Project Officer

We are looking for people with experience in project delivery to join our friendly and supportive team. If you have formal project management qualifications that's great, but if not we will provide you with structured development that will prepare and enable you to manage project delivery at Nottinghamshire County Council.

An opportunity has arisen for two permanent Project Officer roles to support the delivery of a range of complex cross-council, cross-organisational and departmental transformation projects.

Project Officers play a key role within the corporate Transformation and Change Group, working with corporate sponsors, service leads and internal/external senior stakeholders. The focus of our strategic projects includes social care provision, services for residents and operational transformation, and you will be expected to have an understanding of this context at interview.

You will be expected to:

• Support the delivery of projects that deliver cross-Council and departmental change to the appropriate levels of quality, time, budget and performance
• Lead on smaller projects and workstreams
• Support the establishment of business cases, project plans, risk registers and other key project documentation
• Deputise for the Project Manager when required
• Manage stakeholder relationships effectively

You will need to provide extensive and demonstrable project experience as set out in the attached job description and person specification.

For an informal discussion about the post please contact Alex Chalkley-Weir ( [email protected] ; 0115 9773101)

Here are a couple of testimonials from colleagues who have joined our team:

“I joined the Council in 2011 as a Business Support Administrator/ Minute Taker on a fixed-term basis and then spent the next few years in business support roles. I really enjoyed working in Business Support as I developed a range of skills, gained knowledge of the services provided within the Council and developed long-lasting working relationships.

Looking for new opportunities, I heard about the project team (then called the Transformation Team) through word of mouth in 2014. I had always loved coming up with ideas and putting them into action, so it was a dream come true that there was such a job in the Council. I applied and was successful in obtaining a 2-year fixed term contract as Project Officer. I found that so many of the skills I developed as a Business Support colleague were transferrable to this varied, interesting role. In 2018, I successfully applied for a Project Manager role, where I became responsible for a small team, supporting Children and Families with the implementation of strengths-based practice. In 2022, an interim Programme Manager position arose which I successfully applied for, and I am now managing one of the cross-cutting transformation programmes, All Age Approaches. I would highly recommend a move into the Transformation Delivery Team to Business Support colleagues.”

“I joined NCC in 2008 as a Library Assistant in the Library Service (now Inspire) following university. It provided great front line service experience with a wide range of members of public, and I developed my customer service, problem solving and people management skills.

Whilst I was looking for development opportunities outside of work to further my career, I came across project management and realised that so many of the skills I had acquired through my current roles with Library Service were transferable. A couple of months later I saw an advert for the Project Officer posts and as they were available as a secondment, so I decided to apply. I didn’t have any formal experience (Prince2 or Agile) of managing projects when I started, but with such a supportive and friendly team I quickly began to develop my knowledge and gained practical experience. I really enjoy working across the council, I have worked on a variety of different projects, from Single Assessment in children’s social care, Mobilisation and Smarter working and Investing in Nottinghamshire.

I really enjoy the variety of the work and the delivery of our projects where you can really see the changes and influence you can have from an individual level to council wide. In 2021 I was successful in applying for a Project Manager. “