About us

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Our vision is to make a positive difference to residents’ lives and our environment in East Devon. We do this through our values which are:

• seeking continuous improvement of our high performing council
• listening to and learning from our residents and caring for them
• adapting as a council to new ways of working and refreshed priorities whilst recognising the pressure on resources

The council is committed to delivery outstanding services across our district and we have set out how we will do this in our Council Plan, with our priorities being:

• Better homes and communities for all, with a priority on the importance of good quality, affordable housing suitable in size and location. Poverty caused by the loss of employment, illness or disability is an increasing issue and will also be a high priority for East Devon District Council to tackle through all means available to us.
• A greener East Devon, which prioritises issues arising from climate change and supports our natural environment. This issue affects and informs all of our objectives and services.
• A resilient economy, bringing prosperity to the district, notwithstanding the current challenging circumstances.

The council has 60 members and employs approximately 540 employees. Please see the Council Structures page for further details on our organisational structure.

East Devon administers the services of a non-metropolitan district council including car parking, cleansing, environmental health, grounds maintenance, housing, planning and revenue collection. Our headquarters is at Blackdown House in Honiton and we also have offices at Exmouth Town Hall.

East Devon is one of eight Devon districts and in population terms is the largest in the county. Our district is set in a particularly attractive part of Devon in which to live and work. The coastline forms part of England’s first World Heritage Site designated for its natural environment. There are two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and within the district generally, there are extensive leisure opportunities and sports facilities.

East Devon District Council has an area of 81,477 hectares that borders Exeter, Somerset and Dorset and comprises the area between the River Exe and outskirts of Exeter to the west, and Somerset and Dorset to the east. Our larger coastal resorts are Exmouth, Budleigh Salterton, Sidmouth and Seaton and the major towns in the mainly rural inland area are Honiton, Ottery St Mary, Colyton and Axminster.

However, coast and countryside aren't our only attractions. We’ve been at the forefront of exciting new developments in the district, as part of the Exeter and East Devon Growth Point which includes the new town of Cranbrook (East Devon’s newest town since the Middle Ages), the Science Park, SkyPark Business Park, E.ON Energy Centre and an Exeter Gateway Freight Terminal. These help support the delivery of 20,000 new homes and over 26,000 jobs within the district up to 2026. 

And at the heart of everything we do is a need to ensure that our beautiful district is protected and sustained. Our vision is to become a carbon neutral council by 2040, working within a low carbon economy and lifestyle. This will be reflected in our travel, homes, businesses, visitor experiences and communities, as well as how we work as a council.

Working for East Devon District Council

At East Devon District Council our ambition is to be an outstanding and well-run council. As a Gold Investor in People, making this an outstanding place to work is also at the very top of our agenda.

As an innovative and forward thinking Council we offer a range of exciting career opportunities across a diverse range of services.

Better still, you’ll be working in one of the most beautiful parts of the UK, with award-winning beaches and stunning scenery.

Ensuring all staff are Happy, Healthy and Here is a key objective for us. We offer a wide range of health and wellbeing arrangements to support staff and our Worksmart working arrangements provide high levels of flexibility which is agreed within teams, including hybrid working. As an Investor in People we recognise the importance of continuous learning and development and offer a wide range of opportunities and excellent staff benefits.

What staff say about working with us

Staff surveys consistently rate us as a good employer, with high levels of staff engagement and regular and effective communication mechanisms, including staff awareness sessions with our Chief Executive.

Working for East Devon District Council, you will experience an employer that:

Offers highly competitive pay rates

Our recent Reward Review has led to changes to our grading structure and pay rates. Salaries for our lowest paid roles now start at £22,369 (£11.59 per hour), showing our commitment to the Real Living Wage and beyond! We continue to operate an annual incremental progression scheme to the top of the grade you are appointed on, allowing you to progress with the knowledge that your pay will increase over time, in addition to the excellent starting salary.

