Do you enjoy leading complex programmes that make a real difference to residents, services and places?
Can you bring structure, pace and clarity to significant organisational change?
Are you keen at bringing clarity to ambiguity, attention to detail and working collaboratively across services, partners and senior stakeholders?
If so, you could thrive in our Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) programme.
As we prepare for one of the most significant changes to local government in a generation, this is a unique opportunity to join our programme leadership team and help shape the future delivery of local public services.
You will support design, planning and delivery of the Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) programme, providing visible leadership, coordinating corporate workstreams, managing dependencies and ensuring readiness for key implementation milestones. You will work with colleagues across councils, services, professional disciplines and partner organisations to develop practical, evidence-based proposals that support safe and legal transition, service continuity and future transformation.
You will have a key role in strengthening programme governance, maintaining and designing clear plans and reporting arrangements, identifying and escalating risks and issues. You will ensure that workstreams are supported to deliver at the required pace and standard.
Contract type: This role is offered on a fixed-term contract or internal secondment basis until July 2028.
Interview date: TBC
Please contact Michael Appleford, Programme Director Local Government Reorganisation and Civic Services at [email protected] if you would like an informal discussion about the role.
About the role
At Brighton & Hove City Council, we are delivering an ambitious LGR proposal alongside our transformation programmes. We are looking for a dedicated, highly resilient and collaborative programme leader to help us manage a very complex and high-profile portfolio of work during a period of significant change.
Working closely with the Programme Director, senior officers, Members, service leads, professional leads and partner authorities you will bring effective organisational, programme management and problem-solving skills. You will be confident working in a complex political and partnership environment, able to provide constructive challenge - and capable of turning uncertainty into clear plans, actions and deliverables.
As Lead LGR Programme Manager you will:
- lead and support programme and project activity including discovery, due diligence, options appraisal, business case development, operating model testing, transition planning and readiness activity for vesting day and subsequent phases.
- ensure that day one requirements are clearly understood and delivered - while identifying opportunities for longer-term transformation.
- have strong stakeholder management, sound judgement and the ability to prepare and present high-quality reports, briefings, options papers and progress updates for programme boards, senior officers, Members, committees and other governance forums.
- be expected to work collaboratively across organisational boundaries, build effective and inclusive relationships, support shared ownership and maintain clear lines of accountability.
- Deputise for the Programme Director Local Government Reorganisation and Civic Services at meetings, workshops and governance forums.
In return, we offer the opportunity to lead high-profile LGR workstreams, influence the future design and delivery of local public services, and benefit from flexible working arrangements where operationally appropriate.
Encouraging a diverse workforce
Our city is known and loved for its diversity. Not only is the mixture of people, culture and skills vital to the economic and social development of the city, it's what makes Brighton & Hove such a great place to live, work and visit. We are committed to developing and retaining a workforce that is representative of the diverse communities we serve so we welcome applications from individuals from all backgrounds. In order to achieve our aims of proportionate representation, we particularly encourage applicants from a BME or White Other background as well as those who identify as disabled or trans.
Find out more about our commitment to being a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone can achieve their potential by reading about our fair and inclusive actions, our anti-racism strategy and the work we are doing to encourage a diverse workforce (brighton-hove.gov.uk).
Why work for us?
As a council, we want to:
- be connected
- be confident
- be innovative and creative
- be diverse and inclusive
- be healthy and psychologically safe
For more information about our values and the benefits of working at the council, visit Why work for us which gives details of our wellbeing support, our benefits including leave and pensions as well as details of our training and development.
How to apply
Please read our Apply for a job at the council pages carefully. They give you all the guidance you need to complete your application as well as information on what will happen after you’ve submitted your application and at interview.
As part of your application, you will need to provide your education and career history and answer some application/shortlisting questions. Your answers to the application/shortlisting questions are the most important part of your application as they will be used in the shortlisting process to assess whether you meet the essential requirements for the role that are set out in the person specification and to decide whether you should be offered an interview. Before you start your application, please read our Shortlisting questions guidance (brighton-hove.gov.uk) as this gives important advice which will increase your chance of success in the shortlisting process.
AI advice for candidates
We are interested in hearing about your experience and skills in your own words. While we value people who know how to use AI, we ask that you minimise using it in your application.
We are keen to hear how your experience and skills align to our values and the skills and experience needed to perform well in our roles with clear real examples from you. To support you in this, we have guidance on using the STAR model which can help you ensure you are telling us your whole story. We also provide clarity on the skills we are looking for in our adverts and in the job description/person specification attached to each job advert.
All the applications we receive are read by at least two hiring managers and we do not use AI in this process. Our experience of reading applications is that those that have heavily used AI contain generic paragraphs that are strikingly similar to other applicants’ responses. This makes it extremely difficult to differentiate between applications, and doesn't give us enough evidence of your individual skills. There is a risk that we will therefore not be able to shortlist you. Instead, we recommend you ensure your application stands out by presenting clear examples of your actual skills and experiences in your own words.
Additional information
Your starting salary will be pro rata if the above position is less than 37 hours or term-time only.
We are a workplace that supports flexibility and employee wellbeing in the way we work whilst providing the best service for our customers. Team and service working arrangements are designed to support both employee work life balance and team collaboration. These would be part of your individual working arrangements alongside any personal preference agreed with your manager in advance of joining. Your contractual location will be the designated council office for your team and travel to and from your contractual location would be at your own expense.
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