Municipal Secretary
Also known as: Municipal Clerk · Town Clerk · Local Government Chief Executive
Heads a municipality's civil service organisation, advises the mayor and aldermen and holds final responsibility for executing governing decisions.
The municipal secretary is the municipality's top civil servant and the link between the political administration and the civil service organisation that executes policy. Unlike a director of corporate services, this role also carries responsibility for the municipality's core processes, from permitting to social services. Selection often leans on public administration knowledge, while preserving civil service independence against aldermen wanting quick results is what makes the role hardest in practice.
Competencies to measure
These are the behavioural and ability constructs in this profile. Each one shows which hrmforce questionnaire measures it.
| Competencies to measure | Target level | hrmforce instrument | Assessment method | Behavioural anchor at target level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decisiveness Competency (50-framework): Decision-making ability Knockout | N5 | Big Fifty, 360 Feedback | Situational Judgement Test | Decides on irreversible matters with major consequences, records the trade off and sets which decisions others may take themselves. |
| integrity and dependability Competency (50-framework): Integrity Knockout | N5 | Big Fifty (Integrity Scale), 360 Feedback, Structured interview | Personality questionnaire | Sets the organisation's integrity standards, enforces them also with influential parties and explains the resulting choices publicly. |
| Developing vision Competency (50-framework): Vision Knockout | N5 | Big Fifty, Competency Check, 360 Feedback | Assessment centre | Formulates a multi-year vision for the whole organisation, underpins it with scenarios and uses it as a test for investments. |
| Persuasiveness Competency (50-framework): Persuasiveness | N5 | Big Fifty, Competency Check, 360 Feedback | Assessment centre | Wins board and external parties over to a far reaching change of course and sustains that support when resistance increases. |
| organisational awareness Competency (50-framework): Organizational Sensitivity | N5 | Big Fifty, Competency Check, 360 Feedback | Situational Judgement Test | Sees through relations between organisational units and external parties and steers decision making by organising support at an early stage. |
| independence Competency (50-framework): Independence | N5 | Big Fifty, 15PF | Personality questionnaire | Protects own professional judgement against pressure from stakeholders in senior forums and makes dissenting positions traceable and explainable. |
| Entrepreneurship Competency (50-framework): Entrepreneurship | N5 | Big Fifty, Competency Check, Career Interest, 360 Feedback | Assessment centre | Sets up new activities or ventures for the organisation and carries the responsibility for investment and result. |
| Taking difficult personnel decisions Competency (50-framework): Decision-making ability | N5 | Big Fifty, Competency Check, 360 Feedback | Assessment centre | Decides on far reaching reorganisation and dismissal cases, weighs legal and human consequences and accounts for the choice to board and works council. |
| Stress tolerance Competency (50-framework): Stress resilience | N5 | Big Fifty, 15PF, Mental Resilience (4C) | Personality questionnaire | Keeps the organisation workable in crises, takes decisions under high uncertainty and sets the standard for composed action under pressure. |
| Market orientation Competency (50-framework): Market Orientation | N5 | Big Fifty, Competency Check, 360 Feedback | Assessment centre | Translates market developments into the strategic agenda of the organisation and repositions the offering for the longer term. |
| Dealing with ambiguity Competency (50-framework): Flexibility | N5 | Big Fifty, Mental Resilience (4C), Competency Check | Situational Judgement Test | Sets direction under high uncertainty, makes the remaining uncertainty explicit and keeps the organisation moving until a decision can be taken. |
Short profile
The ten heaviest skills in this profile. The full profile with every skill, behavioural anchor and assessment method is in the download.
| T | Skill | Target level | Weight | Knockout | Assessment method |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | Decisiveness | N5 | 5 | yes | Situational Judgement Test |
| V | Stakeholder management | N5 | 5 | yes | Assessment centre |
| G | integrity and dependability | N5 | 5 | yes | Personality questionnaire |
| G | Developing vision | N5 | 5 | yes | Assessment centre |
| V | Strategic thinking | N5 | 5 | yes | Assessment centre |
| K | Reading and interpreting financial reports | N5 | 5 | yes | Knowledge test |
| V | Risk assessment | N5 | 4 | no | Work sample test |
| G | Persuasiveness | N5 | 4 | no | Assessment centre |
| G | organisational awareness | N5 | 4 | no | Situational Judgement Test |
| G | independence | N5 | 4 | no | Personality questionnaire |
See all 24 skills in the full profile
Assessment instruments for this job
Competency Check
Behavioral-Level Competency Assessment
Big Fifty
Personality questionnaire, 150 items, 25 factors
360 Feedback
Multiple assessments based on behavioral anchors
Knowledge test (client-specific)
Professional knowledge test, customized for each client
Structured interview
Behavioral interview with a fixed structure
Work sample test
Representative work sample under standardized conditions
15PF
Personality Profile, a shorter alternative to the Big Fifty
Mental Resilience (4C)
Mental Resilience According to the 4C Model
Big Fifty (Integrity Scale)
Ability Scan
Aptitude Test: Verbal, Numerical, and Abstract Reasoning Skills
Career Interest
Career interests, aligned with the RIASEC framework
Career Orientations
Career Anchors and Work Values
Development Review
Structured development interview
Portfolio
Evaluation of prior work against fixed criteria
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