Project Manager (Climate Change and Retrofit)

The Royal Borough of Greenwich is seeking a Project Manager for Climate Change and Retrofit on a 2-year fixed term contract. The role involves managing large retrofit projects to enhance energy efficiency and sustainability in council homes, contributing to the Borough's goal of achieving net zero carbon by 2030. The position requires architectural expertise and is part of the Housing Energy and Sustainability team focused on significant housing decarbonisation initiatives.
Project Manager (Climate Change and Retrofit)

2 year Fixed Term Contract

We are looking for a highly motivated and proactive Project Manager with a strong architectural background in housing retrofit to join our Housing Energy and Sustainability team. This role offers a significant opportunity to make valuable changes to existing housing stock to improve the comfort, sustainability and affordability of our residents' homes.

The Royal Borough of Greenwich declared a climate emergency in 2019 and we have set an ambitious target to reach net zero carbon by 2030. We recognise that in order to meet this target it is crucial that we dramatically improve the energy efficiency of our 20,000 council homes, and accelerate the transition away from gas-fuelled heating systems. We are passionate about ensuring that homes in the Borough are comfortable, energy efficient, low-carbon, and safe.

The Team

The Housing Energy and Sustainability team falls within the Strategic Asset Management team in the Directorate of Housing and Safer Communities. This specialised team is responsible for developing and delivering a housing retrofit and decarbonisation strategy for our existing council housing stock. The team acts as a hub of building sustainability expertise which has an influence on Council-wide projects and strategies, but which also delivers significant multi-million pound sustainability-focused housing projects.

The Role

The new Climate Change and Retrofit Project Manager will bring architectural expertise to the team, and will be responsible for management of large building fabric retrofit projects. Greenwich owns about 20,000 council homes, with another ~5,000 leasehold homes. The new Project Manager will be responsible for contributing to our ongoing energy efficiency and decarbonisation strategy, and managing the delivery of retrofit programmes across the Borough, as well as providing input into the scope and specification of typical asset management refurbishment programmes.

Our retrofit programmes aim to improve building fabric energy efficiency in line with the principles of PAS2035, to tackle carbon emissions alongside fuel poverty, building safety and damp and mould. Our housing stock is hugely varied in age and density and our projects need to consider how we sensitively retrofit homes in keeping with the surrounding street scene, both in and out of conservation areas.

This is an exciting time to join the team, as we have many new retrofit and energy efficiency projects underway, including:
• A £25M housing retrofit project to retrofit 665 council homes across the Borough. This project is funded by the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Wave 2.1, and is currently on site. This includes retrofit of both street level cavity and solid-walled properties, and a large tower block.
• The next phase of our communal heating upgrade programme. This covers approximately 400 homes over seven sites, for which outline designs and specifications for large heat pump systems have already been developed ahead of contractor procurement. This programme will include building fabric retrofit work to some sites where required to ensure the new low-carbon heating system is affordable for our residents.
• The delivery of a significant council housing planned maintenance and refurbishment programme, which offers a significant opportunity to scale retrofit and futureproofing measures.
• The close out and commissioning of several large communal water- and air-source heat pump installations in residential blocks.
• Borough-wide condition surveys of communal PV arrays to inform optimisation of electricity generation and usage.
In this exciting new role, you will:
• Manage internal and external project teams throughout each stage of housing retrofit projects. This will include input into scope, specification, consultant and design team briefs and procurement, through to procurement, tender evaluation, delivery and handover.
• Manage multiple internal and external stakeholders throughout these projects. External stakeholders will include council tenants, leaseholders, maintenance contractors, funding bodies, authorities, regulators etc. Internal stakeholders will include Members, planning, legal, finance, homeownership services, tenancy services, new-build, repairs, procurement, resident liaison etc.
• Ensure projects comply with relevant legislation and planning requirements, including the Building Safety Act
• Review design information from consultants
• Monitor on-site installation quality through regular site visits management of clerks of works, etc.
• Evaluate tender documentation, manage contractor and consultant performance, manage contract negotiations and variation requests
• Provide building fabric and retrofit design/specification advice to relevant internal teams
• Help to shape our typical works programmes to ensure they are integrated with our retrofit and energy efficiency targets and programmes
• Contribute to our internal strategy for retrofit and energy efficiency, continuing to update our targets and specifications to reflect best practice
• Liaise with the Data Manager to improve the energy efficiency and sustainability stock data for our housing assets
• Support other teams across the Council with relevant technical knowledge, including the new-build housing team and corporate carbon reporting team
• Mentor and upskill more junior members of the team
• Build relationships with teams across the council and housing sector
• Assist with the preparation of bids for funding for energy efficiency/sustainability projects
• Work alongside our Resident Engagement team to plan and implement communication, engagement and monitoring/evaluation strategies on energy efficiency projects
What you'll need:
• Strong technical understanding of best practice housing retrofit, ideally including PAS2035 and PAS2030, with both design and on-site experience
• A strong interest in delivering sustainable projects for the benefit of our council housing tenants and the wider community
• A relevant background in architecture, and registration with the Architects Registration Board or similar professional experience
• Understanding of design and construction processes in the built environment
• Project management skills, with ability to manage multiple work-streams, contractors, consultants, clients and budgets
• Understanding of contracting and procurement strategies and processes
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Ability to build effective, positive relationships with stakeholders (internal and external), including Members, and be an active member of different teams.
Royal Greenwich isa great place to live and work. Benefiting from excellent transport links ranging from Crossrail to the Elizabeth line to the Uber boat, we're one of the easiest boroughs to get to and navigate your way around.

Employee benefits include:
• A range of flexible working arrangements
• Excellent pension scheme
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Learning and development opportunities to maximise your potential, including excellent apprenticeship opportunities at all levels
• Vibrant staff support networks
• GreenwichCard which entitles you to discounts at local businesses
• Payroll giving scheme
• Generous leave entitlement, starting at 29 days per year (plus bank holidays)
• Employee Assistance Scheme including external counselling service

If you're ready to make a significant impact, apply today. Join us in our mission to improve residents' lives and opportunities.

For more information, please see attached job documents. When completing your application form, please detail in the supporting statement section how you meet the requirements set out in the Person Specification document.

For an informal discussion about this opportunity, please contactDaniel Gallagher or Louise Young; Daniel.gallagher@royalgreenwich.gov.uk or Louise.Young1@royalgreenwich.gov.uk .

If you require any assistance in viewing or accessing this opportunity, please contact recruitment@royalgreenwich.gov.uk or call 020-8921-8977

Diversity Statement: Royal Borough of Greenwich values the diversity of its community and aims to have a workforce that reflects this. We therefore encourage applications from all sections of the community.

Advert Close: All vacancies close at midnight unless otherwise stated.

How Applications are Scored: Each application is scored according to how well the supporting statement addresses each point on the Person Specification for the role. Candidates will be short-listed for interview on the extent to which they meet the specific points within the Person Specification. The Person Specification is supplied with the job advert. When completing your application, please use the supporting statement section to tell us how you meet each of the points on the Person Specification. We need to have this information in order to consider your application.

Our Staff Values: Our Staff Values are important to us. Candidates will be continuously assessed against our staff values throughout the recruitment process. Where candidates demonstrate views and behaviours that do not meet the standards of our staff values, we reserve the right to reject their application/ registration.