Senior Licensing Officer WCC621436

Job Details:

Salary range: £41,580 - £45,399 per annum. Salary negotiable depending upon experience 
Work location: Westminster City Hall, 64 Victoria Street, Westminster, SW1E 6QP 
Hours per week: 36
Contract type: Temporary up to 24 months
Closing date: 13 July 2025

About Us:

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF KEITH’S TRANSFORMATIONAL WORK 

Public Protection & Licensing in Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories. Where people like Keith and his team are passionate about keeping our borough clean, safe, healthy and free of pests.

Pest control might not sound like the most glamorous job, but to Keith it’s the best job in the world. As our Senior Pest Control Technician, it’s his task to see that Westminster is kept free of the sort of pests which can cause worry, fear, discomfort and – in the worst cases – illness. He and his dedicated team work tirelessly across the entire borough, from restaurants and cafés to parks and gardens, and from shops and offices to houses and flats.

Keith started his career in research and development for the private sector, before becoming a field biologist and then joining us here in Westminster. To begin with he was on a two year contract but when this was about to end he was asked to stay, and he’s been here ever since, working his way up the career ladder, and is now leading his team.

No two days are the same for him and the team, but the best ones are when they’re called out to help a family who are suffering from an infestation of – for example – mice, and this is not only making their lives a misery, but is creating unhealthy living conditions. But once the team have finished their work all of a sudden the family’s lives are transformed, they feel safer living in their own home, and can sleep peacefully at night without the worry discomfort and noise of tiny little feet scurrying around.

And on top of this, he believes that if you love your job, and are passionate about what you can achieve, you can build a fulfilling, rewarding and truly life-changing career at Westminster. 

The Role:

As a Senior Licencing Officer, you too can make your own powerful contribution. You will be leading a team in one of the most high-profile, dynamic neighbourhoods of London, ensuring that the private renting sector is legally compliant and safe.

Westminster City Council is a forward-thinking, supportive, and ambitious place to grow your career. If you have experience in property licencing or housing, this could be a superb next step.

You will be mentoring team members, using your expertise to offer guidance on identifying risk, supporting the resolution of issues, and making informed decisions on licencing processes. Further assisting the team with adhering to strict deadlines, ensuring legal compliance, and managing a high volume of work. 

If you enjoy a challenge and are looking to expand your expertise, then you will thrive at Westminster, as we have one of the most complex private rented sectors in the UK. The private sector housing team is split between compliant led, proactive and property licencing work. You will be at the forefront of ensuring that the thousands of private rented properties meet licencing and safety regulations. Crucially, you’ll refine processes, improve customer service and ensure licencing applications are handled smoothly and efficiently, always in accordance with requirements. Plus, you will establish and maintain database and document management systems, taking care to ensure accuracy. You will support with the monitoring, analysis and management of delegated budgets, funding and resources.

As a Senior Licencing Officer, you will be the torchbearer for ensuring legal compliance. Some landlords may be unfamiliar with licencing requirements or resistant to compliance, requiring patience, diplomacy and clear communication from you. Additionally, you will deliver a comprehensive licencing service in respect of Private Sector Housing ensuring the Council meets its statutory responsibilities concerned with the Housing Act 2004, Housing and Planning Act 2016, and other relevant licensing functions. You’ll also assist with the development and implementation of policy relevant to Private Sector Housing.

Great communication skills are needed for this role. You will be the lead for the duty inbox, overseeing responses to a large volume of queries from landlords, letting agents, tenants and other stakeholders. For this, you’ll bring strong prioritisation and problem-solving skills. In all cases, your primacy will be ensuring licensing compliance. We’d like for you to give talks at meetings, both in person and online, covering compliance through education, advice and enforcement.  Additionally, you’ll prepare correspondence and write reports; attend First Tier Tribunal Hearings; and represent the Council at conferences with Counsel; and attend Court Hearings to give evidence and be cross-examined. When possible, you will engage an applicant in conciliation to remove the need for hearings and find resolution. 

In the course of your day-to-day work, we’d like for you to uphold our values of diversity and equality. And support our overall goal of creating a fairer, safer Westminster for all.

Please refer to the Job Description for more information.

About You:

To be a good fit for this role, you are confident understanding and explaining complex legislation, its procedures and requirements.  Knowledge of the private sector housing licencing regimes would be beneficial, but it is not essential. We would like for you to bring a care and attention to detail, excellent negotiation skills and a knack for investigating, analysing and providing solutions to problems. Additionally, you have fantastic organisational skills and can prioritise your workload to meet tight deadlines. 

We would like you to have experience in an administration or customer service environment. You record keep well and are comfortable using databases, including the inputting of information. Plus, you have brilliant computer skills, experience in common Microsoft Windows applications, and workflow type databases. 

At Westminster City Council, we are committed to ensuring that people represent the community that they serve. As such, we foster a supportive, collaborative and respectful environment.

You’ll be comfortable working as part of our team and alone, when need be. We’d also like for you to demonstrate personal leadership on our commitment to diversity and inclusion. To excel as a senior licencing officer, you respect confidentiality, and possess assertiveness and tact. 

An administrative qualification, for example NVQ in Business Studies, is desirable and evidence of continuous professional development. 

Westminster City Council is committed to supporting Care Leavers into the workplace. Care Leavers seeking their first job and who wish to be considered under our scheme, will automatically be invited to interview should they meet the essential criteria for the role.

What We Offer:

Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to more than 200,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster. Westminster City Council’s strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster. A Fairer Westminster is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city’s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.

At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that, at all levels, represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best, that is the Westminster Way. To find out more about how we do this visit  https://www.westminster.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/public-health-strategy-policies-and-reports/equality-duties

As a forward-thinking Council we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working.

The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application, we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever possible.

We reserve the right to extend or close this vacancy early without warning subject to the volume of suitable applicants.