Social Value Manager

Howden House, Sheffield / Hybrid Working

Help Shape a Fairer, More Inclusive Sheffield

What if every major investment in Sheffield created new jobs for local people, opened doors for young people, supported thriving businesses, strengthened communities and helped tackle inequality?

At Sheffield City Council, we believe growth should deliver more than physical development and economic outputs. We want investment, regeneration, procurement and development activity to create lasting benefits for the people who live, work and learn in our city.

That's where you come in.

We're looking for an ambitious and passionate Social Value Manager to lead and champion our approach to social value across Sheffield. This is a fantastic opportunity to influence how millions of pounds of investment are translated into meaningful opportunities for local people and communities.

Working within our Employment, Skills and Economy Service, you'll be at the forefront of inclusive growth, helping to ensure that major contracts, regeneration projects, planning agreements and employment programmes leave a positive and measurable legacy across the city.

Why This Role Matters

This is not a compliance role.

This is a strategic role at the heart of Sheffield's approach to inclusive growth.

The post exists to make sure that investment, regeneration, procurement and development activity delivers real benefits for local people – creating jobs, apprenticeships, skills opportunities, support for local businesses and wider community benefits.

You'll work with developers, employers, contractors, anchor institutions, community organisations and colleagues across the Council to ensure social value is embedded from the outset of projects and programmes, rather than added as an afterthought.

You'll help create opportunities for:

Local employment and apprenticeships
Skills development and progression
Community wealth building
Support for local businesses
Inclusive economic growth
Environmental sustainability
Stronger, healthier communities

Most importantly, you'll be able to see the impact of your work in the lives of Sheffield people and communities.

Whether it's helping someone access employment, supporting a local business to grow, creating apprenticeship opportunities or ensuring investment reaches communities that need it most, you'll be able to see the direct difference your work makes.

Why You'll Love This Role

Genuine Opportunity to Influence

This role has significant scope to influence how programmes are designed, how partnerships operate and how investment is used to tackle inequality across Sheffield. You'll help shape decisions at an early stage and influence outcomes across some of the city's most important programmes.

Cross-Cutting and High Profile

Few roles provide the opportunity to work across employment and skills, regeneration, planning, procurement and economic development. The breadth of the role offers visibility, influence and the opportunity to build relationships across a wide range of organisations and sectors.

A Chance to Shape Sheffield's Future

Sheffield has major ambitions around inclusive growth, regeneration and community wealth building. This role sits right at the centre of those ambitions and offers the opportunity to leave a lasting legacy across the city.

What You'll Do

You'll lead the development and delivery of Sheffield's social value approach, ensuring that social value is embedded across procurement, regeneration, planning and employment and skills activity.

You'll:

Influence major investment and regeneration programmes
Work with developers, employers and contractors to maximise social value outcomes
Help shape procurement approaches and planning agreements
Develop partnerships across the public, private and voluntary sectors
Create frameworks and approaches that capture, monitor and demonstrate impact
Use evidence and data to improve delivery and strengthen outcomes
Provide expert advice, leadership and guidance across the organisation
Champion innovative approaches that deliver measurable benefits for local people and communities
Ensure investment and economic activity translates into real opportunities for Sheffield residents

This is a highly visible role with significant opportunity to influence city-wide outcomes and strategic decision-making.

About You

We're looking for someone who enjoys working strategically but is equally comfortable turning ideas into delivery.

You'll be:

Passionate about creating positive social impact
A confident relationship-builder and collaborator
Skilled at influencing and negotiating with senior stakeholders
Comfortable influencing without direct authority
Experienced in social value, economic development, regeneration, planning, procurement, commissioning, community wealth building or a related field
Able to translate strategic priorities into practical, deliverable actions and measurable outcomes
Skilled at using evidence and data to demonstrate impact
Comfortable navigating complex stakeholder environments and bringing people together around shared objectives
Excited by the opportunity to shape how investment delivers benefits for local people and communities

Most of all, you'll share our ambition to make Sheffield a fairer, greener and more inclusive city where everyone can benefit from growth and opportunity.

Why Sheffield?

Sheffield is a city of ambition, innovation and opportunity. From major regeneration programmes and investment projects to community-led initiatives and pioneering employment and skills programmes, there has never been a more exciting time to help shape the city's future.

Join us and help ensure that growth in Sheffield works for everyone.

Together, we can make Sheffield a place where opportunity, investment and growth create lasting benefits for everyone who calls our city home.

For an informal conversation about this post please e-mail laura.hayfield@sheffield.gov.uk to arrange a suitable time.

We are investing in our workforce and are promoting opportunities to our under-represented groups. We value equality, diversity and inclusion and are focused on increasing the diversity of our workforce, particularly the number of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic, Disabled and LGBTQ+ people, so that our teams reflect the communities in the city we serve. We are also supporting staff with unpaid caring responsibilities to work flexibly.

It is a great time to join us and we welcome your application.

Under the Guaranteed Interview scheme, applicants who are disabled, care leavers, or armed forces veterans will be guaranteed an interview if they meet the essential criteria and indicate their eligibility on the application form. Sometimes, if lots of people apply, we might not be able to interview everyone who qualifies for the Guarantee. In these cases, we’ll interview the candidates who best meet the essential criteria for the job.

Full-time employees work 37 hours for 52 weeks of the year and we offer a generous holiday entitlement. We are open to discussions about a wide range of flexible working opportunities which benefit you and the Council, including reduced hour contracts, working part time or as a job share.

If you are appointed to this role, your starting salary will be at the bottom of the grade. If you provide payslip evidence that your basic pay is greater than the bottom of the grade, we will consider starting you at the point of minimum advantage within the grade.

Equality of pay is extremely important to us. All roles at Sheffield City Council are going through an evaluation process which may result in changes to some pay arrangements from 2026. Find out more on our Sheff news page.