Employed in a Staffordshire district (5)
I believe the answer is:
hired
'employed' is the definition.
('hire' can be a synonym of 'employ')
'in a staffordshire district' is the wordplay.
'in' indicates a hidden word.
'HIRED' can be found hidden inside 'staffordshire district'.
(Other definitions for hired that I've seen before include "Taken into service" , "like a Merc" , "Chartered" , "Employed for wages" , "Paid to work" .)