Summary

From January 2023 until March 2024 the Council is taking part in a 4-day working week trial. A 4-day week is when full-time staff work one less day per week (4 days instead of 5) but still get paid the same salary. It is all about getting the same amount of work done and being as productive as possible. It is not the same as compressed hours, which is working the traditional 37-hour week over 4 long days. A 4-day week for a full-time employee at the Council will consist of 30 hours. For part time staff, the amount of hours reduced would be calculated via a pro-rata reduction. A helpful way of explaining this arrangement is that staff will need to get 100% of their work done, in 80% of the time, for 100% of their salary. The purpose of this trial is to better support the health and wellbeing of our colleagues, while still delivering an excellent service to our residents.

Looking for an exciting role in an award-winning shared planning service? The Greater Cambridge Planning Service offers a unique opportunity to work in an area experiencing strong economic growth, that is home to world-renowned universities, hospitals and cutting-edge science.

Our combined growth agenda is delivering a significant number of strategic scale urban expansions of Cambridge and new settlements within rural South Cambridgeshire. For instance, existing exciting new strategic development projects include Waterbeach new town (11,000 homes), Northstowe new town (10,000 homes) and urban extension developments such as Eddington (3,000 homes) and meeting the planning needs of Europe’s most important biotechnology cluster at Cambridge Biomedical Centre.

At the same time, we must balance these pressures to ensure we deliver high quality modern developments that will ensure a sustainable future for the beautiful historic City of Cambridge and the rural areas of South Cambridgeshire. This includes ensuring that the natural environment is both protected and enhanced as part of any planning and development work taking place in this area.

We currently have 2 fantastic opportunities within the shared planning service. Find more information about these vacancies below.

Project Manager (Planning Policy and Strategy & Built and Natural Environment Team)

We have an exciting opportunity for a Project Manager to work across our Planning Policy and Strategy and Built and Natural Environment teams in developing and delivering an exciting and innovative work programme.

The teams are currently working on a huge range of projects, including developing the first joint Local Plan in an area with the fastest growing city economy in the country, incorporating major regeneration schemes and new developments. We also have clear environmental ambitions and commissioned pioneering work on climate change and meeting net zero carbon to inform our policy development. The teams also deal with the Councils’ input to the development of significant transport infrastructure schemes that are prepared by various transport bodies, including the East West Rail project. As well as these longer term projects, the Built and Natural Environment Team support colleagues in Delivery on development proposals, from early developer engagement at the pre-application stage to detailed matters ahead of the construction stage.

We are looking for an experienced Programme/Project Manager to join the teams to help shape, implement and monitor the work programme for both teams. The successful candidate will have good knowledge of project management and possess excellent ICT skills, whilst some knowledge of the planning system and plan making process would be advantageous.

The Councils are developing corporate project management frameworks, both using PM3 programme and project management tool. The successful candidate will be expected to engage with these frameworks as they are developed.

Project Manager (DLUHC Innovation Fund)  Fixed Term until December 2024 with the potential to extend

Through central government funding, we are looking for a Project Manager to take forward our Innovation Fund project, which aims to improve the way we digitally engage with our communities and consultants on the emerging Greater Cambridge Local Plan. As part of this project, we want to make it easier for people to comment on our proposals for future growth in Greater Cambridge through an improved digital consultation platform as well as better back-end processes so these comments can be processed and registered in a more efficient way. This is a very exciting project and will involve working with a wide range of stakeholders, including the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, digital software providers, key local stakeholders, local members and the development industry at various stages of the project.

We are looking for a motivated and well organised individual to take forward this project to completion. Excellent communication skills are essential for this role whilst an interest or experience in public participation and/or the plan making process would be beneficial.

About Us

If you have the ambition to embrace the exciting challenges of this busy Shared Planning Service, there is no better place to develop your career. Both roles provide you with an unparalleled opportunity to develop your career, working on some of the most innovative developments in the UK with a group of passionate and dedicated colleagues.

As an organisation, South Cambridgeshire District Council (which hosts the shared planning service) believes that our people are our greatest assets.  We know how important it is to find a job where you feel valued but also have the flexibility to allow you to balance your work/family commitments in an organisation that offers a competitive benefits package including:

• Local Government Pension Scheme
• 25 days holiday entitlement (increasing to 30 after 5 years continuous service)
• Career progression
• Development opportunities as well as ongoing training

Flexible hybrid working arrangements are positively encouraged, with working from home alongside our Cambourne and Cambridge City Centre office locations, including regular ‘together days’ where team members can work together in either office to benefit from collaborative working.

For an informal discussion about the roles please contact:

Programme/Project Manager (Planning Policy and Strategy & Built and Natural Environment Team) – Stuart Morris, Planning Policy and Strategy Team Leader (07514 925 287).

Project Manager (DLUHC Innovation Fund) – Terry de Sousa, Planning Policy and Strategy Team Leader (07563 421289).

Anticipated interview dates: Wednesday 11 October/Thursday 12 October 2023