Programme and Projects Manager East Cambridgeshire District Council

Local Government Reorganisation is one of the most significant changes facing councils across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. It will reshape how local government is organised, how decisions are made and how public services are delivered for residents, businesses, and communities for years to come.

As Programme and Projects Manager, you will lead and coordinate programme and project activity across assigned LGR workstreams. You will translate complex and evolving objectives into clear plans, making sure scope, milestones, resources, benefits, risks, issues, assumptions, and dependencies are understood and actively managed.

You will play an important part in transition readiness: coordinating activity across services, tracking preparedness, identifying what needs to change and ensuring key actions, decisions and dependencies are visible. The role will also involve producing high-quality reports and decision papers for senior officers, programme boards, governance forums, and elected Members.

This is a role for someone who is comfortable working at pace, can bring structure to ambiguity and is confident supporting delivery in a politically sensitive, multi-council environment. It will suit an experienced programme or project professional who wants to make a real contribution to a major public sector change programme.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the programme and project activity across assigned LGR workstreams, aligned to Council priorities, statutory requirements, transition readiness needs, and wider programme milestones.
• Develop, maintain and quality assure programme and project plans, reports, risk and issue logs, dependency trackers, and assurance documentation in line with PMO standards.
• Coordinate activity across services, workstream leads, project teams and partner councils, making sure dependencies are understood, managed, and escalated where needed.
• Provide clear, evidence-based progress reports, highlight reports, briefings and decision papers for senior officers, programme boards, governance forums, and elected Members.
• Identify, manage, and escalate risks, issues, and delivery challenges, taking proactive action to prevent slippage and maintain delivery control.
• Undertake assurance activity, including project health checks, gateway reviews, lessons learned and compliance with agreed programme frameworks.
• Support benefits realisation by defining intended outcomes, tracking progress, and keeping delivery focused on measurable improvement.
• Build strong working relationships across Council services, the seven councils and partner organisations, using sound judgement and emotional intelligence to support collaboration and manage challenge.
• Provide practical advice and support to managers and workstream leads on programme and project management methods, tools, governance, and reporting standards.

About you

You will be an experienced programme or project professional with a strong track record of delivering change in complex organisational environments. You will be able to bring structure, pace, and assurance to work that is high profile, fast moving and sometimes uncertain.

You will bring:

• Significant experience of programme and/or project management across the full delivery lifecycle.
• A recognised programme or project management qualification, or equivalent demonstrable experience.
• Strong understanding of programme governance, PMO standards, assurance, risk and issue management, benefits realisation, and reporting.
• Experience of working across services, organisations, or partners to manage dependencies and deliver shared outcomes.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to produce clear reports, briefings, decision papers, and presentations for senior audiences.
• The confidence to influence, negotiate and constructively challenge senior stakeholders, workstream leads and partner organisations.
• Good judgement, resilience, and emotional intelligence, particularly when working with ambiguity, competing priorities and sensitive information.
• Experience of local government, public sector change or large-scale transformation would be helpful, but is not essential.

Why join us?

• Play a central role in a landmark public sector transformation programme.
• Help shape how local services are organised and delivered across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
• Work in a visible, challenging and rewarding programme environment, with support from experienced PMO and LGR colleagues.
• Collaborate with committed colleagues across services, councils, and partner organisations.
• Develop your programme management experience on work that has genuine long-term impact for residents and communities.

If you are motivated by meaningful change, enjoy bringing clarity to complexity and want to help the council prepare well for Local Government Reorganisation, we would welcome your application.

Benefits

In return, the council offers a range of benefits including:

• flexible working
• childcare scheme (in approved cases)
• training and development
• occupational health programme
• holiday and sickness scheme entitlements

If you are looking to work for an organisation that prioritises environmental sustainability, the council has made a clear commitment to operate in a responsible and sustainable manner and has recently been awarded the silver accreditation of the Investors in the Environment scheme as well as coming 43rd (out of 164) on the latest national council climate scorecard.

For an informal discussion regarding the post please contact Isabel Edgar, Director (Operations) on 01353 616301.

Closing date for completed applications is Sunday 23 August 2026.

The selection process will be held week commencing Tuesday 1 September 2026.

Please note that only candidates selected for interview will be contacted by the HR Department with the confirmation of an interview. If you have not been contacted by that date, please assume your application has not been successful on this occasion.

The council is an equal opportunities employer and operates a no smoking policy.