About the role
Do you have a background in supporting projects in a large complex organisation, and are you passionate about supporting service improvement and innovative changes within children’s services?
We have an exciting opportunity to recruit a Project Support Officer, to support the delivery of transformation projects within the Children’s Services Transformation Programme at North Northamptonshire Council. You will report to the Programme Manager for this service, and will be accountable for a variety of project related activities, supporting strategic projects delivering transformative change across multiple service areas.
It would be advantageous if you have understanding of how projects are delivered within complex organisations, including knowledge of project management methodologies, processes and documentation.
Above all, we are keen to attract people who, with solid experience of supporting administrative functions and projects within a corporate environment, will embrace the values and behaviours of the Council to support services to innovate and implement improvements which positively impact our service users.
What will you be doing?
You will be supporting the Children’s Services Directorate to help deliver projects working alongside the Programme Manager, Project Managers, Change & Engagement Manager as well as Business Analysts within the team.
You will support the delivery of multiple large scale projects, working alongside our project management team. You will be part of an in-house project management change capability, providing organisational learning, capability, resilience and value for money.
You will report to the Programme Manager for Children’s Services and be asked to support wider team initiatives and activities which will underpin the work of our Project Managers and Change & Engagement Managers.
You will provide administrative support to the Children’s Services Transformation Team as well as to individual Project Managers. You will maintain project records and documentation, utilising our existing project management software records system.
Please see the attached job description and person specification for full details of the main job accountabilities and essential qualifications, knowledge, skills and experience needed for this role.
About you
You are highly organised and efficient. You should be proficient at using Microsoft applications and in particular, be experienced and skilled with Microsoft Excel.
You will be resilient and able to work independently from the team, who are working from various locations across North Northamptonshire. You should be approachable and calm and able to prioritise your workload on a daily, if not hourly basis.
You will ideally possess the following qualifications:
- Degree level or equivalent NVQ qualification or proven relevant experience of supporting business change
- Formal project management training to at least PRINCE II Foundation level or equivalent
You will possess the following minimum levels of knowledge, skills and experience required for this job:
- Excellent organisation and planning skills
- Ability to build rapport and credibility with senior managers, members and Corporate Directors
- Knowledge of project management and organisational change / efficiency programmes
- Excellent written and verbal communication and presentation skills
- Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to gain the respect of multi professional teams
- Experience of analysing and solving complex process and systems problems and supporting others to develop this skill
- Experience of effectively handling multiple, sometimes competing agendas, meeting challenging deadlines and delivering under pressure
Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for this role for the full breakdown of responsibilities.
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.
We are undertaking consultation with the Trade Unions on terms and conditions and the future NNC pay structure and during this time are appointing new employees on interim spot salaries. You will be advised of the outcome and any impact on your role once this work is complete.
Attached documents
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