Job title: Project Support Officer

Salary: SO2 £37,280 - £39,152 (Annual)

Hours: 37 hours per week

Contract: Permanent

Location: Merrion House, 110 Merrion Centre, Leeds, LS2 8BB

In Leeds we aim high for our children and young people, with the ambition of being a child friendly city. We put children at the heart of all decisions that affect them.

Whilst we hold central our ambitions for all children to have the best start in life, to have access to the right opportunities to live happy and healthy lives, critical to delivery of this is the Children’s & Families workforce. The values, behaviour, insight and approach that leaders, managers and practitioners bring to their work determines the quality of the service that children, young people and families receive.

The current Children & Families environment is challenging, however it is also an exciting time, with lots of opportunities to make improvements in service delivery and work practices.

Why not come and join us on this journey and be part of making a real difference to the lives of children, young people and their families across the city.

About the role

You will work with the Transformation Team who support the delivery of an ambitious programme of change, in the context of significant national reforms.

You would put your project expertise and knowledge into practice, working within multi-disciplinary teams, with membership from across different service areas, partner organisations, and wider stakeholders. This will include supporting service reviews and change proposals, developing robust project documentation such as project plans, risk and benefits registers, work packages and stakeholder management plans. You will also support wider engagement and communication approaches to support the delivery and embedding of improvement across our services.

Leeds City Council is one of the largest employers in the region with over 14,000 employees. We seek to recruit and develop talented individuals who embody our council values and ambitions.

What we offer you

We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:

a competitive salary and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays
membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions
flexible and hybrid working arrangements subject to service requirements
a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities
a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further

How to apply

Please complete the online application form.

Read our guidance for further advice on completing your application.

If you have any queries or would like an informal chat about the role please contact Paul McGrath Change Manager on 0113 37 87230 or email paul.mcgrath@leeds.gov.uk

Read our recruitment of ex-offenders policy.

We welcome applications from everyone and actively seek a diverse range of applicants from all backgrounds and cultures. We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to, women, carers, veterans as well as LGBT+, ethnically diverse, disabled and care experienced people.

This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa.

If you do not have the right to work in the UK, you must consider your own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker visaroute before applying. To be eligible for sponsorship you'll usually need to be paid the standard salary rate of at least £41,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. Please ensure you are eligible before applying.

Job Description

Job Purpose

The postholder will be responsible for supporting the successful delivery of the Children & Families directorate’s transformation agenda, through provision of project support across a complex programme of change. The Project Support Officer will work flexibly as part of a wider programme team driving delivery of projects to meet the needs of the directorate, wider Council, as well as partners.

The Project Support Officer will work within multi-disciplinary teams, with membership from across different service areas, and potentially partner organisations, providing project support in accordance with approved business cases, project plans and programmes. This will include providing support to service reviews and design of change proposals, and thereafter development of project documentation such as project plans, risk and benefits registers and work packages and stakeholder management plans.

Responsibilities:

Support effective complex project delivery across the directorate’s transformation agenda.
Effectively work within multi-disciplinary teams to support delivery of projects to time, cost and quality.
Support the creation and updating of project documentation, reflecting progress and matters of challenge, work with senior colleagues to escalate risks at the right time, to the right place.
Support cross Council projects and collaborative working with partners across the health and care sector, where inter-dependencies exist as required
Work with a range of colleagues from across the directorate, council and partners, providing support to achieve successful change.
Use initiative to manage competing priorities whilst delivering on a range of objectives ensuring consistency of approach, with a key focus on delivery and quality.
Support production of written reports/briefs on project activity to update/inform a range of stakeholders.
Support the manager of project budgets, including planning, monitoring and reporting spend.
Provide support to project team meetings, boards and other groups, as necessary, including but not limited to attendance and active participation, and taking minutes where appropriate/required.
Provide day to day supervision, motivate and direct staff linked to projects as required
Timely escalation of issues to ensure swift and corrective action can be taken.
Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade
Participate in appraisal, training and development activities as necessary to ensure up to date knowledge and skills
Improve own practice through observation, evaluation, discussion with colleagues and development programmes.
Work collaboratively with colleagues, knowing when to seek help and advice.
Contribute to the overall ethos, work, and aims of the service by attending relevant meetings, training days/events as requested.
Be aware of and comply with Leeds City Council policies and procedures e.g. child protection, health, safety and security, confidentiality and data protection, reporting all concerns to an appropriate person
Be aware of and support difference and ensure equality for all working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding and promoting the values, standards and equal opportunities of Leeds City Council.
Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment or victimisation and any form of abuse of equal opportunities, ensuring compliance with relevant policies and procedures.
The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol and this role will be expected to work within these parameters.
The duties outlined are not meant as an exhaustive list and will also comprise any other duties within the spirit of the post commensurate with the job evaluation outcome for this post

Qualifications The postholder should hold a relevant project management qualification or be able to clearly demonstrate experience of working in a project management environment.

Essential Requirements It is essential that the Candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria for the post. Candidates will only be shortlisted for interview if they can demonstrate on the application form that they meet all the essential requirements

Able to work flexibly across different work locations and areas as appropriate.
Able to prioritise own and team’s work to meet conflicting deadlines
Able to apply a range of project management techniques and methodologies in practice to achieve desired outcomes, including but not limited to risk and benefit register and stakeholder management plan.
Able to work collaboratively with a range of stakeholders supporting project development and implementation, within a robust project management framework.
Able to support development of options appraisals, including evaluation and shaping of recommendations.
Able to support development of cases for change which clearly articulate the need for change, what change is being sought and why, benefits and risk, required investment, targeted savings and resource management.
Good report writing skills, with the ability to effectively achieve the intended purpose of the report.
Good communication, with the ability to establish and maintain positive working relationships across a range of stakeholders.
Analytical skills, including the ability to gather, interpret, present data from a range of sources, as well as support the production of recommendations aligned to achieving objectives.
Demonstrable knowledge of project management methodologies and practices.
Understanding of current challenges being faced by local government and the wider public sector.
Understanding of the current challenges facing children’s services, both locally and nationally.
Experience of working within a project management environment, ideally on cultural and/or operational change projects that have customer focused outcomes.
Experience of creating and maintaining complex project documentation, including but not limited to risk and benefits register, stakeholder management plan, action and issues logs, and highlight reports.
Experience of supporting multi-disciplinary project teams in the pursuit of successful project delivery.
Experience of working within a matrix management approach, including influencing and taking direction from others.
Experience of presenting, both verbally and in writing, to project meetings and other audiences as required.
Experience of using organisational and time management skills to meet own and team’s work.

Essential Behavioural and other Characteristics

Understand and embrace Leeds City Council Values and Behaviours and codes of conduct.
Committed to continuous improvement in all areas and work towards delivering the Best City Ambition of Health & Wellbeing, Inclusive Growth and Zero Carbon
Able to understand and observe Leeds City Council equality and diversity policies.
Carry out all duties having regard to an employee’s responsibility under Health and Safety Policies.
Willingness to actively participate in training and development activities.
Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade.
Participate in appraisal, training, and development activities.
Be aware of and comply with Leeds City Council policies and procedures.
Be aware of and support difference and ensure equality for all working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding, equality & diversity policies of Leeds City Council.
Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment, victimisation, and any form of abuse, reporting any concerns to the appropriate person.
The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol and the role will be expected to work within these parameters.