Role: Education Capital and Place Planning Officer REF 1726871
Contract Length: 3 months
Location: Hybrid/Kettering
IR35: Inside
Pay Rate to Intermediary: £500 per day
Spinwell is recruiting for an Education Capital and Place Planning Officer for an excellent opportunity within the public sector.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE EDUCATION CAPITAL AND PLACE PLANNING OFFICER
- Processing of funding agreements for education capital projects with legal team
- Project manager support for new projects and new school builds
- Preparing briefing notes as required on capital schemes for our strategic capital board and members
- Preparing executive reports for new capital schemes for the executive as needed
- To undertake a statutory school place planning role for the council. This will include regular liaison and partnership working with the Council’s Admissions Team, headteachers, planning and regeneration officers, developers and contractors.
- To monitor the Council’s planning process and identify schemes where section 106 contributions are required. To ensure that a robust negotiating position is prepared using forecast data and robust costings of the physical education infrastructure required.
- To be responsible for specific school capital projects within the capital programme. This will entail:
- Ensuring capital projects are delivered within key performance criteria relating to time, cost, value for money and sustainability
- managing project specific risks and issues ensuring these are recorded accurately and reviewed and resolved in a timely manner
- meeting deadlines for corporate project reporting on a monthly basis and specifically for the service Strategic Highlight Report and the Children’s Capital Programme Board
- To manage external project consultants including monitoring their contractual progress and deliverables and preparation of related documents
- To take the lead role in developing and delivering each projects communication strategy
- To take the lead role in organising and co-ordinating key project events and consultations both informal and statutory, including pre-planning application consultation. To ensure that the necessary publicity and information is provided as required and that adequate stakeholder consultation take place ensuring that all stakeholders are consulted and given the opportunity to participate in the process
- To deal sensitively with a range of complex and contentious enquiries from all stakeholders, dealing efficiently with any issues requiring immediate attention (including Members and MPs questions and Freedom of Information requests
- To keep abreast of new legislation, statutory guidance, central government policies, local authority policies and practices and internal and external factors relevant to the successful delivery of the Council’s Schools Capital Programme (e.g. Building Bulletins)
- To evaluate the performance of procurement and delivery methods used and contribute to the procurement strategy for the education capital programme
- To develop and support the service offered to maintained schools by developing schools’ Asset Management Plans to prioritise the use of devolved maintenance and capital funding in line with building condition priorities and, in particular, support decarbonisation of the schools estate by identify bidding opportunities for capital funding identified in each schools Heat Decarbonisation Plan.
SKILLS/EXPERIENCE OF THE EDUCATION CAPITAL AND PLACE PLANNING OFFICER
- Educated to degree level or equivalent qualification e.g. NVQ 4, HNC
- Evidence of commitment to continuing personal and professional development.
- Experience of managing and contributing to commissioning or procurement and tendering of projects.
- Understanding of the analysis of demographic data, school capacity information and available information on housing developments to determine the impact of these on individual schools/groups of schools.
- Identifying and assessing options for developing existing schools.
- Acting as advisor to Headteachers and governing bodies in respect of capital projects.
- Up to date specialist knowledge and understanding of DfE Design guidance and Education Act 2011 and the responsibility of the Council to fulfil their statutory duties to provide sufficient school places.
- Experience of working with multiple partners to deliver a desired outcome
- Proficient in spoken English
- Ability to develop professional rapport with stakeholders at all levels.
- Communicate and engage whilst working with school governance and agencies as well as young people and their families.
- Ability to interpret cost plans for capital projects and financial profiles for schemes within budget.
- Interpret demographic data and pupil forecasts to prepare school review/organisation proposals.
- Adapting working approach to suits the needs of the work.
- Ability to organise workload and take a flexible approach when matters arise.
- Able to work on occasion outside of normal working hours (governing body meetings and public consultations)
- Ability to work to statutory deadlines and manage workload to meet capital project completion dates, NCC reporting deadlines for senior officers and members.
- Proven ICT skills
- Ability to work with a large diverse team and organisation.
- Ability to foresee and take appropriate, corrective action to address potential problems.
- Ability to foster and develop robust relationships with key stakeholders, including Councillors, Directors and representatives from the DfE, Multi Academy Trusts, Trade Unions, Headteachers, Governors, Parents, Early Years sector.
- Ability to demonstrate awareness/understanding of equal opportunities and other people’s behaviour, physical, social and welfare needs.
If you are an Education Capital and Place Planning Officer, apply now or send your CV to Spinwell!
We welcome all applications regardless of background, in line with our commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion.
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