Address
Form of work
SalaryHybrid working
The successful candidate will be assisting the Head of Service to deliver the service - responsible for shaping the strategic direction of the service by helping influence and develop strategic business plans, policy and procedure using information and data from customers.
Key Responsibilities:
- Co-ordinate programme and project resources and be accountable for the performance, progress and timeliness of the Children’s Services capital programme including the development of policy and good practice in line with statutory requirements.
- Using project management skills and knowledge of effective change, oversee and manage change in the delivery of workstreams and transformational projects necessary to secure improvement and deliver our strategic priorities.
- Oversee a large number of projects to ensure each project has clear purpose, scope, outcomes and communication, and is managed and delivered to time and budget in line with robust processes and procedures.
- Responsible for daily programme management including programme governance, programme planning, performance, budget, coordination of projects and their interdependencies, resource allocation across projects, aligning deliverables to programme outcomes
- Manage resources flexibly to ensure delivery of service objectives longer term plans. Monitor against budgets and delivery of targets against time and cost, maintaining formal project controls and approvals and reporting variances, assumptions and dependencies, ensuring these are visible and accessible and continually updated and acted upon.
- Contributing towards shaping the strategic direction of the service by helping influence and develop strategic business plans, policy and procedure using information and data from customers.
- Identify interdependencies with other Council projects and developments and negotiate agreed solutions that ensure optimum mutual benefit and ensure suitable mitigation processes are put in place as appropriate.
- Establish and maintain effective working relationship with key stakeholders at a high level and externally, to ensure effective communication and involvement with project activity and achieve collective objectives and to address complex and contentious issues and overcome any barriers to joint working.
- Working with the Corporate Estates and Health and Safety teams, lead in the development and timely delivery of a good estate management function for schools and act as service representative in respect of health and safety standards across the maintained school estate.
- Responsible for engaging senior leaders and elected members take timely decisions about the allocation of resources to projects and programme priorities involving the preparation of briefing notes and formal reports as part of the democratic decision-making process.
- Consider the changing needs of the Programme during the lifecycle and align resourcing considering both short and long-term implications to ensure strategic direction is supported.
- Using specialised skills, knowledge and understanding of industry best practice, lead, plan and organise the activities of a team of client officers and be the point of contact for external project managers and multi-disciplinary teams to deliver projects in the programme to time, quality and cost considerations.
Full UK driving licence required.
Qualifications:
- Degree qualified, preferably in the built environment.
- PRINCE 2 / PMP / RICS or equivalent project management qualification or equivalent professional experience.
- Post graduate specialism degree level and commensurate professional experience.
Skills & Experience.
- Minimum of 12 months recent experience in a similar role, or context and ideally within a public sector organisation.
- Good understanding and proven delivery of programme management within a local authority and politically stimulating environment.
- High level of resilience, attention to detail, emotional intelligence, calm under pressure
- Ability to manage and develop the team to ensure objectives are met, workloads are sustainable and additional support/specialist expertise is deployed as required. Test new ideas by encouraging creativity and innovation at all levels.
- Being a role model, demonstrating enthusiasm to deliver customer focused services and show commitment to removing barriers.
- Strong IT skills including Microsoft packages or equivalent (e.g. G Suite).
