Stronger Communities (Partnership) Manager

Our benefits

Here at North Northamptonshire Council, we’re transforming for the better, using all our creativity and imagination to create the best life for our local people.

You’ll find that we have a wide range of careers that may be more surprising than you think!

Why choose us?

We offer a vibrant working environment with:

• 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.
• lots of 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
• hybrid and flexible working arrangements, where practicable for service needs to help you with a healthy work-life balance.

We provide a range of great benefits such as an Employee Assistance Programme, an Employee Benefits Scheme, wellbeing support, travel rates at HMRC rates, as well as supporting a range of active Employee Network Groups.

About the role

Do you want be part of a service that inspires change and has the interests of the community at its heart? Seeking a new challenge to help shape and develop a new team in the delivery of the partnership function within the Stronger Communities service? Then North Northamptonshire Council has a great opportunity for you to join us as our Stronger Communities (Partnership) Manager!

What will you be doing?

This role is the lead for the community partnerships with VCSE organisations through contract and grant management, the Armed Forces Covenant, and if required defined projects, such as the Household Support Fund programme.   As the Stronger Communities (Partnership) Manager you will supervise, manage and develop employees within the team, ensure training and regular supervision take place, performance monitoring and managing sickness absence.

As the Manager, the role is to deliver an effective service in respect of the council’s grants programme to VCSE organisations and local community groups and organisations.  In addition to this, you will be responsible for the delivery of the Council’s commitment to the MOD’s Armed Forces Covenant and Employer Recognition Scheme.  You will also be responsible for delivery on relevant short-term projects, such as the DWP’s Household Support Fund.

Please refer to the attached job description for full details of the main accountabilities for this role.

About you

As the successful candidate, you will bring: 

• experience of budget management, financial processes and administrative management

• experience of working with a variety of stakeholders, colleagues and members of the public

• experience of working to challenging targets.

• outstanding communication skills, both written and oral 

• possess an abundance of drive and determination 

It would also be nice for you to have: 

• experience of managing conflict through diplomacy and negotiation

• experience and knowledge of Armed Forces Community and the Armed Forces Covenant

The full requirements for the Stronger Communities (Partnerships) Manager role are outlined in the attached person specification and will be part of any selection process.  Your application supporting statement must clearly demonstrate how you meet the essential and where applicable, the desirable requirements for this role as outlined in the person specification.

Where you will be working: 

The team is currently based in Kettering, but the Council has a flexible working policy and supports hybrid working. The ability to travel across Northamptonshire is essential to this post. There may also be occasions where you will be required to work outside of normal office hours. 

Next steps: 

If you like what you have read and want to know more about the role, then please contact Hazel Webb via email hazel.webb@northnorthants.gov.uk 

Closing date for applications (we do not accept CVs) is Monday 10 February 2025. 

About us

Our Values and Behaviours

Our values define who we are and how we operate, by forming the foundation for how we interact with our customers, colleagues and provide our services. They are also at the forefront of our decision making and delivery and are:

Customer-focused
Respectful
Efficient
Supportive
Trustworthy

Our Key Commitments

Our key commitments help ensure that the priorities we make, now and in the future, maintain the necessary breadth of focus in those areas that we believe matter most.

We are proud to be a recognised Disability Confident Employer and is committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role.

North Northamptonshire Council re-signed the Armed Forces Covenant in June 2024 which highlights the Council’s pledge to support the Armed Forces community. The council obtained the silver status award for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) and we are now currently working towards achieving Gold status.

We aim to be a carbon neutral Council by 2030.

Further information can be found at Jobs and careers | North Northamptonshire Council (northnorthants.gov.uk)