Senior Project Officer Sustainability

The purpose of the job is to help support and deliver the Council’s approach to the climate change
emergency. This includes strategy and policy development, progressing opportunities, projects
and other actions with other stakeholders associated with the climate change emergency, and
helping to reduce the Council’s climate footprint.

About the role

The Council’s Sustainability function sits within the Economic Growth & Sustainability
team, which delivers a breadth of activities designed to bring sustainable economic growth and
climate change benefits to the area. These include inward investment and business support,
external funding and programme management, digital and electric vehicle infrastructure, climate
change and green travel, and managing Section 106 funding on behalf of the Council.

External funding is a crucial element of the team’s work. It is responsible for identifying
opportunities, developing business cases, bids, and submissions to secure funding to support
economic growth and regeneration, and putting in place robust processes and systems to ensure
that resources are targeted to deliver improved outcomes. This involves a mixture of bidding in
competition with other areas and securing funding which has been provisionally allocated to the
area but requires the submission of an Investment Plan, business case, or similar to confirm
and drawdown the allocation.

As a result of these activities, North Northants has been allocated over £6m through the UK
Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and Rural England Prosperity Fund. The team was responsible for
submitting Investment Plans to secure this funding. Pivotal to this was being able to
demonstrate stakeholder engagement to inform the interventions that would be prioritised for
support through this funding, and political support from the areas’ MPs. This funding supports
a range of activities under three themes: business; communities; and people and skills. A
particular focus is helping local businesses to decarbonise. This includes workshops, helping
with assessments, one-one support developing plans, and grants for investment in energy
efficiency, carbon reduction and other measures to assist with the transition to a local carbon
economy and practices. Complementing this is involvement alongside private sector and academic
partners in the DECODE Corby project, sponsored by INNOVATE UK, which is helping manufacturing
businesses in this cluster to decarbonise.

In March 2024, the Council was provisionally awarded up to £5m through the Levelling Up for
Culture Priority Places programme. To secure the funding, the Council had to submit an
Investment Plan by 3 June 2024. The funding is for capital investment and the team is waiting
to hear from the new Government.

Business support activities include site visits and meetings to identify issues affecting local
enterprises. The team uses a triage system to signpost businesses to sources of specialist
help. This is aided through the re-establishment of the North Northants Business Forum which
brings together the main public sector organisations, business networks and partners
representing local businesses in the area. These include Northants Chamber of Commerce,
Federation of Small Businesses, Love Corby, North Northants Business Network (NNBN) and other
key agencies. The Council is a member of the Chamber and sponsors the North Northants Business
of the Year category. 

With the area a target for housing growth, it is vital that new businesses are attracted to
support the growing population and reduce out-commuting. This means that inward investment is
an important activity. Some of the recent enquiries which the team has dealt with include: 

• Ball Corporation (Manufacturing) – who have recruited more than 150 employees at its new
  aluminium can-making plant at Segro Parkway, Kettering
• Top Hat (modular housing) – who plan to launch a 650,000 sq. ft factory at Magna Park in
  Corby which when operational will create a total of 1000 jobs and produce 4,000 houses per year
  at full capacity.
• Nike – who will be creating their UK base at a state-of-the-art Logistic Campus on Magna
  Park, Corby, creating hundreds of new jobs, with construction underway

The team works with the Department for Work & Pensions/Job Centre Plus and Tresham College
to arrange a series of Jobs and Careers Fairs. These fairs have been very popular and run
four times per year. Each typically attracts several hundred delegates, local employers and
specialist organisations. The aim is to support people into work, to start their own business,
to volunteer or seek opportunities to improve their skills, or to change their career. This
includes providing details of local apprenticeships and other opportunities.

The team manages a Digital Infrastructure programme. This is bringing new investment in digital
connectivity to Northamptonshire and involves an Inter-Authority Agreement (IAA) with West
Northamptonshire Council. North Northamptonshire Council is the lead-authority for this IAA.
This activity has helped to boost levels of full-fibre coverage to over 80% of premises in
North Northants. The team has also worked with Gigaclear to optimise the benefits of digital
connectivity through the creation of ‘Community Hubs’ in many villages.

