Project Manager – Children’s Social Care and Education Reform

Project Manager – Children’s Social Care and Education Reform

Fixed Term / Secondment (12 months), Full Time

£46,860 to £55,129 per annum

Location: Chelmsford*

Working Style: Anywhere worker

Closing Date: 9th November 2025

*This is a hybrid-working role, with a requirement to work at a functional work location 2-3 days per month on average, depending on business need.

This opportunity will be offered as secondment or fixed-term contract for a duration of 12 months, with potential for extension.

Essex County Council is delivering a bold and ambitious programme of reform across Children’s Social Care and Education Services—representing the most significant changes in over two decades. We are seeking a capable and motivated Project Manager to support the Programme Manager in delivering specific projects within this wider transformation programme.

This role will be responsible for managing the delivery of defined projects that contribute to the successful implementation of change including the Families First Partnership Programme and the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. You will ensure that project objectives are clearly scoped, planned, and delivered on time, within budget, and to the expected quality standards.

You will work within a complex system, collaborating with internal teams and external partners—including Health, Education, Police, and the voluntary sector—to ensure project outputs align with wider programme goals and deliver meaningful improvements for children, young people, and families.

The role requires strong project management skills, including planning, risk management, stakeholder engagement, and governance. You will be confident in managing multiple priorities and influencing others to ensure delivery remains on track.

Hosted within Essex County Council’s Transformation Team, the Project Manager will apply the Council’s established change methodology, standards, and governance to ensure consistency and quality in programme delivery.

While experience in Children’s Services is beneficial, we welcome candidates with strong project management expertise and the ability to work effectively with senior stakeholders and multidisciplinary teams.

You’ll be joining an award-winning team, recognised in the recent APM Project Management Awards, winning ‘Public Sector Organisation of the Year Award 2023’.

You can find out more about this and the teams achievements in our blog.

Accountabilities

• Responsible for managing projects which contributes to ECC’s strategic aims, to deliver agreed outcomes within time and cost constraints.

• Responsible for undertaking day to day management of both the project and the project team.

• Responsible for ensuring a robust business case has been agreed ensuring expertise and specialist knowledge has contributed to the development of the business case in order to align project deliverables to the organisation’s expectations.

• Responsible for developing and monitoring the project progress to ensure this stays within the agreed budget. Set out resource requirements in order to be prioritised by the Portfolio/Programme Manager.

• Responsible for managing, leading and motivating a team and ensuring current capability is matched against project requirements. This incorporates support and coaching for individuals and the team, as appropriate, in order to develop a high performing team. 

• Responsible for ensuring agreement with customers of quantified benefits to be realised & metrics required to monitor impact. Designing and actively managing the project plan to ensure the outcomes are achieved.

• Responsible for highlighting project risks and issues and ways in which these can be mitigated and escalated as appropriate.

• Responsible for ensuring effective Change Management processes are in place and changes to deliverables as agreed with stakeholders are documented.

• Responsible for ensuring an effective governance and assurance framework is in place to support decision making and ensure regular reporting on progress through pro-active engagement with project sponsors.  Work collaboratively with and manage internal stakeholder relationships together with external partners.

• Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.

The Experience You Will Bring

• Educated to degree level or equivalent by extensive experience.

• Evidence of continuing professional development and expert knowledge in relevant professional area, such as, APM practitioner or Prince 2.

• Evidence of having successfully completed several projects and experienced contributing to a range of other projects and/or programmes.

• Experience of working with a diverse range of individuals at different levels within a complex organisation and engaging with them, finding ways to overcome obstacles.

• Experience of working within a political environment with knowledge of a public sector setting and involvement in a large, complex environment.

• Good management skills in leading and managing a team and evidence of developing others.

• Ideally experience of working and delivering successful projects in children’s services and / or education.

To read more about our business area, please visit: Corporate Services and Transformation

Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we’re committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in Everyone's Essex. With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you.

In February 2025, Greater Essex was accepted onto the Government’s devolution priority programme, which will see local authorities in Essex work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority by May 2026. You can read more about devolution and local government reorganisation (LGR) on our careers site.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email resourcing.team@essex.gov.uk

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