Disability and Co-Production Officer

Discover yourself in Lewisham where what you do makes a difference to our vibrant and culturally diverse communities!

We have a rich history of welcoming people from all over the world and are proud to be recognised as the UK’s first Borough of Sanctuary, for our work in championing the rights of refugees and migrants.

Introduction

Do you have experience in co-production methods and developing policies specifically designed to increase accessibility and support deaf and/or Disabled people?  Do you want a role where you work across all services, providing advice and creating innovative solutions to the complex challenges residents face? If so, this is the role for you. Join the team and make a real difference to the lives of our residents.

What’s the role?

Following the publication of the Council’s response to a report from the Lewisham Disabled People’s Commission, we are recruiting a Disability and Co-Production Policy Officer, the first role of its kind within Lewisham.  The successful candidate will work across all services within the Council, providing advice on a range of issues that impact disabled residents. You will be responsible for creating innovative policy solutions, embedding co-production methods across the local authority and engaging with people to relay their views back to the Council.

What’s in it for you?

Excellent training and development opportunities, plus a range of benefits including:

- Take on a unique and first-of-its-kind role within Lewisham Council

- Generous holiday allowance 

- Local Government Pension scheme 

- Flexible working and family friendly policies 

- Season ticket and bicycle loans 

- A range of staff discounts including local subsidised gym memberships 

- Supportive staff networks

What we’re looking for

The Council is seeking someone with an expert understanding of the issues faced by Disabled residents. However, this does not necessarily mean professional experience of this is required! If you have lived experience of disability, then this role may be right for you, and we would specifically welcome candidates who have personal experience of the challenges that can be faced by deaf and/or Disabled people, and ideas about how local government can tackle them.

You will also need a strong understanding of policy development and co-production processes, and the confidence to embed these approaches across services through the training and advice you prepare and deliver.

Lived experience of disability is an essential criteria for this role. Lived experience refers to knowledge acquired through direct, first hand and personal experience. For this role, this could be through being a Disabled person, a carer, a parent, or any other personal experience of disability. You will need to refer to this lived experience in your application.

Location

The intention of the Council is for this role to be as flexible as possible to best suit the needs of the successful applicant. This is intended to be a hybrid role, with occasional work from the office, in person meetings or events. However, we will work around the needs of candidates and adjustments will be made to ensure that candidates can adjust their working hours and location as they need to as long as they are able to fulfil the job criteria. 

Applicant handbook please read the guidance in this handbook when applying. It is essential that you complete the application fully and that your supporting statement covers how you meet each of the person specification criteria listed.

For an informal discussion about this job, please contact (Alex Glanz, Head of the Chief Executive’s Office – alex.glanz@lewisham.gov.uk)

Please click here to view the Job Description and Person Specification description 

If you would prefer an Easy Read version of the job description, that can be viewed here 

If you would like to see the job description translated to British Sign Language, you can view this video (Link to video here)

Salary: £54,135 - £56,151 per annum (PO6)

N.B: All appointments will be offered at the minimum spinal column point (SCP) for the grade of the role. The only exception to this will be when matching current salary (up to the maximum of the scale), which is subject to evidential proof.