“Any chief executive wanting to connect their team with the big, new and exciting trends in local government and public services should make engaging with New Local their priority."
Robin Tuddenham, Chief Executive, Calderdale Council
"May I take this opportunity to say thank you for another fantastic year of New Local membership. Not quite the year we all planned but you have topped up my resilience and kept me ambitious and optimistic through many challenging months.”
Amanda Askham, Head of Transformation, Cambridgeshire County Council
Nick Kimber, Camden Council "Community Power has the potential to revolutionise how local government works and improve citizens’ lives. That’s why we’re excited to join New Local. Our membership will be an incredibly valuable catalyst for the work we need to do."
Nick Kimber, Director of Corporate Strategy and Policy Design, Camden Council
The cause
We are unique in being a research organisation, a practical consultancy and home to a thriving network of 50+ councils and other organisations.
At the heart of our work is ‘community power’ – the belief that people should be given the means to transform the places they live and the services they use. We believe this is key to creating stronger public services, and to creating a better society for all.
New Local is an independent think tank and network with a mission to transform public services and unlock community power.
Working with us
New Local was founded in 1996 as New Local Government Network. Today, we’re a close team of around 15.
We are passionate about our team’s happiness and wellbeing, and want New Local to be the best place to work possible.
Working long and late hours is actively discouraged and all staff at New Local are committed to creating a pleasant, friendly and supportive environment in which to work.
In addition to the advertised salary, we offer:
- A minimum of 27 days’ holiday a year and ten days holiday over Christmas/New Year
- Highly flexible working and work location arrangements
- Regular training opportunities
- A number of other benefits listed in the job description.
Diversity: New Local is committed to being an equal opportunities employer. We don’t just ‘value diversity’, we think it is central to what makes for a high impact, successful organisation. We positively encourage everyone to apply. In order to monitor equal opportunities, we ask that job applicants complete an Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form. The collecting of this data is part of our diversity strategy, to understand how we can improve equal opportunities for external applicants to New Local. All information gathered for equal opportunities monitoring is anonymous and then destroyed after 6 months, after which only aggregate data will be held. Information collected for monitoring purposes will be treated as confidential and will not be used for any other purpose.
Vacancies
Principle Practice Lead
Job details
Reporting to: Head of Practice and Strategy
Status: Full time, 1-year fixed term contract
Salary: £50,000 – £65,000
Grade: Principal / Head level
Location: New Local operates a ‘work anywhere’ policy but will provide office workspace in the UK for those who require it. Applicants must have the right to work in the UK. Some UK travel is required for this role – see below.
The role
Over the last year, we’ve seen our community power message really begin to take hold. At the same time, we’re developing as an organisation. We’re looking to further increase our impact by expanding our work with partners who are looking to turn the principle of community power into reality. We are looking for an experienced Principal Practice Lead to join our brilliant team who can play a key role in delivering practice work with partners throughout the UK, as well as contributing to our future development and impact.
Our current portfolio sees us work across the UK and therefore requires regular travel as a core responsibility. We expect the need to travel approx. 2-3 times per month to locations across the UK, which may involve the possibility of overnight stays and weekend work.
Your job will include:
Project management: Manage a portfolio of practice / consultancy projects, ensuring effective project management so that practice work is delivered within budget and to agreed timelines.
Delivery: Lead the delivery of projects within our Practice portfolio, in particular designing and delivering deliberative workshops and producing compelling outputs which drive impact. You will also work closely with the network and communications teams, using your practice expertise to enhance the effectiveness and impact of New Local’s work on community power.
Partnership working: Build and maintain excellent relationships with partners for our practice work, placing an emphasis on collaborative working and co-designing solutions.
Business development: grow revenue generation through establishing and following up leads, writing proposals and devising project budgets.
And more…As part of a small, friendly and informal organisation you’ll have the opportunity to participate in other activities and support the wider development and delivery of New Local’s vision and strategy.
The candidate
We are seeking an experienced public sector practice professional / consultant to lead, deliver and support projects within our Practice and Research team. This role is for you if you’re an impact-driven individual who thrives in multi-faceted environments and projects. You will have the ability to design and deliver, end-to-end, practice focused interventions for our partners as well as confidently deploy your research skills to support the development of more traditional thought leadership work and discrete project tasks that seek to demonstrate the impact community power can have on organisations and society.
We welcome applications from any background, and areas of particular interest include (but aren’t limited to): think-tanks, consultancies, broad public sector (local and national); and other council services.
We would look for our candidate to be:
- A warm connector, someone who is able to build strong, supportive relationships with individuals and teams inside and outside the organisation.
- An excellent communicator, who can write and speak clearly about the organisation, the work they are delivering, and the project tasks they are undertaking.
- A keen planner, whose project management skills and attention-to-detail are able to keep projects timely and impactful.
- Action-oriented, someone who is able to draw out the learning and implications of project findings and use this to shape practical recommendations for change.
- Entrepreneurial, someone who likes new opportunities and is comfortable supporting business development.
- Someone who is able to prioritise, who is comfortable working across a variety of projects and to different deadlines.
- Driven by achieving positive change, both through our practice work and New Local’s broader political and societal goals.
- A collaborative and supportive colleague, able to work in a highly creative environment that encourages excellence from all members of the team.
Read the full job description and person specification here.
How to apply
The deadline for applications is Monday 20 January 2025 at 9am. For full details on how to apply, please read the job advert.
More information
To find out more about our current team, go here.