Improvement Project Manager

Hackney Education provides a range of services to support the education of children, young people and adults in our inner London borough. Hackney is one of the UK’s highest performing local authorities, serving one of London’s best places to live and work. Within our diverse borough we serve a wide range of children and young people. We have a particular focus on supporting less advantaged families: Hackney figures in the 10% most deprived boroughs in England on a number of measures.

Hackney Education’s key priority is to improve the life chances of every child, young person and learner: making Hackney the most forward looking education system in the UK, where schools, settings and partners provide an exciting environment which ensures inclusion and success for everyone. We see our borough as being one of the best places in the country for young people to grow, learn, develop and achieve – and one of the best places for colleagues to work and thrive in our education system.

Job title Improvement Project Manager

Salary PO8 (£54,597 to £55,665)

Terms and Conditions Full time, Fixed term (Maternity Cover)

Improvement Project Managers work alongside senior service managers and practitioners to secure the highest quality of service and the most effective and efficient organisation of services. 

This senior role provides two major benefits. Firstly, to bring a professional business improvement perspective to service delivery, including the application of business process improvement and lean practices, business planning techniques and a ‘keep it simple’ approach to organisational design. Secondly, to add operational capacity and value to service managers through support for routine service delivery as well as new ways of working, digital applications, traded service development, and project management.

You will employ your excellent analytical skills to develop business cases, complete investigations to identify the root cause of service problems as well as securing efficiency savings. Your strong project management skills will provide structure and direction to assist Heads of Service and Service Managers complete re-organisations and major procurement projects. As well as to ensure user requirements are accurately captured and ICT solutions are successfully deployed.

Specific projects you’ll be progressing include:

• Supporting colleagues within the Early Years service area take forward the recommendations to secure service enhancements and financial sustainability
• Working with colleagues in the Well-being and Education Safeguarding teams to maximise the benefits from the adoption of a new case management system
• Project managing the implementation of new solutions that enhance internal processes, including those used by our Human Resources team
• Supporting teams make greater use of Google productivity tools

Candidates selected for interview will demonstrate:

• programme and project management experience
• analytical skills
• their ability to work with a wide range of stakeholders
• extensive experience of having worked as a business process improvement consultant with senior service managers
• a proactive and self-motivating nature
• an understanding and ability to use lean principles when implementing a change, and
• a high level of proficiency using IT systems

For an informal discussion about the role please contact Joss Thomas Head of Improvement Programmes & Project (0208 820 7465).

The selection process will include a numeracy and Excel test.

The tests will be completed w/c 15 March 2021. Applicants who successfully pass both tests will be invited to an interview to be held w/c 22 March 2021.

The interview format includes a 10 minute presentation followed by a panel interview.

Previous applicants need not apply.

Interested?

Please apply via the link below.

Closing date: Sunday, 7^th March 2021

Interviews: w/c 22^nd March 2021

We are also working towards our vision, which is to be a place for everyone; where residents and staff can be proud; a place that celebrates diversity and where everyone can feel valued, included and involved. In order to achieve this, we look for people who are: Proud; Ambitious; Pioneering; Open; Proactive; Inclusive.

Hackney Council works to eradicate discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy and maternity, age and marital status. We also recognise that people can be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will also work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class. We also welcome those interested in flexible working. We particularly welcome applications from disabled people and people from a black and ethnic minority background as these groups are currently under represented in our workforce.