Head of Waste Strategy

About Us:

The Environment & Communities Directorate in Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories. Where dedicated people like Grace are using their skills and passion to progress environmental action in the heart of London.

It was at university where Grace first started campaigning for improved recycling facilities, water refill stations, and other eco-friendly initiatives. When she saw the real difference people could make when they came together, she knew she wanted to dedicate her career to community action for the planet.

When she joined us as Principal Engagement Officer, Climate Emergency, she quickly established herself as a passionate advocate for community outreach, engaging various stakeholders across Westminster in the social causes, impacts and solutions to climate change, air pollution, and biodiversity loss. 

Grace became a driving force behind our first Citizens’ Climate Assembly, which took place across two weekends in the summer of 2023. Fifty residents were chosen at random from across our diverse communities to come together, learn about the climate emergency, and deliberate how we overcome the barriers to becoming a net zero city by 2040. The assembly produced several recommendations which have informed the evolution of our Climate Emergency Action Plan. Due to the success of this initiative, we’re holding more assemblies to continue community involvement in local decision-making.

The Role:

As our Head of Strategy (Waste, Recycling and Clean Streets), you can make your own powerful contribution by ensuring that Westminster’s residents and visitors to the area benefit from clean streets and efficient domestic and commercial waste services. Not only that, we also champion carbon reduction and recycling initiatives, thereby playing our part in improving air quality and protecting the environment for future generations. The Waste and Cleansing team is at the heart of this high profile and deeply important mission, and it is here that you could find a fascinating challenge. 

We are currently at an exciting time in our development, in which we are forming a new programme team to review and deliver our waste contract which is due to come to an end in September 2027. It is imperative that we connect fully with our communities and city-stakeholders to understand and address the challenges of keeping a densely-populated borough clean before this contract is re-procured. Taking the lead of this ambitious initiative, you will therefore identify local needs and determine what is needed to deliver key waste and cleansing services, defining our future strategic priorities and direction. This will include considering measures needed to address health and wellbeing inequalities across the borough, so the scope to make an impact on our local residents is immense. 

Bringing key teams together such as Corporate Programme Management, Communities, Communications, Procurement, Legal and more, you will see to it that a holistic approach is being taken, and that key shared objectives are being considered, established and delivered. Crucially any decisions you make will be evidence-based and provide great value for money, so you will be keen to build relationships with the best partners. 

With the scope to nurture the talents of a high-performing (and award-winning) team, and work in partnership with Officers and Cabinet Members across the council, you will always be mindful of the need to drive community satisfaction in our services, so this is a great opportunity to embed improvements in how we are working.

With this service having an annual value of around £57 million, this is an unparalleled opportunity to take your career to the next level.

About You:

First and foremost, it goes without saying that you will have a passion for waste, sustainability and climate change issues – and you’ll be enthusiastic about inspiring our creative team with your expertise and bold ideas! This is a career-defining role, with the backing of a friendly and sociable team who enjoy working together to deliver an ambitious agenda. You will therefore excel with us if you bring a collaborative approach to building relationships between key stakeholders and the most senior-level colleagues, and you have the gravitas required to get people working towards your vision – so fantastic verbal and written communication and influencing skills are essential.

With strategic experience in developing policies and approaches in a similarly complex and political organisation, you will need exceptional project and programme management skills, underpinned by the ability to research and assess what the future service will look like. As such, you will enjoy exploring innovative approaches, and you won’t be fazed by interpreting and using complex data to underpin your plans. 

Highly organised with the ability to stay calm under pressure, you will be an inspirational leader and people manager who can set direction in challenging circumstances, always with an eye on how value-for-money can best be achieved.  

The Council is committed to achieving diverse shortlists to support our desire to increase the number of staff from underrepresented groups in our workforce. We especially encourage applications from a global majority background and, while the role is open to all applicants, we will utilise the positive action provisions of the Equality Act 2010 to appoint a candidate from a global majority background where there is a choice between two candidates of equal merit. If you are from a Global Majority background you can self-declare this to the hiring manager as part of our positive action commitments.

What We Offer:

Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to more than 200,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster. Westminster City Council’s strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster. A Fairer Westminster is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city’s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.

At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that, at all levels, represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best, that is the Westminster Way. 

As a forward-thinking Council we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working.

The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application, we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever possible.

Closing date: 30 June 2024.

Interview date: W/C 8 or 15 July 2024.

Contact details for an Informal Discussion: Amanda Chandler, Strategic Delivery Lead via email on achandler@westminster.gov.uk