Project Support Officer

Project Support Officer

Fixed Term, Full Time

£26,951 to £31,706 per annum

Location: Chelmsford

Working Style: Anywhere worker

Closing Date: 13th November 2025

Project Support Officer – Children’s Social Care and Education Reform

This is a 12-month fixed term contract role (full-time and hybrid working), with potential for extension.

Essex County Council is delivering a major programme of reform across Children’s Social Care and Education Services. We are seeking a highly organised and proactive Project Support Officer to assist in the delivery of key projects within this transformation programme.

Working primarily alongside the Programme Manager and Project Manager, you will play a vital role in enabling the smooth running of programme and project activity. You will support the coordination of business management tasks, maintain documentation, and assist with reporting and monitoring progress across specific projects and workstreams.

You may also be asked to oversee small projects or discrete pieces of work under direction, contributing to the successful implementation of change, including the Families First Partnership Programme and the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.

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

The ideal candidate will be highly organised, able to manage competing priorities, and possess strong communication and interpersonal skills. You will be comfortable engaging with stakeholders at different levels across Essex County Council and partner organisations, and confident in supporting delivery within a complex and fast-paced environment.

You’ll be joining an award-winning team, recognised in the 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

• Support the teams by maintaining appropriate systems to ensure effective planning and scheduling of projects or programmes.
• Support the team by assisting them in maintaining project controls and producing project reports to ensure adequate and regular monitoring of project progress.
• Responsible for programme/project file management using robust version control and organising programme/project boards and meetings, together with providing support to ensure efficient operation of day-to-day activities.
• Supports the programme/project teams by being a main point of contact for responses to external requests for information and engaging with both internal and external contacts.
• Supports the teams by monitoring programme/project spend and contribute to the compilation of budget updates whilst also ensuring updates of other tasks, such as, maintaining risk and issue logs and clearly documenting decisions.
• Supports the team by sharing any insights or escalating issues to ensure Programme and Projects Managers are kept up to date.
• Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.

The Experience You Will Bring

• Educated to GCSE or equivalent by experience
• Evidence of continuing professional development and knowledge in relevant professional area.
• Experience and evidence of working in a project support role in a large, complex organisation
• Curious and inspired to work in an agile environment where you can learn and develop
• Experience of engaging with others to build good working relationships and communicating effectively
• Experience of working with a broad range of individuals at different levels within the organisation and engaging with them.
• Experience of working within a political environment with knowledge of a public sector setting and involvement in a large, complex environment
• Evidence of adopting a structured and planned approach

To read more about us please visit: Corporate Services

Why Essex? 

Essex County Council has a location to be proud of. Our 1,300 square miles stretch from Constable Country to the Thames Estuary, from the dynamic M11 corridor to the traditional seaside resorts of Clacton and Walton. England’s oldest town, Colchester, and two of its newest – Basildon and Harlow – are right here. Along with the City of Chelmsford, the county town, they form our major population centres. It means real choice and makes Essex the ideal place for your career. Read more about us.

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.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service.  The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate.  This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained.  For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

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 jamielea.wallis@essex.gov.uk

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Further details can be found on our careers page.

Downloads

Pay and Reward | Our Ways of Working  | About Us  | Organisation Behaviours