Project Manager Green Roots

​Working for City Hall makes a difference to the lives of Londoners. Our staff are at the centre of long-term planning and development for our great city.
 

Good Growth

Good Growth is responsible for delivering and implementing the Mayor’s environment, transport and economic strategies and for the effective implementation of the London Plan. The Directorate is also responsible for regeneration (where the programme is not housing led), enterprise, growth, capital projects and design work.

About the team

Would you like to transform London to make it greener, healthier, nature-rich and ready to tackle the climate and ecological emergencies? The Green Infrastructure and Climate Adaptation teams work closely together to deliver the Mayor’s ‘Delivering a Greener and More Climate-Resilient London’ mandate and delivery plan. The teams deliver against seven main projects/workstreams to enable Londoners to enjoy green and wild spaces across the capital, and for London to be resilient to extreme weather and the impacts of climate change.

We’re looking for a Project Manager for our new Green Roots Programme. This is a unique opportunity to help achieve the Mayor’s ambition to make London a leader in green infrastructure and urban rewilding, ensure that London remains more than half green and to ensure more Londoners benefit from having green space near where they live.

About the role

Reporting to the Principal Programme Delivery Officer, you will project manage the Mayor’s new Green Roots Programme, one of the key delivery programmes of the Mayor’s manifesto commitments and the team’s work programme to enhance and add to London’s network of green infrastructure.

You will be responsible for a £12m grant investment and parallel work programmes to ensure that the grant reaches underrepresented groups and communities. You will direct the grant fund, developing and implementing innovative and robust guidance, processes, systems and structures to ensure strong programme delivery.

You will work closely with colleagues across the Environment Unit and the wider GLA to successfully deliver the grant programme, coordinating the input of the Green Infrastructure, Climate Adaptation, Regeneration, Communities, Health, and other GLA teams to drive programme impact, as well as overseeing and supporting the work of the Economic Development Programmes Unit team that administers the grant, and the Digital Experience Unit and Grants Strategy teams as part of an organisation-wide pilot. You will work to ensure that the grant fund and wider programme deliver their desired outcomes, coordinate governance, procurement, finance activities and identify opportunities to enhance and grow the fund. You will also work closely with key external stakeholders and partners across London, including boroughs, government bodies, NGOs and community groups, to communicate the Green Roots Programme and to promote our work in an inclusive way.

The Green Infrastructure Team’s portfolio includes work on Nature/Biodiversity/Rewilding, Trees & Woodlands and Green Spaces & Urban Greening, plus cross-cutting issues, such as data & evidence, strategy & planning, green finance and more. You will work in a matrix way across the three thematic portfolios to align policies and outcomes.

To succeed in the role, you’ll need to be a collaborative and confident project manager. You’ll need to have strong abilities in project or programme design and delivery, with experience in grant management strongly desirable. While policy or technical expertise in a green infrastructure topic area would be helpful, it is not necessary for someone who can learn quickly. You must be comfortable in working with ambiguity with minimal instruction, translating senior leader requests into action, communicating complex issues and programmes clearly, managing relationships in pressured situations and dealing with iterative change.

The Mayor’s ‘Delivering a Greener and More Climate-Resilient London’ delivery plan is new. The Green Roots Programme is a key project of this delivery plan, but it, along with most of the Green Infrastructure team’s work is new, innovative and in the process of design and early implementation. You will need to be able to manage varied and fast-paced work, have good project management skills and be effective at communicating with and influencing a range of stakeholders, preferably with some experience of doing this in a political environment. You’ll need to be flexible, adaptable, and have a collaborative approach, as this role requires working across many teams as well as piloting new activities in the organisation.

What your day will look like

• Providing direction, oversight and support to other team members and teams to ensure everyone is working toward the grant and policy priorities.
• Overseeing the continued development of software systems and other products and processes to ensure the grant is administered in a way that delivers policy priorities.
• Managing governance processes across multiple teams and upwards to track project spend and timelines, report progress, raise and mitigate risk and issues and facilitate programme decisions.
• Designing, operationalising and implementing non-grant aspects of the Green Roots programme to deliver against programme and policy priorities.
• Embedding EDI into programme design, communications, engagement and the implementation of the programme.
• Providing internal and external communications about the programme through briefings, presentations, social media and more.
• Managing relationships and contracts with suppliers and internal SLAs to ensure high quality delivery.

Skills, knowledge and experience

To be considered for the role you must meet the following essential criteria:

• A track record, and evidence of success, of managing a relevant programme or project and delivering results on target and within budget. Experience of utilising appropriate and effective project management skills, methods and tools.
• Good knowledge and experience of developing, designing and delivering green infrastructure or environment projects and programmes, this could include working on grant funded programmes as either a funder or grant recipient. A good understanding of London’s funding landscape for green infrastructure or environment.
• Experience with and commitment to equality and diversity in an applied context. (Specific experience of this in environment or green infrastructure desired, but not essential)  
• Behavioural competency: Decision Making Level 2. Experience with balancing the need to take decisions as necessary with the understanding of when to escalate decisions, issues and risks to more senior decision makers.
• Behavioural competency: Stakeholder Focus Level 3. A successful track record of working effectively with colleagues at all levels of an organisation, and across organisational boundaries and evidence of leading collaborative teams. (Experience of successful delivery within a political environment is desired, but not essential.)
• Behavioural competency: Communicating and Influencing Level 2. Ability to support and influence others by building relationships through clear and persuasive written, verbal and physical presentation and personal credibility. Ability to prepare timely, clear and concise communications, presentations and briefings on complex and/or sensitive issues for a range of different needs and audiences.

