offering discounts in shops, online shopping, restaurants, cinema tickets, insurance benefits and more

For an informal chat about the role, please contact Laura Gyles via email laura.gyles@somerset.gov.uk

The salary for this role is £15,593 - £16,885 per annum for 22.2 hours per week

This post requires a criminal background check via the DBS Disclosure procedure.

We recommend applying as soon as possible. Depending on the level of response, we anticipate conducting interviews ahead of the closing date.

When completing your application/CV please provide your full employment history and ensure that any gaps in employment are explained. Please start with your current or most recent employment.

If you have all the information you need, just hit the apply button - we can’t wait to hear from you.