Project Assistant jobs in United Kingdom

Job Title Waste Projects and Strategy Officer
Salary £37,602 - £45,564
Status Full time, Permanent
Locations Wandsworth (Frogmore Depot, Frogmore, Wandsworth and Richmond (Civic Centre, 44 York Road, Twickenham))

Other essential information We have multiple vacancies available; predominantly borough-based working with some home working permitted

• Are you keen to help reduce waste and improve recycling services and carbon performance?
• Are you interested in helping to reduce litter and fly-tipping?
• Are you looking for working arrangements that enhance your work-life balance?
• Do you have skills and experience relevant to local authorities, waste management and/or delivering projects?

If your answers are yes, we want to hear from you!

We are looking Waste Project and Strategy Officers to help deliver waste and recycling related projects, support related communications and the delivery and development of waste strategy in the London Boroughs of Richmond and Wandsworth. You will help to deliver our climate and environment and recycling related action plans by helping to reduce waste, increase re-use and improve the delivery of recycling services along with related performance.

You will be required to travel to locations around the borough regularly to conduct site visits, deliver public engagement activities and to meet with stakeholders. This may also involve early morning site visits to monitor levels of participation in recycling services.

Home working is permitted subject to operational requirements and in accordance with Council policies, and equipment will be provided to enable this. You will be part of a small but friendly waste team within a large workforce, most of which serves both Richmond and Wandsworth Councils.

Improving recycling and waste collection service performance with a particular focus on Council and privately managed housing estates. Supporting the roll-out of weekly collection services with a particular focus on services for recycling household food waste across both boroughs including flats above shops. Monitoring existing and new recycling services to measure participation, deliver improvements and communication campaigns.

We are seeking to recruit Waste Projects and Strategy Officers to help deliver and maintain high performing services in line with local commitments and new “Simpler Recycling” requirements. The successful candidate will report to the Senior Waste Projects and Strategy Officer and will work alongside a small team of Waste Projects and Strategy Officers, some of whom are already in post. You will be welcomed into a service area which delivers a range of waste and street cleansing related contracts and associated services. Activities will include:

1. Estates/purpose-built flats waste & recycling service improvements: The post holders will support the delivery of rubbish and recycling service improvements designed to increase recycling performance and reduce litter and fly-tipping on highways, council managed housing estates and privately managed blocks of flats/estates. This will involve helping to identify, deliver, and monitor improvements including container capacities, appearance, locations and associated communications with residents, operational colleagues and contractors to improve the performance of recycling services and reduce bin overflows.
2. Weekly food recycling collection service roll-out: The post holders will support the roll-out of weekly food waste recycling collection services to all households across both Boroughs. In particular, this will involve site visits, liaising with property management agents to agree suitable locations for food recycling containers to be installed in communal and accessible locations and identifying suitable solutions to enable flats above commercial premises on high streets to recycle.
3. Other projects, outreach and engagement designed to help improve recycling performance and/or otherwise improve environmental performance (both boroughs): The post holders will help deliver other projects that haven’t yet been defined and will help to deliver monitoring, outreach and engagement e.g. at public events and/or schools.

In addition to the above, the post holders will:

• Support the delivery of other services/projects designed to improve recycling performance and/or reduce the carbon impacts associated with managing local authority collected waste.
• Support the delivery of improved recycling performance from existing services e.g. through assisting with related communications and engagement.
• Plan and prioritise their own workload to assist in delivering projects within defined timescales.
• Liaise with relevant stakeholders including tenants and residents’ associations, property management agents, council officers, waste disposal authorities and contractors as well as local businesses to ensure smooth delivery of the projects.
• Develop and maintain large datasets including address data, contact details and proposals.
• Attend regular outreach events to promote recycling services through engagement with local residents, sometimes during evenings and weekends.
• Assist with monitoring the performance of waste services and projects.

• Project delivery- Knowledge and practical experience of delivering effective projects in a supporting role.
• Local authority waste and recycling- Knowledge of services, procedures, techniques and relevant legislation.
• Managing data - Experience of developing and maintaining large datasets.
• Communication skills - Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Client engagement - Experience of effective engagement with community groups, property managers, small businesses and/or other relevant stakeholders.
• The ability to conduct site visits - A clean full UK driving licence and/or be able to travel to sites borough wide on a regular basis (e.g. by public transport or bicycle).

Closing Date: Sunday 11th January (midnight)
Shortlisting Date: w/c 12th January
Interview Date: w/c 19th January
Test: Excel knowledge as a part of interview process

We may close this vacancy early once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Please submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Richmond & Wandsworth Better Service Partnership are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer. If you require any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment and selection process, please let us know.

We are also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Some posts may be exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to these posts will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

We offer a wide range of benefits designed to attract, develop, and reward our employees such as 40 days annual leave (including Bank Holidays), flexible working and a generous pension plan.