Job Overview

We are seeking an exceptional candidate to join the Better Bankside team as a Project Manager for the Southwark Climate Collective on an 18-month fixed term contract.

The Project Manager will play a key role in ensuring the successful delivery of the Southwark Climate Collective, a project which will provide expert decarbonisation support to 160 SMEs in the borough. They will work closely with Better Bankside’s Sustainability Manager to plan, develop and deliver the project including the development of a business engagement strategy. They will have a good understanding of the challenges facing SMEs when it comes to engaging with net zero and reducing carbon emissions across business operations. Partners have been procured to deliver technical support to businesses across the areas of waste, energy, freight and supply chain. The Project Manager will work with these procured partners, coordinating the business support, trainings and events. Whilst the postholder will be employed by Better Bankside, they will be working across the borough and it is anticipated will be based across the participating neighbourhoods in order to engage local business communities.

The role provides a fantastic opportunity to work with notable businesses and institutions in Southwark to assist in their transition to a sustainable future.

Southwark Climate Collective overview

The Southwark Climate Collective will support 160 businesses across Southwark to reduce carbon emissions from business operations. Better Bankside is the lead in this partnership project working with Southwark Council, Team London Bridge, Blue Bermondsey and Elephant and Castle Business Forum.

The Southwark Climate Collective provides SMEs with end-to-end support to help them to reduce carbon emissions across four programme streams: waste, energy, freight and supply chains. 40 businesses will take part in each stream with a set target to achieve over the course of a year (i.e. reduce energy consumption by 10%). Businesses taking part will receive a bespoke audit, recommendation report, access to data dashboard to monitor their progress, three trainings, three network events, carbon literacy training and a celebration event.

The Southwark Climate Collective will engage a diverse range of sectors with a target of 25% of participant businesses to be Black, Asian or minority ethnic-led or owned.

This project has been made possible with a grant secured through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Key responsibilities

·        To work closely with the Sustainability Manager at Better Bankside to plan, develop and deliver the Southwark Climate Collective.

·        To manage the procured partners and contractors delivering the project, ensuring the project runs on time and within budget.

·        To create and implement an effective business engagement strategy for recruiting, onboarding businesses to the Southwark Climate Collective, and ensuring ongoing commitment.

·        To contract, organise and deliver trainings and events.

·        To meet targets and obligations set out in the funding agreement and provide information required for reporting to the funding body, the Greater London Authority.

·        Any other reasonable duties deemed to be within the remit of the postholder.

Person specification

Skills and competencies

·        The post would be well suited to a passionate, environmentally conscious person, who leads by example, and who wants to make a real local impact on a high-profile Central London borough, that features nationally renowned businesses and institutions.

·        Someone who has a good knowledge of London’s 2050 net zero target and can demonstrate understanding of the challenges facing SMEs in reducing carbon emissions from business operations.

·        A strong communicator with the ability to effectively communicate complex issues and develop solutions in a collaborative manner.

·        Someone who is able to put equality, diversity and inclusion at the heart of a project.

·        Demonstrable experience in developing and working in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders and businesses.

·        A creative and collaborative person who can help shape ideas, constructively challenge, persuade and inform a wide audience, working collaboratively with a diverse range of businesses, taking our staff team, local businesses, and stakeholders with you.

·        Pragmatic approach to problem-solving.

Required experience

·        Managing multi-stakeholder projects.

·        Project management.

·        Business engagement in service delivery.

·        Experience working in a sustainability / climate action role.

·        Track record of building effective operational relationships with a range of partners from the public and private sector.

About Better Bankside

Our vision - Powered by the people of Bankside, Better Bankside will be an agent of change, leading positive economic, environmental and social action in our neighbourhood that benefits businesses and Banksiders, now and into the future.

Our mission - We will improve everyone’s experience of the neighbourhood by co-creating our programme with Banksiders, responding inventively to urban challenges, and celebrating the differences that define Bankside as London’s Other Side.

Better Bankside was one of the first Business Improvement Districts (BID) in the UK, established in 2004.

We are a partnership of local businesses, working closely with other community stakeholders to co-create a programme of projects and services that benefits the whole Bankside neighbourhood. Our core purpose is to support local businesses and make a positive impact in our community.

As a BID, we are funded by a mandatory levy on businesses within a defined boundary. BIDs are established through a ballot process, and every five years must return to their members to secure a majority vote in favour of their continuation. Our last ballot took place in November 2019, achieving overwhelming support from the business community, with 92% voting for another five years of Better Bankside.

Better Bankside is an organisation where you can make a real impact; and where you can expect to get involved in a wide-ranging programme of work. We are a small team of fifteen in the Bankside office, plus our wardens and street cleaning teams. The way that we work with our members through our governance structure provides an extended network of regular collaborators and contributors.

Working arrangements

Better Bankside operates on a flexitime basis with mandatory core hours of 10am-4pm, Monday to Friday, with additional hours, evening and weekend work expected in accordance with the requirements of the post. Due to the nature of our work it is expected that a minimum of three days per week will be based in the office with up to two days working from home.

How to apply

At Better Bankside, we celebrate diversity and promote equality and inclusion through our work, within our staff team and through our recruitment practices. We are working with Applied, an online platform which removes bias from the selection and recruitment process, with shortlisting undertaken without viewing candidate’s CVs, or viewing their personal information.

Closing date for applications: 12:00 on Monday 3rd July

Incomplete applications will not be considered.