Construction Project Manager

West Northamptonshire Council is recruiting a highly motivated and enthusiastic Construction Project Manager with the competence (knowledge, experience, skills, personal attributes and attitude) to deliver its extensive and varied range of property refurbishment and new build construction projects. 

Some of these projects have multimillion pound budgets and have complexities that will significantly challenge the project manager in their delivery. 

The Construction Team is one of several that report to the Head of Works within the Assets & Environment Service which, in turn, sits within the Place, Economy & Environment Directorate.

Our benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits to our employees, these include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement starting at 28 days annual leave per year, 29 days for senior managers (pro rata, depending on how many hours per week you work), plus bank holidays. An additional 5 days, linked to continuous service, and ability to purchase up to 6 weeks additional leave per year.
• Cycle to Work scheme. 
• Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health protection.
• Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out plus lots more.
• Car Lease scheme via Tusker.
• Payment of professional subscription / membership - If your job description requires that you are registered with or are a member of a professional body, WNC will pay for your professional subscription or membership fees.
• Employee Assistance Programme - We have an employee support programme run by Health Assured, an independent, external organisation. Health Assured is available for you and your immediate family members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and includes telephone counselling, legal advice, bereavement support and medical information.
• Commsave- Free membership to Commsave Credit Union who provide a variety of savings accounts, loans, a monthly lottery draw and more!
• Ongoing training and development opportunities.
• A variety of flexible working options to support your work/life balance, including full or part time, term time, 9-day fortnight, etc. (subject to business needs).
• Our West Ways of Working – We want our workforce to thrive, and we equip our employees with the right technology to support hybrid and collaborative working, on or off site, depending on the role.
• Making a difference - If you want to use your skills and experience with an organisation that are genuinely invested in making a difference, are committed to improving people's lives, and whose success has a direct impact on the wellbeing of your family, friends and people in your local area, then West Northamptonshire Council is the place for you.

What will you be doing?

The work of delivering construction projects on corporate properties requires the Team to works with a range of clients from within the Council such as Education, Adult Services, Northampton Children’s Trust and external partners and tenants.   

WNC delivers a high profile and wide-ranging capital programme to improve its existing assets portfolio and create new assets such as schools, commercial units and cycling & walking infrastructure to ensure effective and practical environments for the benefits of our community, frontline services and end users, some of which are vulnerable adults and children. 

Therefore, the role provides a high degree of job satisfaction through the creation of tangible social, economic and environmental benefits that contribute to the objectives and priorities in the Council’s Corporate Plan and are inherent in many of the projects being delivered.  An understanding of the impacts of projects on carbon emissions and the need to minimise those is required as the Council moves towards its target of Net Zero by 2030. 

The size of the programme differs from year to year, but typically value will be in the region of £150 million per annum.

The role requires the management of multiple projects to deadline, and the successful candidates will be able to prioritise workload from the brief through to delivery on time and within budget. This will include the use of the Council’s Project Management Methodology (PPM) to produce Project Initiation Documents and Business Cases and will include procurement, co-ordinating design teams, managing programmes and regular reporting on progress using Highlight Reports. 

About you

You will be competent in budget management and organisational skills to ensure that construction project documentation/systems are maintained. 

Strong communication skills with the ability to develop effective working relationships with stakeholders and partners, possess sound judgement and a high degree of personal accountability. 

The role requires excellent risk identification and management skills and the recording and sharing of lessons learned. 

About us

At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.

Our vision is ‘to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive’. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services. 

Hear more from our Chief Executive, Anna Earnshaw, about what it's like to work at West Northants Council https://youtu.be/lV0EfeUF4aU  

We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential.  We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner

The following film was created by us to communicate our intentions - watch WNC colleagues explain what DEI means to us.

If you need additional support or reasonable adjustments during the application process, including needing the job description in another format or language, please email careers@westnorthants.gov.uk for support.

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.