Senior Project Officer Sustainability

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About the role

The Council's Sustainability function sits within the Economic Growth & Sustainability team, which delivers a breadth of activities designed to bring sustainable economic growth and climate change benefits to the area. These include inward investment and business support, external funding and programme management, digital and electric vehicle infrastructure, climate change and green travel, and managing Section 106 funding on behalf of the Council.

External funding is a crucial element of the team's work. It is responsible for identifying opportunities, developing business cases, bids, and submissions to secure funding to support economic growth and regeneration, and putting in place robust processes and systems to ensure that resources are targeted to deliver improved outcomes. This involves a mixture of bidding in competition with other areas and securing funding which has been provisionally allocated to the area but requires the submission of an Investment Plan, business case, or similar to confirm and drawdown the allocation.

As a result of these activities, North Northants has been allocated over £6m through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and Rural England Prosperity Fund. The team was responsible for submitting Investment Plans to secure this funding. Pivotal to this was being able to demonstrate stakeholder engagement to inform the interventions that would be prioritised for support through this funding, and political support from the areas' MPs. This funding supports a range of activities under three themes: business; communities; and people and skills. A particular focus is helping local businesses to decarbonise. This includes workshops, helping with assessments, one-one support developing plans, and grants for investment in energy efficiency, carbon reduction and other measures to assist with the transition to a local carbon economy and practices. Complementing this is involvement alongside private sector and academic partners in the DECODE Corby project, sponsored by INNOVATE UK, which is helping manufacturing businesses in this cluster to decarbonise.

In March 2024, the Council was provisionally awarded up to £5m through the Levelling Up for Culture Priority Places programme. To secure the funding, the Council had to submit an Investment Plan by 3 June 2024. The funding is for capital investment and the team is waiting to hear from the new Government.

Business support activities include site visits and meetings to identify issues affecting local enterprises. The team uses a triage system to signpost businesses to sources of specialist help. This is aided through the re-establishment of the North Northants Business Forum which brings together the main public sector organisations, business networks and partners representing local businesses in the area. These include Northants Chamber of Commerce, Federation of Small Businesses, Love Corby, North Northants Business Network (NNBN) and other key agencies. The Council is a member of the Chamber and sponsors the North Northants Business of the Year category.

With the area a target for housing growth, it is vital that new businesses are attracted to support the growing population and reduce out-commuting. This means that inward investment is an important activity. Some of the recent enquiries which the team has dealt with include:

• Ball Corporation (Manufacturing) - who have recruited more than 150 employees at its new aluminium can-making plant at Segro Parkway, Kettering
• Top Hat (modular housing) - who plan to launch a 650,000 sq. ft factory at Magna Park in Corby which when operational will create a total of 1000 jobs and produce 4,000 houses per year at full capacity.
• Nike - who will be creating their UK base at a state-of-the-art Logistic Campus on Magna Park, Corby, creating hundreds of new jobs, with construction underway

The team works with the Department for Work & Pensions/Job Centre Plus and Tresham College to arrange a series of Jobs and Careers Fairs. These fairs have been very popular and run four times per year. Each typically attracts several hundred delegates, local employers and specialist organisations. The aim is to support people into work, to start their own business, to volunteer or seek opportunities to improve their skills, or to change their career. This includes providing details of local apprenticeships and other opportunities.

The team manages a Digital Infrastructure programme. This is bringing new investment in digital connectivity to Northamptonshire and involves an Inter-Authority Agreement (IAA) with West Northamptonshire Council. North Northamptonshire Council is the lead-authority for this IAA. This activity has helped to boost levels of full-fibre coverage to over 80% of premises in North Northants. The team has also worked with Gigaclear to optimise the benefits of digital connectivity through the creation of 'Community Hubs' in many villages.

The team has an important role to ensure that the Council secures, receives and allocates Section 106 planning obligations to support delivery of infrastructure required to address the demands of growth. Work will start soon on a wider review of the Council's adopted planning obligations policies and updates as required to the evidence base underpinning them. This will include taking account of climate change considerations.

Importantly for this role, the team leads the Council's strategic approach to climate change. This includes work on the Council's Carbon Management Plan (CMP) and formulation of a Climate Change Strategy for the area. The Council has declared a Climate Emergency and set a target to be Carbon neutral by 2030. Some of the activities include an annual Climate Change Conference which spotlights latest initiatives and shares best practice, a £1m Climate Change Investment Fund (to support delivery of the CMP), and a Climate Change Impact Assessment which ensures that all plans, strategies, policies, and investment decisions made by the Council take account of climate change considerations. The team also leads on various initiatives which support climate change goals and 'green' growth. These include the management of the Northamptonshire e-scooter trial (one of the largest in the country) with Voi Technology, Delivery Robot trials with Starship and DPD, and the provision of infrastructure to support the transition to Electric Vehicles.

For an informal discussion about the role please contact ian.achurch@northnorthants.gov.uk

What will you be doing?

Key activities for the role include to:

1. Champion sustainability across North Northants through contributing to the preparation and implementation of a Climate Change Strategy, Carbon Management Plan and other important plans and strategies
2. As a recognised expert on sustainability issues, work with different services to identify and develop innovative projects which help to reduce the Council's climate footprint
3. Monitor and report on the delivery of the Council's Carbon Management Plan and associated activities
4. Develop and implement projects that support carbon reduction
5. Assess business cases and advise on applications to the Council's Climate Change Investment Fund
6. Engage with internal and external stakeholders (including key sectors and local businesses), and collaborate on activities, that support the Council's climate change and carbon reduction ambitions and objectives, including establish and run the Council's Zero Carbon Working Group to champion sustainability across the organisation and disseminate knowledge
7. Actively look for external funding opportunities to support carbon reduction and climate change projects and progress related work including applications for funding
8. Interpret new legislation, policy and developments to produce reports, briefings and policy documents that inform and guide the Council's approach to sustainability and carbon reduction

About you

You should have a Level 4 qualification (Degree or equivalent) in sustainability, environmental management or other related subject, or equivalent experience in a relevant discipline (i.e., sustainability, environmental management etc.)

We are looking for someone with proven experience of success working in a sustainability role or in a related area with expertise in climate change and sustainability strategies.

You should be able to deliver success working with a wider range of partners and stakeholders to build effective relationships and achieve co-operation.

Important is the ability to collect and collate technical and sometimes complex information and present it in a clear and relevant manner. Proficiency in communication and report writing is also important.

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.

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