Project Manager - Best Practice INTERNAL APPLICANTS ONLY

What will you be doing?

Principal Responsibilities  

1. Project management: To understand and interpret business requirements, undertaking all planning and coordination of the project. Required to recommend best practice relating to governance, appropriate solutions and is ultimately accountable for delivering a solution that meets the service needs.
2. Stakeholder management: Responsible for ensuring all stakeholders and their degree of interest in a project/project outcome are identified. The postholder is required to develop effective relationships with stakeholders, ensuring expectations and project deliverables are met.
3. Project governance: To work within the relevant policies, procedures, frameworks and SORPs ensuring all projects are managed consistently across the organisation and are clearly defined.
4. Resources: To work within any allocated budget, responsible for the monitoring and reporting of all budgetary spend. Responsible for ensuring the budget does not exceed constraints as set out by the Senior Responsible Owner (SRO). The postholder is expected to forecast spend and identify potential issues or risks related to resources through the life of a project.
5. Leadership: Responsible for allocating work to team members whilst still remaining accountable for the overall outcome of the project. The postholder is expected to identify what resources are needed and at what stage of the project. Responsible for defining the work programme and setting priorities for others.
6. Best practice: As part of the Project Manager role managing business transformation, the postholder is required to develop capability within service areas to embed service improvement activity designed to support the Council’s corporate outcomes that are in fitting with the Council’s corporate approach.
7. Project documentation: To ensure all aspects of the project are appropriately recorded. This includes the work programme, governance route, risks, benefits and cost, ensuring the project is delivered within the required timescales and within any set constraints (i.e. cost/required savings).
8. Advice and reporting: To report to the necessary stakeholders providing advice on required solutions based on best practice to issues that have arisen during a project. To report accurate, up to date information to the SRO and relevant parties as and when required.
9. Communication: To communicate effectively with all stakeholders and the project team ensuring solutions are delivered to the highest quality. Required to communicate in a number of methods and responsible for determining the most appropriate method of communication; i.e. face to face, written etc.

About you

Education, Qualifications and Training

Essential Criteria

Degree in a related area, e.g. business studies or equivalent professional qualification or equivalent by experience.

Desirable Criteria

Recognised project management qualification e.g. PRINCE2, MSP, Agile, LEAN

Experience and Knowledge

Essential Criteria

Substantial experience of implementing governance processes and best practice projects in a variety of complex organisational settings

Experience of managing small to medium sized projects (< £250k)

Experience of using tools and techniques associated with service improvement and project management.

Experience of managing small scale business improvement or change, e.g. for a single team.

Experience of managing business improvements, including full process mapping and options analysis and appraisal.

Demonstrable experience of leading people and teams

Knowledge of project/change management concepts and methodologies e.g. PRINCE2.

Knowledge of business process mapping and analysis tools e.g. Visio

Knowledge of ICT capabilities to meet business needs.

Ability and Skills

Essential Criteria

Ability to plan and deliver to set timescales, as well as prioritising as appropriate.

Ability to influence and negotiate with potential providers of solutions, including interpreting end user requirements and make recommendations to the project SRO.

Ability to develop and deliver projects and successfully manage change in working practices as a result of a project.

Ability to recognise political sensitivity within a project.

Equal Opportunities

Ability to demonstrate awareness/understanding of equal opportunities and other people’s behaviour, physical, social and welfare needs.

Additional Factors

Hybrid working

Ability to travel between offices in the NNC area

Based at Sheerness House, Kettering

Occasional working out of office hours

Our benefits

We offer:

• a competitive salary
• a pension scheme, where we pay a significant contribution on top of your contribution. It provides life cover and ill-health protection.
• opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council
• generous leave entitlement (28 days, rising to 33 days) and bank holidays, plus the option to buy up to an extra 10 days
• agile and flexible working arrangements to help you with a healthy work-life balance.

About us

We are a new unitary council, established in April 2021; we are one of the largest unitary councils in the country. Our vision for North Northants is to be 'A place where everyone has the best opportunities and quality of life'.

Our priorities are:

• helping people live active fulfilled lives
• caring for our young people, providing them with high quality education and opportunities
• enabling a thriving and successful economy
• leading on a green and sustainable environment
• ensuring our communities are connected so they can shape their lives and where they live
• providing modern public services

Our values, as chosen by our staff, are - Customer-focused, Respectful, Efficient, Supportive and Trustworthy.

Your differences make us different - Achieve Together.