Promotes equality, diversity and inclusion

East Devon District Council is an employer which places an emphasis on creating a diverse, inclusive and respectful organisational culture. This has created an environment which allows all of our staff to reach their full potential.

We are Disability Confident

You can find out more about our Equalities Policy.

Helps you to create an even better working environment – our Worksmart approach

We’ve been operating Worksmart flexible working arrangements since we moved to our fabulous purpose built headquarters in Honiton in 2019, but the pandemic has given us the opportunity to learn and review our approach, leading to the launch of ‘Worksmart 2022+’ from May 2022. At the heart of Worksmart is a focus on three perspectives – our customers, the environment and employees. Teams have agreed their working arrangements, within the parameters of our Worksmart Principles. We offer a wide range of flexible working arrangements including hybrid working, flexi time, part time working and flexible retirement (allowing pension benefits to be taken from age 55, at the discretion of the council).

The appointing manager can tell you more about the current Worksmart arrangements within the team you are applying to join.

Ensures you are Happy Healthy Here

We’re really proud of our Happy Healthy Here staff health and wellbeing offer, which offers a wide range of support and initiatives, including:

• • Employee Assistance Programme which provides advisory and support services to employees including up to six face-to-face counselling sessions. Family members are also covered by your membership and can access a wide range of support including telephone counselling.
  • Access to a wellbeing platform with a large range of resources offering a range of personal, emotional and financial wellbeing tools.
  • Access to a online shopping portal with a range of national and local discounts on everyday purchases helping your salary stretch further.
  • A free seasonal flu vaccination, which is offered to all council employees each winter to help protect against flu.
  • Additional flexi-time for activities which are organised under the ‘Happy, Healthy, Here’ banner. Activities include walks, healthy eating cookery demonstrations and organised on site exercise classes.
  • A Health cash plan to claim money back towards dental treatment, physiotherapy, chiropractic treatment, chiropody and more.
  • Reduced corporate membership rate with LED Leisure to use their sport facilities throughout East Devon.   We have also a corporate rate with local independent gyms.
  • Access to CSSC Sports and Leisure which is the largest provider of corporate leisure in the UK and fitness facilities. This offers a huge range of activities and offers to its members, including but not limited to significantly reduced cinema tickets to major and local cinema chains, free entry to national heritage sites, discounts in major stores, and opportunities to attend open activities and holidays.
  • Additional unpaid leave scheme where you can buy up to an additional 10 days leave (pro rata for part time hours) to take in addition to your normal leave.
  • Generous sick pay entitlements.

We’re a Mindful Employer and have signed the charter for Employers who are positive about Mental Health.

Offers great annual leave benefits

We’ve recently reviewed and improved our annual leave entitlement and believe that this is another big selling point of working for us! Basic entitlement is 25 days (or 27 days for Directors, in line with the Chief Officer National Agreement) and 28 days after five years local government service. This is in addition to public holidays and 2 Extra Statutory (nationally agreed) days. For some roles, the Extra Statutory and a Locally Agreed day are taken during the Christmas closedown period.

You can also buy up to an additional 10 days leave (pro-rata for part time employees) per year.

Supports your learning and development, at any stage of your career

As a Gold Investor in People, continuous learning and development is at the heart of what we do. As well as our annual Performance Excellence Review and regular one to ones, you’ll get access to a wide range of learning and development opportunities, from ‘bite-size’ training to fully accredited apprenticeship qualifications.

Offers an excellent pension scheme

The Local Government Pension Scheme is a career-average pension scheme which provides additional benefits such as three times your pensionable pay for death in service (tax free), partner and children’s pensions and also the ability to increase your benefits at retirement.

Offers a growing range of green travel benefits

The council currently has free parking facilities at Blackdown House but employees are encouraged to use alternative modes of transport where possible. We actively encourage car sharing and have allocated spaces for car sharers. We have free electric charging points.

Our Cycle to Work salary sacrifice scheme allows you to purchase a bike and make savings between 32 and 42 per cent depending on your personal tax circumstances.

You can search for all our jobs and apply online through our online recruitment section.