Behavioural competencies

Decision Making

… is forming sound, evidence-based judgements, making choices, assessing risks to delivery, and taking accountability for results.

Level 2 indicators of effective performance

• Takes decisions as necessary on the basis of the information available
• Makes decisions without unnecessarily referring to others
• Involves and consults internal and external stakeholders early in decisions that impact them

• Identifies potential barriers to decision making and initiates action to move a situation forward

• Demonstrates awareness of the GLA’s decision making processes and how to use them

Stakeholder Focus

… is consulting with, listening to and understanding the needs of those our work impacts and using this knowledge to shape what we do and manage others’ expectations.

Level 3 indicators of effective performance

• Understands diverse stakeholder needs and tailors deliverable accordingly
• Managers stakeholder expectations so they are high but realistic
• Removes barriers to understanding the needs of diverse stakeholders, including hard to reach groups

Communicating and Influencing

… is presenting information and arguments clearly and convincingly so that others see us as credible and articulate, and engage with us.

Level 2 indicators of effective performance

• Communicates openly and inclusively with internal and external Stakeholders

• Clearly articulates the key points of an argument, both in verbal and written communication

• Persuades others, using evidence based knowledge, modifying approach to deliver message effectively
• Challenges the views of others in an open and constructive way
• Presents a credible and positive image both internally and externally

The GLA Competency Framework Guidelines further detailing each competency and the different level indicators can be found here: GLA Competency Framework

How to apply

If you would like to apply for the role you will need to submit the following:

• Up to date CV
• Personal statement with a maximum of 1500 words. Please ensure you address how you demonstrate the essential criteria outlined above in the advert.

Please ensure your CV and Personal Statement have a maximum file size of 1.5MB each and upload your Personal Statement to the ‘CV and Cover Letters’ section’ of the form, ensuring you address the technical requirements and competencies in your Personal Statement.

Word or PDF format preferred and do not include any photographs or images. Please ensure your CV and Personal Statement are saved with the job reference number as part of the naming convention (E.g., “CV – applicant name - 012345)

As part of GLA’s continuing commitment to be an inclusive and equal opportunity employer we will be removing personal identifiable information from CVs and Personal Statements that could cause discrimination. 

If you have questions about the role

If you wish to talk to someone about the role, the hiring manager, Abby Crisostomo, or the current Project Director, Elle Potter, would be happy to speak to you. Please contact them at abby.crisostomo@london.gov.uk or eleanor.potter@london.gov.uk.  

If you have any questions about the recruitment process, contact the glaopdcrecruitment@tfl.gov.uk who support the GLA with recruitment.

Assessment process

Once you have submitted an application, your details will be reviewed by a panel.

If shortlisted, you’ll be invited to an interview/assessment.

The interview/assessment date is: w/c 8 September (may be subject to change)

Equality, diversity and inclusion

London's diversity is its biggest asset, and we strive to ensure our workforce reflects London's diversity at all levels. We welcome applications from everyone regardless of age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith or disability.

We particularly encourage applications from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic candidates and disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and we are happy to consider flexible working arrangements. We would welcome applications from candidates who are seeking part time work as this role is open to job share. 

Please note we are a Disability Confident Employer so for candidates who wish to be considered under the scheme and meet the essential criteria, they will automatically be invited to interview. Please note, should you require any adjustments through the process, we will accommodate as much as possible. Please contact the recruitment team for further information if required.

Benefits

GLA staff are hybrid working up to 3 days a week in our offices and remotely depending on their role. As part of this, you will need to split your time between home working and coming into the office.

In addition to a good salary package, you will be paid every four weeks, providing frequent salary payments. We also offer an attractive range of benefits including 30 days’ annual leave, interest free season ticket loan, interest free bicycle loan and a career average pension scheme.

Additional Information

Please note, all candidates will need to confirm that the information provided in this application form is true and correct. Should a candidate deliberately give false information, including the use of AI software, they understand that this would disqualify them from consideration.

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record (DBS) check but some roles may require additional security screening. 

Find out which DBS check is right for your employee - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

More Support

If you have a disability which makes submitting an online application form difficult, please contact resourcingteam@london.gov.uk.

The GLA is proud to be a Level 2: Disability Confident employer. We are committed to becoming a more inclusive and accessible organisation, and creating a truly inclusive and accessible workplace and culture for our disabled staff. We have named Disability Equality as a key corporate priority within our EDI Strategy. We welcome and encourage applications from disabled applicants. Should you wish to opt into the scheme, please let us know during your application.

Please note all applications for this vacancy must be submitted via our online recruitment system. We do not accept CVs alone for this role. Please upload a personal statement with a maximum of 1500 words to the ‘Additional Documents’ section of the form, ensuring you address the following technical requirements and competencies in your personal statement. Word or PDF format preferred and do not include any photographs or images.
 
The GLA Competency Framework Guidelines further detailing each competency and the different level indicators can be found here: GLA competency framework.

GLA staff are hybrid working up to 3 days a week in our offices and remotely depending on their role. As part of this, you will need to split your time between home working and coming into the office.

London's diversity is its biggest asset, and we strive to ensure our workforce reflects London's diversity at all levels. We welcome applications from everyone regardless of age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith, or disability. 

We particularly encourage applications from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic candidates and disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. We are a disability confident employer who guarantee an interview to any disabled candidate who meets all of the essential criteria.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and we are happy to consider flexible working arrangements. We would welcome applications from candidates who are seeking part time work as this role is open to job share. 

In addition to a good salary package, we offer an attractive range of benefits including 30 days’ annual leave, interest free season ticket loan, interest free bicycle loan and a career average pension scheme.