Stubborn and industrious types securing first and second (9)
I believe the answer is:
assistant
'second' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'stubborn and industrious types securing first' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'and' could be 'n' (common abbreviation for 'and') and 'n' is found within the answer.
'first' could be 'ist' and 'ist' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'and' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for assistant that I've seen before include "One helping" , "Deputy, subordinate" , "second" , "one helps out" , "Attendant, helper" .)