Project Manager

Surrey County Council; Knaphill; On-site; GBP 48,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government authority in England is seeking an experienced Project Manager to lead children's social care transformation efforts. The successful candidate will oversee project delivery, engage stakeholders, and support the Corporate Parenting Programme. A degree or equivalent experience and relevant project management qualifications are required. This fixed-term role offers a starting salary of £47,142 and multiple employee benefits, making it a fantastic opportunity to make a meaningful impact in the community.

Benefits

26 days' holiday, rising after service duration

Local government salary-related pension

Generous leave provisions

Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)

Learning and development hub

Wellbeing and lifestyle discounts

Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience in managing complex projects.
• Knowledge of business planning and financial management processes.
• Must possess satisfactory DBS clearance.

Responsibilities

• Oversee project delivery in line with transformation objectives.
• Maintain project documentation and communicate updates.
• Engage with internal and external stakeholders effectively.

Skills

Project management

Stakeholder management

Problem solving

Education

Degree or significant vocational experience

Project management qualification (Prince 2, APM, MSP)

Job description

Project Manager – Children's Social Care Transformation

As a Project Manager you will support the priority programmes within the CFLL transformation team. For Children's Social Care transformation, our priority is ensuring that we are working with our partners to intervene at the earliest opportunity to prevent escalation of need and where it is appropriate for a child to come into our care, that we have suitable residential and fostering placements within Surrey. You will deliver an effective project management role for a high profile review of Surreys fostering services. This will include overseeing the end-to-end delivery of assigned projects, ensuring they are completed on time, within scope, and in line with the Council's transformation objectives.

Responsibilities

It will include tracking project progress, ensuring milestones are met and providing regular updates to senior leadership and stakeholders on performance, risks, and issues. It will also include managing a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, ensuring their ongoing support and involvement throughout the project lifecycle. You will be experienced in developing and maintaining comprehensive project documentation, including plans, schedules, and status reports, ensuring accuracy and alignment with project goals. The role provides an opportunity to support the Corporate Parenting Programme to deliver its ambitious objectives to improve outcomes for looked after children in Surrey by increasing the number of in-house foster carers, improving the effective utilisation of existing foster carers and ensuring an improvement in the retention of foster carers, so that children can remain within Surrey and retain effective links with family and friends and their existing networks.

We also seek your experience in answering the following questions:

1. Describe your experience in successfully delivering a complex project to time and to budget. What issues or risks did you experience and how did you overcome these?
2. Can you provide an example of when you developed and delivered an effective approach to stakeholder management within a project?
3. Please tell us about a time you managed multiple competing deadlines in order to ensure the success of a project. What did you find particularly challenging and how did you address this?
4. Please tell us about a project that you led that had a demonstrable impact and why? Please set out the approach you took to be able to evidence this impact.

Surrey County Council is undergoing Local Government Reorganisation, moving from a two-tier system to two new unitary councils in April 2027. If you are employed by Surrey on 1st April 2027, your role will transfer with current terms and conditions to one of the new organisations, supporting local devolution and greater powers for our communities. Join our dynamic team and shape the future of local government. Make a lasting impact with innovative solutions and improved services for our community. Help us build a brighter future for our residents. Information for applicants on Local Government Reorganisation - Surrey County Council.

Qualifications

• Degree qualified, or significant vocational experience demonstrating development through involvement in a series of progressively more demanding relevant work/roles.
• Knowledge of principles, practices, policies and procedures relating to business planning and financial and organisational management.
• Proven problem solving skills and the ability to exercise high levels of initiative to develop, devise and implement workable solutions.
• Proven ability to manage a range of projects through to completion.
• Relevant project management qualification (Prince 2, APM, MSP).
• Satisfactory DBS clearance is required for this role and must be able to travel across the county to attend stakeholder meetings.

This fixed term role until 31 March 2027 has a starting salary of 47,142 per annum, based on a 36 hour working week.

We are looking for an experienced Project Manager to join our CFLL Transformation Team and play a key role in delivering priority programmes that drive meaningful change.

Our Offer to You

• 26 days' holiday, rising to 28 days after 2 years' service and 31 days after 5 years' service
• Optionto buy up to 10 days ofadditionalannual leave
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Up to 5 days of carer's leave and 2 paid volunteering days per year
• Paternity,adoptionand dependents leave
• An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources
• Wellbeing and lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, and shopping
• A chance to make a real difference to the lives of our residents