About us

We are Britain’s national equality regulator and a United Nations accredited ‘A status’ national human rights institution.

We uphold people’s rights without fear or favour. We use the full force of our legal powers to defend people from unfair or unequal treatment and to challenge breaches of the law. We advise on developing laws and provide guidance, training and support to enable compliance.

We bring people together to create change. We work with employers, governments and a wide range of organisations, to promote understanding of equality and human rights and we support them to make improvements in practice.

Our new strategy for 2022-25 gives us a strong platform to show that we will use our powers to protect and promote equality and human rights, and that we have identified the main challenges in society where we can make a difference in our role as a regulator.

Overview of the role and responsibilities

We are looking for an exceptional Project Manager to lead projects across the Commission. You will be based in the Finance, Planning and Governance Directorate as part of the Business Improvement function. You will work with the team and wider organisation and be responsible for managing all aspects of project delivery on a diverse range of projects. You will need to work flexibly and collaboratively with colleagues across the Commission, in England, Scotland and Wales to ensure successful project delivery against challenging timeframes.

Our Senior Associates have many opportunities for autonomy and responsibility, contributing to the success of our projects and/or specialist areas of work. You will be a self-starter who requires minimal supervision and oversight from senior colleagues and be keen to continue to hone your judgement and professional/technical skills, taking pride in your work and supporting/developing others.

You will:

• Initiate and manage projects in accordance with the Commission’s agreed project management methodology.

• Create and maintain project documentation with support from other relevant functions, including: project briefs; delivery plans; risk registers and issue logs; terms of reference for working groups; roles and responsibilities documents for the project team; sign-off and approvals processes.

• Monitor performance and take prompt action to address or raise issues, risks or delays.

• Convene and chair project team meetings and cross-commission working groups where relevant, producing minutes and follow-up action points.

• Liaise regularly with colleagues in other functional teams to plan and co-ordinate cross-commission working.

• Report to relevant steering groups and prepare reports for the Leadership Team and the Board.

• Work with the Communications team to plan and ensure delivery of all communications and stakeholder engagement activity to maximize the impact of our projects.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Alongside strong project management skills, this role requires excellent communication skills, resilience, and the ability to negotiate and influence. You will need to build strong relationships with colleagues across the Commission, including senior leaders, other project managers, suppliers and have an awareness of the external political landscape.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience required include

• Demonstrable experience of running high risk projects to challenging timescales.

• Experience of working with cross-functional teams.

• Experience of relationship building with suppliers and other external stakeholders.

• Ability to challenge robustly and ensure delivery of quality projects to budget and timescale.

• Strategic thinking and a willingness to propose solutions to potential problems.

• Awareness of equality and human rights issues and the policy context/agenda, particularly in politically sensitive areas.

Benefits

In addition to a competitive salary, we offer a range of benefits including flexible working patterns, 30 days annual leave plus 8 bank holidays (full time FTE), access to the Civil Service Pension Scheme and partnership pension schemes, and enhanced parental leave benefits. More information can be found in the candidate pack.

How to apply

If this sounds like the role for you, please review the attached Candidate Pack or more information and submit your application today!

If you have any questions, please contact Laura Marsh, laura.marsh@equalityhumanrights.com

Disability Confident Leader

As a Disability Confident Leader, the Equality and Human Rights Commission offers an interview for people with disabilities (as defined by the Equality Act 2010 and The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004) and who meet the minimum criteria for this appointment.

Where high numbers of applications are received, the candidates that best meet the minimum criteria for the role may only be invited to interview. If you wish to apply for consideration under this scheme, please complete the appropriate section on the online application form. This will enable us to make the appropriate arrangements, if necessary.

If you require an alternative accessible version of the application form or wish to discuss your application or reasonable adjustment – please contact us by email at Peoplehelpdesk@equalityhumanrights.com or by telephone on 0161 829 8100

Diversity in our workforce

At the Commission, we are proud of our respectful workplace that values the contribution of all our staff, whatever their background.  We do not tolerate discrimination or harassment. Our recruitment decisions are based on fair, open competition, with appointment on merit. We welcome applications from everyone to ensure we achieve a balanced representation in our workforce in all grades.