Graduate Project Trainee in Chelmsford

Start your career in project management while making a real difference. At Essex County Council, our projects don’t just deliver change – they improve services and outcomes for over 1.8 million residents. As a Graduate Project Trainee, you’ll play an active role in delivering high-impact programmes across one of the most ambitious transformation agendas in local government. From supporting digital innovation and service redesign to contributing to projects in social care, infrastructure, and resident experience, you’ll gain hands-on experience from the very start.

Through a structured two-year programme, you’ll rotate across the Transformation Team, working alongside experienced project professionals who will support your development. You’ll get involved in real project delivery – helping to plan and coordinate activities, track progress, manage risks and issues, and support governance and reporting. You’ll be contributing, learning, and building confidence every day.

Alongside your practical experience, you’ll work toward a recognised project-management qualification, with access to training, mentoring, and a strong professional community committed to helping you grow.

The Opportunity

As a Graduate Project Trainee, you will play a key role in supporting the delivery of programmes and projects while developing a strong understanding of project management within a local government environment. Working alongside experienced project professionals, you will contribute to delivery by supporting planning and coordination activities, maintaining key documentation, and assisting with governance and reporting. You will help monitor progress, support the management of risks and issues, and ensure that project activities are delivered efficiently and to a high standard.

Accountabilities

• Responsible for maintaining appropriate systems to ensure effective planning and scheduling of projects.
• Assist in maintaining project controls and producing project reports to ensure adequate and regular monitoring of project progress.
• Work collaboratively with a broad and diverse group of internal and external stakeholders including senior management, facilitating project meetings, workshops and reviews.
• Responsible for effectively monitoring specific project spend and providing information required to support business case sign-off to ensure both Project and Programme Managers are kept up to date on progress.
• Drafting project governance documentation (e.g. business cases) for the Project or Programme Manager to approve.
• Take the lead on highlighting potential areas for risk and escalating as appropriate to the Project/Programme Manager, recommending ways to mitigate such risks.
• Lead specific workstreams within projects to ensure delivery of agreed outcomes within time, cost and constraints, including design of workstream and delivery approach.
• Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.

The Experience You Will Bring

• Educated to degree level in any discipline or equivalent qualification.
• Evidence of continuing professional development and expert knowledge in a relevant professional area; membership of professional bodies such as HCPC or CIPD is desirable.
• Working knowledge and understanding of Microsoft Office packages.
• Ability to communicate effectively with people at all levels.
• Ability to work co-operatively with others to successfully achieve tasks and deliver results.
• Willingness to assist in developing solutions to tackle problems and achieve outcomes.
• Curious and inspired to work in an agile environment where you can learn and develop.
• Basic understanding of Project Management to enable effective contributions to proposals and decisions.

Benefits

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.

Equal Opportunities

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We are committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. We also commit to interview all veterans and care leavers who meet the minimum requirements of this role.

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.

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.