Project Manager (Homes and Neighbourhoods) - INTERNAL

To apply for this job, you must meet all of the following criteria:

• Be an employee of Kirklees Council.
• Be employed by Kirklees for the duration of the recruitment process – up to and including the start date.
• Have successfully completed your probationary period.

(Please note that if you work for an Academy, you are not an employee of the Council.)

Your employment status will be checked, if you do not meet the above requirements your application will be rejected. 

The role will be offered as hybrid working. Whilst a lot of the role can be done from home, regular travel to a Kirklees office or site is to be expected.

About the role

Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing transferred back into the council in early 2021 and was given a new name - Homes and Neighbourhoods. Since then, we launched an ambitious Homes and Neighbourhood Vision, underpinned by Service Excellence Principles, putting the safety and happiness of our residents at its core.

To support the vision, we have joined forces with our Corporate Transformation Team to develop, and deliver, the Homes and Neighbourhoods Transformation Programme, focusing on:

• Process improvement
• Strengthening compliance and assurance
• Enhancing data & intelligence
• Integrating technology, and,
• Culture change

The Project Manager will be based within the Improvement and Assurance Team and will play a key role in delivering our transformation and improvement ambitions. The Project Manager within the Homes and Neighbourhoods Improvement Programme will be responsible for managing large change projects across the service and projects that link to other strategic outcomes across the council. The role will be directly line managed by the Homes and Neighbourhoods Service Development Manager but will also report to / work alongside the Programme Manager from the Corporate Transformation Team.

The service is currently gearing up for In-Depth Assessments (IDA’s) as part of the new Consumer Standards which came into force in April 2024, alongside supporting colleagues in Building Safety to deliver improvements across Fire Safety and Damp, Mould and Condensation. Many of our improvement projects are in place to ensure compliance with the Consumer Standards, whilst aiming to deliver improved tenant satisfaction.

As our Project Manager, you will continue to have opportunities to shape our ambitions and get involved across all levels – from tenant engagement through to working closely with our front-line delivery teams.  We firmly believe every change we make should have a positive impact on our residents and our staff, and work closely with other services and enablers to ensure our change projects are the best they can be.

You may also be asked to work on any other projects across the whole of the Homes and Neighbourhoods Programme, and we support all our staff to get involved in areas where they may wish to develop - or feel passionate about. 

About you

We are looking for someone who shares our energy and ambition for how transformation and redesign can be used to make lives better and is passionate about change and making things happen.

As a project manager, you will have the knowledge, skills, experience and expertise to lead and manage a broad range of projects and be confident in your ability to develop, implement and embed best practice standards, tools and approaches, ensuring quality is central to everything we do. You will also be comfortable with leading change and understand the impact change can have on our workforce and how to manage this. You must be able to demonstrate experience of project management and a knowledge of how to implement a wide range of project management tools. Knowledge of social housing and the Consumer Standards is also desirable.

You will be able to work at pace and using your own initiative, in a pressured environment.

If you are looking for a role that is challenging and hugely rewarding, and you have the skills and ambition we are looking for, we would love to hear from you.

About us

Kirklees is set in the heart of beautiful West Yorkshire and has a growing population of c440,000. With the two major centres of Huddersfield and Dewsbury, it also encompasses several smaller towns. It is well served by both rail and road networks and is close to Leeds and Manchester.

We are a metropolitan single tier authority, the 13th biggest local authority in the UK in terms of population. We have an elected leader and cabinet structure, and a very talented and dedicated workforce.

We are committed to building a strong local democracy and offer many exciting career opportunities for those who want to help us achieve this. We value our workforce and want everyone to have their say.

We are a modern and progressive council, committed to family friendly, flexible and agile ways of working - as well as offering many other benefits including a generous pension scheme and annual leave entitlement of 27.5 days a year (plus public holidays). We’re committed to staff development and continuous improvement.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Sarah Thistlethwaite (Service Development Manager) – Sarah.Thistlethwaite@kirklees.gov.uk. Please note, we do not have access to CVs due to our name-blind approach to shortlisting. Please provide a personal statement detailing how you meet the criteria within the Job Profile. 

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable adults and children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

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