Project Manager – COVID Inquiry

local.gov.uk; City of Westminster; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 55,000

Job description

Location: Homebased or Westminster, London

*** 12-month secondment, full time, Fixed Term contract ***

About us

The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local authorities. We work on behalf of our member councils to support, promote and improve local government.

We are a politically led, cross-party organisation that works on behalf of councils to ensure local government has a strong, credible voice with national government. We influence and set the political agenda on the issues that matter to councils to help them deliver local solutions to national problems.

We also provide councils with the tools and resources to respond to challenges present and emerging, and support improvement across the sector.

We value diversity and encourage applications from all sections of the community to this high-profile role.

About the role

The Local Government Association (LGA) is seeking a Project Manager – COVID Inquiry on a 12 month fixed term basis to lead on the coordination, planning, governance and stakeholder management of our crucial COVID Inquiry activity. This will be a rewarding, fast paced environment, working with colleagues across the LGA and with external stakeholders to ensure there is complete control and visibility of this high profile project.

This role offers an exciting opportunity to work as part of the team leading the LGA’s input to the Covid-19 UK Inquiry. The LGA will be giving evidence on behalf of our member authorities about their experiences during Covid in a number of the modules established by the Inquiry taking place during 2025 and into 2026, such as the module currently underway on the provision and procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE). As part of the team you will play an important role in managing its work programme, ensuring relevant deadlines are met, and engaging with colleagues across the LGA to provide the quality input needed to maximise the impact of the LGA’s work.

Working closely with stakeholders at all levels, you’ll:

• Scope, plan and implement strategic projects, using accredited project management principles. Lead and coordinate the work of project teams as required.
• Providing support to the project sponsor and programme manager (where relevant) ensuring ongoing alignment of activity and appropriate escalation.
• Preparing, gaining approval of, refining and updating gateway documentation/ investment cases for the project, as per the LGA project lifecycle.
• Maintaining best practice project documentation to enable effective management and decision-making including scope, schedule, budget, benefits, risks, etc.
• Identifying, defining, evaluating, planning, tracking and realising the business benefits of the project.
• Preparing and maintaining schedules of project activities, taking account of dependencies and resource requirements.

About you

We’re looking for an experienced project professional who can manage complex projects supporting a diverse group of senior stakeholders.

With strong engagement and problem-solving skills, as well as excellent relationship development abilities, you will work collaboratively with cross-functional teams. You will need experience of working in a political environment, with a wide range of different internal and external stakeholders.

Our ideal candidate is somebody who has:

• Thorough understanding of the political structures and environment in which local and central government and the LGA operates.
• Experience of managing a complex workload, preparing plans and meeting deadlines and milestones.
• Demonstrable experience of initiating and leading projects and project teams to deliver within a large, complex, organisation.
• Track record of delivering to agreed time, cost and quality parameters and of managing delivery through uncertainty.
• Experience of delivering projects to agreed time, cost and quality parameters in a comparable organisation.

This is a fantastic opportunity to use your expertise to support transformation across a dynamic and influential organisation.

You must have the right to work in the UK, the LGA are unfortunately unable to offer sponsorship visas. Evidence for the right to work in the UK will be requested at the interview stage.

To apply

If you would like to be considered for the role, please complete the online application form and include a supporting statement detailing how you meet the criteria for the role before the closing date.

We are specifically assessing candidates against the following criteria:

• Experience of robust project planning and resource management, risk, issue and dependency management, and benefits management.
• Proven experience in stakeholder management and communications.
• Preferable experience of managing projects involving procurement, technology implementation, people change, service development and process improvement.
• Experience of matrix managing project teams.

Closing Date: Friday 11 April 2025

Interview Date:W/C 28 April 2025

We use anonymous recruitment, which is the practice of hiding candidates’ identities. This process involves removing any identifying information from candidates’ CVs which includes names.

At the LGA we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. Our recruitment decisions are based on fair, open competition, with appointment on merit. The LGA are proud to be awarded a “Disability Confident Leader”. If you require a reasonable adjustment, which is a change to the format or conditions of the recruitment process to accommodate any disability-related needs you may have. Please contact us via [e-mail]

Our benefits

• LGA annual leave entitlement is 29 days, rising to 31 days after three years’ service and to 33 days after five years’ service, plus all UK public holidays (pro rata for fixed term and part time contracts).
• Flexible & agile working – office-based staff are required to work in the LGA’s London office two days per week as a minimum, subject to business need and this may vary significantly between different roles and from week to week.
• Future development – face-to-face and virtual courses are scheduled in line with developmental goals.
• The LGA offers 24/7 access to a free, confidential employee assistance programme managed by Health Assured. This service is also available for Dependants.
• Family friendly policies.

Our values & behaviours

Our Values and Behaviours are there to give us an understanding of who we are as an organisation and who we want to be. They are a framework to help us understand:

• how we work with each other.
• how we work with our members and stakeholders.
• our expectations for ourselves and each other.

Our values are:

Inclusive- We ensure that our work is inclusive of all voices.

Ambitious- We are ambitious for councils and their communities and are committed to striving for excellence in all that we do to support our colleagues, our membership and the sector to deliver the best possible outcomes.

Collaborative- We bring together the expertise and skills needed, working as one team.