Project Support Officer (Temporary)

Project Support Officer (Temporary)

Temporary (6 months with possibility of extension), Full Time

£350 to £400 per day PAYE/Umbrella

Location: Essex

Working Style: Anywhere worker

Closing Date: 31st August 2026

The role

The Project Support Officer will play a pivotal role in supporting the successful delivery of the People & Organisation Development (POD) Service Plan and associated strategic projects. Working closely with the POD Leadership Team, senior stakeholders, and project leads, you will coordinate activity across multiple workstreams, ensuring priorities remain on track, aligned to organisational objectives, and delivered within agreed timescales.

This role requires a strong HR background and experience of supporting and coordinating projects within a People, HR, or Organisational Development environment. You will act as a central point of coordination, providing effective governance, performance monitoring, reporting, and challenge to ensure delivery against service priorities.

The successful candidate will be highly organised, proactive and confident in working with senior leaders, facilitating discussions, interpreting project information, and translating complex findings into meaningful updates that support effective decision-making.

Accountabilities

• Coordinate and maintain the People & Organisation Development Service Plan, ensuring actions, milestones and deliverables are monitored and progressed effectively.
• Work closely with the POD Leadership Team and project leads to track progress, identify dependencies, and ensure projects remain aligned with agreed objectives and priorities.
• Prepare and present high-quality reports, dashboards and progress updates for senior leaders, highlighting achievements, risks, issues, challenges and required actions.
• Facilitate project and leadership meetings, ensuring actions, decisions and outcomes are accurately captured, communicated and followed through.
• Support project leads in the planning, coordination and delivery of HR and organisational development initiatives, providing appropriate challenge and support to maintain momentum and accountability.
• Analyse, interpret and communicate project findings, performance data and workforce-related information to a range of stakeholders, enabling informed decision-making.
• Maintain effective governance processes, including risk and issue management, action tracking, decision logs and project documentation.
• Act as a key point of coordination between project teams, stakeholders and senior leaders, ensuring clear communication and timely escalation of risks or barriers to delivery.
• Support resource planning, budget monitoring and reporting activities associated with POD projects and programmes.
• Develop and maintain robust project management systems, ensuring accurate record keeping, version control and compliance with organisational governance requirements.
• Build positive working relationships across the organisation, influencing and engaging stakeholders to support successful project outcomes.
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of project management, governance and service planning processes across People & Organisation Development.

The Experience You Will Bring

• Significant experience working within Human Resources, Organisational Development, People Services, or a related people-focused function, preferably within Local Government.
• Demonstrable experience supporting or coordinating projects, programmes or service improvement initiatives within an HR or organisational development environment.
• Experience of working closely with senior leaders and stakeholders, providing progress updates, coordinating actions and supporting strategic delivery.
• Strong understanding of project governance, planning, risk management, reporting and performance monitoring.
• Experience of facilitating meetings, tracking actions and ensuring accountability for delivery against agreed objectives.
• Ability to analyse, interpret and communicate complex information, project findings and workforce-related data clearly and effectively.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines simultaneously.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to produce concise and impactful reports for senior audiences.
• Experience of building effective working relationships and influencing stakeholders at all levels.
• Evidence of adopting a structured, planned and proactive approach to delivery.
• Educated to GCSE level or equivalent through relevant experience.
• Evidence of continuing professional development relevant to HR, organisational development or project management.
• Project management qualification or relevant professional certification (e.g. PRINCE2 Foundation, APM, CIPD).

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 March 2026, the Government announced that councils in Greater Essex will be reorganised into five new unitary authorities from April 2028. In addition to this, Greater Essex has been accepted on to the devolution priority programme, where we will work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority. You can read more about these changes, and what this may mean for this role, 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.

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 essexsharedservices@essex.gov.uk

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