Business Engagement Coordinator

Full Time, Fixed Term until 30th June 2027.

An exciting opportunity to join the enterprise and business team within the Economic Development service and actively joining up our work engaging businesses with other parts of the council in close partnership with the West of England Growth Hub.

The role will provide leadership, coordination delivery and support of business engagement for relevant council and West of England Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) led projects. The role will ensure business engagement activity is coordinated, optimised and informed using data and intelligence.

You will be required to engage and support enterprises across the city, promoting and facilitating access to the West of England Growth Hub and regional business support offer/ecosystem. This will include developing and leading delivery of action plans to engage businesses for employment support projects.

Key responsibilities will include the following:

• To collaborate with the West of England Growth Hub team and BCC leads for enterprise and business support to raise awareness and take up of Growth Hub services and support by Bristol SMEs and target sectors.
• Undertake signposting and referral to the Growth Hub of early-stage businesses and social enterprises exiting the Bristol Universal Business Support programme and record all referrals and monitor outcomes through the joint CRM system.
• Routinely review Bristol Universal Business Support client lists and case manage referrals from/to the Growth Hub in liaison with the service provider and Growth Hub staff. 
• Maintain an up-to-date knowledge of the Growth Hub services and initiatives, maintaining active links with all Growth Hub service leads to enable high quality referral practices.
• Maintain an up-to-date knowledge of Bristol City Council led business support  services and initiatives, maintaining active links with the service delivery teams to enable high quality referral practices.
• To maintain an up-to-date knowledge of economic development policy and practices, attending training as appropriate. To contribute to team activity and performance in line with the Economic Development Service plan. Engaging our partner networks
• To lead the delivery of business engagement in support of employment support projects (such as Youth Guarantee). To include: 
  
  

Support BCC officers to engage employer networks with existing projects including:

• BID network - and link to the skills hub being operated by VW
• City centre shopping centre operators
• Bristol Living Wage City Partners

 Lead and coordinate promotion and awareness raising through:

• Sharing intel on events and speaker opportunities
• Supporting ED officers to promote projects at events they are attending

 Direct business engagement – directing and coordinating support through

• High streets business engagement officers
• Growth hub officer
• Business support partners
• As a starting point – build into current business engagement activities city centre, St Philips, Brislington, Bedminster

 
Social value – develop capacity to deliver employment support project outputs through increasing employer awareness of SV delivery opportunities through these projects. Activity to include engaging businesses working with BCC/WECA leads on:

• BTQ social value charter
• BCC social value - employer engagement events
• WECA Good employment charter

Place and sector focus – Develop an engagement plan for agreed sectors and locations. Coordinate delivery of the plan with partners, taking the lead where appropriate. Will include:

• Facilitation of sector based engagement
• A focus on Avonmouth businesses to be developed – consideration to be given to travel which may be a barrier

Please note that this role is subject to a Standard DBS Check.

Why Bristol City Council?

At Bristol City Council, we go that extra mile for our people; we offer a work environment which is fast moving and supportive, giving you the chance to use your skills and develop new ones within a high-profile organisation. For the majority of our roles hybrid working arrangements are available, giving teams the opportunity to work in a way that suits them, balancing service need and individual choice - mixing both home and office working.

Join us and you’ll receive an excellent rewards package including flexible working and flexitime, membership of the Local Government Pension scheme, and a generous annual leave allowance. In addition, you’ll be working in a supportive environment where you’ll have the chance to make Bristol a better place and contribute to its future.

How do I apply?

If you share our values and are ready to be part of our exciting journey please select the apply button below.

To be shortlisted for interview you’ll need to demonstrate how you meet each of the essential criteria in the Person Specification within the Further Information section of your application. On occasion we will receive high numbers of applications, we may then shortlist against the desirable criteria along with the essential criteria, so if you can, please demonstrate how you meet this in your application.

Applications will be reviewed as they are received, and we reserve the right to close this vacancy early. We therefore encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

For permanent Bristol City Council employees, this post will be a secondment.

For employees who are currently on a fixed term contract with Bristol City Council, the secondment must not extend beyond the end of the fixed term period to ensure there is a substantive post to return to.

If you are currently a casual worker or a member of an employment agency (currently working with Bristol City Council) this post will be a fixed term contract.

We're a Disability Confident employer which means we value recruiting and retaining disabled people. Any job applicants who consider themselves to be disabled and meet the essential criteria in the Person Specification are guaranteed an interview. We'll make reasonable adjustments throughout the interview process and provide continued workplace support throughout your career.

For further information, please refer to the Job Description and Person Specification or alternatively, please contact warren.pickles@bristol.gov.uk

Bristol City Council strives to have a workforce that reflects the communities it serves, we are therefore committed to ensuring diversity in our hiring process. We welcome, develop and promote people from all sections of the community. Appointments will be made on merit. 

The personal information section (including your name) you’ll complete as part of the application form will not be visible to hiring managers, but is used confidentially to make sure that everyone is treated fairly.