The team has an important role to ensure that the Council secures, receives and allocates
Section 106 planning obligations to support delivery of infrastructure required to address the
demands of growth. Work will start soon on a wider review of the Council’s adopted planning
obligations policies and updates as required to the evidence base underpinning them. This will
include taking account of climate change considerations.

Importantly for this role, the team leads the Council’s strategic approach to climate change.
This includes work on the Council’s Carbon Management Plan (CMP) and formulation of a Climate
Change Strategy for the area. The Council has declared a Climate Emergency and set a target to
be Carbon neutral by 2030. Some of the activities include an annual Climate Change Conference
which spotlights latest initiatives and shares best practice, a £1m Climate Change Investment
Fund (to support delivery of the CMP), and a Climate Change Impact Assessment which ensures
that all plans, strategies, policies, and investment decisions made by the Council take account
of climate change considerations. The team also leads on various initiatives which support
climate change goals and ‘green’ growth. These include the management of the Northamptonshire
e-scooter trial (one of the largest in the country) with Voi Technology, Delivery Robot trials
with Starship and DPD, and the provision of infrastructure to support the transition to
Electric Vehicles.

What will you be doing?

Key activities for the role include to:

1. Champion sustainability across North Northants through contributing to the preparation and
   implementation of a Climate Change Strategy, Carbon Management Plan and other important plans
   and strategies
2. As a recognised expert on sustainability issues, work with different services to identify
   and develop innovative projects which help to reduce the Council’s climate footprint
3. Monitor and report on the delivery of the Council’s Carbon Management Plan and associated
   activities
4. Develop and implement projects that support carbon reduction
5. Assess business cases and advise on applications to the Council’s Climate Change Investment
   Fund
6. Engage with internal and external stakeholders (including key sectors and local
   businesses), and collaborate on activities, that support the Council’s climate change and
   carbon reduction ambitions and objectives, including establish and run the Council’s Zero
   Carbon Working Group to champion sustainability across the organisation and disseminate
   knowledge
7. Actively look for external funding opportunities to support carbon reduction and climate
   change projects and progress related work including applications for funding
8. Interpret new legislation, policy and developments to produce reports, briefings and policy
   documents that inform and guide the Council’s approach to sustainability and carbon reduction

About you

You should have a Level 4 qualification (Degree or equivalent) in sustainability, environmental
management or other related subject, or equivalent experience in a relevant discipline (i.e.,
sustainability, environmental management etc.)

We are looking for someone with proven experience of success working in a sustainability role
or in a related area with expertise in climate change and sustainability strategies.

You should be able to deliver success working with a wider range of partners and stakeholders
to build effective relationships and achieve co-operation.

Important is the ability to collect and collate technical and sometimes complex information and
present it in a clear and relevant manner. Proficiency in communication and report writing is
also important.

Our benefits

We offer:

• a competitive salary
• a pension scheme, where we pay a significant contribution on top of your contribution. It
  provides life cover and ill-health protection.
• opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council
• generous leave entitlement (28 days, rising to 33 days) and bank holidays, plus the option
  to buy up to an extra 10 days
• agile and flexible working arrangements to help you with a healthy work-life balance.

About us

We are a new unitary council, established in April 2021; we are one of the largest unitary
councils in the country. Our vision for North Northants is to be ‘A place where everyone has
the best opportunities and quality of life’.

Our priorities are:

• helping people live active fulfilled lives
• caring for our young people, providing them with high quality education and opportunities
• enabling a thriving and successful economy
• leading on a green and sustainable environment
• ensuring our communities are connected so they can shape their lives and where they live
• providing modern public services

Our values, as chosen by our staff, are – Customer-focused, Respectful, Efficient, Supportive
and Trustworthy.

Your differences make us different – Achieve Together.