Business and Programme Coordinator

Suffolk County Council; Ipswich; Hybrid; GBP 42,000 - 49,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

LGPS

Flexible working

Career development

Hybrid working

Job summary

Suffolk County Council is seeking a Business and Programme Coordinator to support England's RMCoE, funded by the Department for Transport. You will help join up policy, people and places, working with local authorities, government departments and universities from our Ipswich base.

The role focuses on coordinating workstreams, managing governance, and developing resources and events to advance rural mobility across England.

Qualifications

• Experience coordinating programmes, projects or workstreams across partners.
• Strong networking and interpersonal skills with stakeholders across public bodies.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills for varied audiences.
• Understanding of national transport strategies or willingness to learn quickly.

Responsibilities

• Support delivery of the RMCoE programme in line with business plan and objectives.
• Monitor policy, legislative and tech developments in rural mobility; flag risks/opportunities.
• Build relationships with MPs, Mayors, government bodies, local authorities and academics.
• Represent RMCoE at events and stakeholder forums; share learning and best practice.
• Coordinate governance: work plans, logs, risk registers, milestones.

Skills

Programme coordination

Networking

Communication

Transport policy

Job description

• Suffolk County Council
• Address: Endeavour House, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP1 2BX. Hybrid working
• Salary: £42,123 - £48,607per annum (pro rata for part time)
• Hours: 37 hours per week, flexible working options available
• Contract: Fixed Term or Secondment for up to 3 years, due to external funding from the Department for Transport

Around ten million people in England live in rural areas, yet rural transport has historically been overlooked in policy and investment.

The RMCoE (Rural Mobility Centre of Excellence) exists to change that bringing research, clarity, direction and coordination to an area that's lacked strategic focus, and acting as a trusted partner to government departments, local authorities, combined authorities and industry across the country.

Now, we're growing from a respected regional centre into a national one.

Business and Programme Coordinator, you'll be right at the heart of that growth, helping join up policy, people and places to make rural mobility work better for everyone.

Reimagine the possibilities.

Your role and responsibilities

This is an exciting opportunity to join the team delivering England's RMCoE - a brand-new national programme, funded by the Department for Transport, that builds on the success of our existing regional centre. You'll be working alongside the National Rural Mobility Centre of Excellence Manager, colleagues across Transport East, local authorities, government departments and a wide range of stakeholders, right at the heart of this new area of transport expertise.

On a typical day, you might be catching up with a local authority partner about an upcoming workshop, drafting a briefing on emerging rural transport policy, or pulling together the latest progress against our programme milestones. No two days look quite the same, but you'll always be helping to join the dots between policy, people and places.

In this role, you will:

• Help deliver the RMCoE programme, making sure activity stays aligned with our business plan and objectives.
• Keep an eye on emerging policy, legislative and technological developments in rural mobility, flagging opportunities and risks to senior colleagues.
• Build and maintain great relationships with stakeholders including MPs, Mayors, government departments, local authorities and universities.
• Represent the RMCoE at events, conferences and stakeholder forums, sharing our work and learning from others.
• Coordinate programme governance - work programmes, action logs, risk registers - and track progress against milestones.
• Lead on specific workstreams, communications and engagement activity.
• Help develop resources like reports, toolkits, case studies and webinars that support local authorities with rural mobility challenges.
• Organise and support meetings, workshops and networking events, both online and in person.
• Share knowledge and learning through newsletters, our website, social media and events.

You'll get to use your networking skills and transport knowledge to shape the future direction of the centre, build new partnerships, and help make a genuine difference to rural communities right across England. We're really excited to welcome someone who's ready to get stuck in.

You will need

• Experience coordinating programmes, projects or workstreams, ideally with a project management qualification or equivalent experience.
• Strong networking and interpersonal skills, with the confidence to engage a wide range of stakeholders, from local authorities to government departments.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to distil information clearly for different audiences.
• A good understanding of national strategies relating to transport, or the drive to get up to speed quickly.
• The ability to manage competing priorities, work independently, and keep on top of the detail.
• A collaborative approach and genuine enthusiasm for working across organisations and partnerships.

It would also beneficial, but not essential, if you've worked in a political environment, have experience of local government reorganisation and devolution, or already know the UK transport sector. If you don't tick every box but you're passionate about rural mobility and ready to learn, we'd still love to hear from you.

The team

The Rural Mobility Centre of Excellence sits within Transport East, an independent partnership covering Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Southend and Thurrock, and one of seven Sub-national Transport Bodies in England. Our regional centre was established in 2022 and is already recognised as a leader in rural transport research and stakeholder engagement – now we're taking that success national.

Our team is dynamic, motivated and genuinely collaborative. We work in a high-energy, professional environment where creativity and new thinking are actively encouraged, and where everyone is supported to grow their own capabilities and ambitions. We're hosted by Suffolk County Council on behalf of the wider Transport East partnership, and we offer hybrid working, with some time in our Ipswich office and some working from home.

Empowering Everyone

We're big believers in potential, possibility and the power of different ideas. We're always searching for ways to encourage, respect and enable everyone to be the best they can be. We want to represent the diverse communities we serve. We welcome applications from all individuals, especially those from groups that are currently underrepresented in the organisation, as shown in our Workforce Equality Report .

For more information

Please contact Sharon Payne (she/her) for a casual conversation. You can reach her by emailing [e-mail]

Closing date: 11.30 pm, 30 September 2026.

Interview date: 8 October at Department for Transport offices in London.

Promoted as PJ (Platinum Job) on Suffolk Jobs Direct.

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks or police vetting will be required for relevant posts. #LI-Hybrid

In return, you'll enjoy:

• up to 29 days annual leave entitlement (pro rata), plus UK bank holidays and two paid volunteering days
• membership of a competitive Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
• travel, lifestyle, health and wellbeing benefits
• performance-related annual pay progression, in addition to an annual cost-of-living pay increase
• training and encouragement to expand your knowledge
• a variety of career development opportunities across our organisation
• diverse and active staff networks
• flexible working options, with the right to request flexible working from your first day

Plus lots more!

If you want to know more about our benefits, values and equality commitments please visit our Suffolk County Council careers website (careers.Suffolk.gov.uk) .