Cambridgeshire County Council |

Cambridgeshire is a great place to work and live with a diverse population, an urban centre in Cambridge, historic Isle of Ely, Huntingdon and St Ives as well as more rural landscapes.

Our vision is creating a greener, fairer and more caring Cambridgeshire by delivering on our seven ambitions:

• Net zero carbon emissions for Cambridgeshire by 2045, and our communities and natural environment are supported to adapt and thrive as the climate changes.
• Travel across the county is safer and more environmentally sustainable.
• Health inequalities are reduced.
• People enjoy healthy, safe, and independent lives through timely support that is most suited to their needs.
• People are helped out of poverty and income inequality.
• Places and communities prosper because they have a resilient and inclusive economy, access to good quality public services and social justice is prioritised.
• Children and young people have opportunities to thrive.

As an employee you will focus on making our vision a reality. Your work will make a real difference to the lives of people in Cambridgeshire.

Our four values are central to our culture, driving everything to do. These values are Collaborative, Accountable, Respectful and Excellence.

We value our colleagues in Cambridgeshire County Council and have developed a number of benefits in addition to the basics like annual leave, sick pay, pension and mileage…

• A comprehensive wellbeing package to cover all aspects of wellbeing, both in and out of work, which can also be accessed by your family
• Buy up to 4 weeks additional annual leave (pro-rata) through our salary sacrifice scheme
• Take your bank holidays flexibly to better suit your personal circumstances
• Make Additional Voluntary Contributions (Shared AVCs) to your pension with tax and National Insurance savings
• Access to development opportunities, apprenticeships and qualified coaches to support your personal and professional growth
• Paid volunteering hours each year so you can make a positive impact on our community during your normal working day
• Access to Peer Support Groups through our IDEAL staff equality, diversity and inclusion network
• Opportunities to nominate and receive Employee Recognition Awards
• An Our Cambs Rewards account, giving you access to in-store and online discounts as well as our Car Lease and Cycle to Work schemes

We are proud to serve the diverse communities of Cambridgeshire and want our workforce to be reflective of this diversity, which we firmly believe benefits our colleagues, the organisation and our communities. If you don’t meet every single requirement in the job role but think it could be you, please don’t be put off. We are committed to building a workplace that is compassionate and inclusive as well as diverse, so if you think you could be a good candidate please consider applying and speak to the recruiting manager if you have any questions.

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, along with our employee network 'IDEAL' and self-organised peer support groups help us to foster an inclusive, supportive and safe working environment where people feel valued, respected, and empowered. We collect relevant diversity data for monitoring as part of the recruitment process to understand the diversity of our applicants and monitor any trends throughout the recruitment processes so that we can take meaningful action.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We fully support providing reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process, as well as when you join us, and we encourage candidates to contact the Hiring Manager, whose details can be found in the advert, to discuss any adjustment needs. Some examples of adjustments could include additional time to complete an assessment or printing a document on pastel coloured paper with larger font size and line spacing. We would value talking about what might be possible to enable you to join us and thrive, so if there is something that would help you to do your best during your journey with us, please get in touch.

The Council has a wellbeing group which brings together expertise from HR, Communications, IT, Health and Safety and Public Health. The Council offers a range of supportive resources and activities for staff, including:

• Putting wellbeing at the heart of 1:1 conversation – the 'Our Conversations' framework encourages a specific discussion on wellbeing.
• An Employee Assistance Programme, provided by Health Assured which offers confidential advice 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Services include counselling, bereavement, legal, financial and medical support.
• Colleagues specially trained to listen and signpost when you need help, including mental health first aiders, and Respect at Work contacts.
• Regular employee engagement surveys, to seek feedback and understand how people are feeling about important topics at work.

All staff are invited to a monthly Wellbeing Hour delivered by external speakers and internal specialists. They are a great chance to have a break from work and to focus on yourself. Sessions are recorded wherever possible and posted, along with relevant resources, on the Wellbeing Hub.

Our other wellbeing initiatives include:

• An active Equality and Diversity Network, including peer support groups.
• Making sure people get space for breaks throughout their day – We have introduced the ‘Protected Hour’ where colleagues are supported to avoid scheduling internal meetings during 1pm-2pm as well as building breaks into longer meetings and starting meetings at 5 past the hour or ending at 5 to the hour.
• Similarly, to the Protected Hour, colleagues have also been encouraged to add ‘focus time’ in their calendar to encourage focused work without any distractions.
• Flexible working such as 9-day fortnights, part-time, and hybrid working.
• Encouraging work-life balance and using Office 365 to support ideas such as a virtual commute, using Headspace. With most working remotely for all or some of their job, it’s easy to continue working late every day – we encourage people to stop at the end of their daily hours. Work life balance is important.

We have a comprehensive learning and development package for colleagues. We deliver a blended learning offer through online training, face to face courses and eLearning modules to employees enabling all of us to best serve the communities and citizens of Cambridgeshire.

Courses range from coaching, deaf awareness, menopause awareness, mental health awareness, risk assessment training, conflict management, lone working arrangements and presenting with confidence.

The council runs an apprenticeship service which provides development for existing staff and the recruitment of apprentices into vacant roles in Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC). Therefore, an apprenticeship is a genuine job and under all circumstances an apprentice will be employed from day one. Apprenticeships combine practical training in a job with learning and study.

We run a range of management apprenticeships such as Chartered Manager, Operations or Department Manager, Coaching Professional or Team Leader or Supervisor, all designed to support you in progressing your career.

Our vision is creating a greener, fairer and more caring Cambridgeshire by delivering on our seven ambitions, including two focused on sustainability:

• Net zero carbon emissions for Cambridgeshire by 2045, and our communities and natural environment are supported to adapt and thrive as the climate changes.
• Travel across the county is safer and more environmentally sustainable.