The Economy and Climate Change team plays a key role in supporting sustainable and inclusive economic growth across Cambridgeshire and one important aspect of this is working with communities to reduce energy consumption and develop a variety of energy projects, in line with their vision and aspirations. We are looking to appoint a Community Energy Manager to help strategically shape our existing work with schools and the wider community to help deliver net zero and reduce fuel poverty and inequalities. You will work with a wide range of community groups and other stakeholders to bring forward a range of energy projects to support low carbon lifestyles for our communities. This is a great opportunity to join a supportive and friendly team working across a number of the Council's functions. If you are someone with strong financial and technical skills combined with an ability to communicate with a variety of audiences and have a desire to make a difference across Cambridgeshire, this could be a great role for you. Our office base is Sackville House, Cambourne, with flexibility to work in alternative Council office locations, as well as homeworking. The post is fixed term for 2 years with the possibility of being extended / made permanent. For further information or an informal discussion about the role, please contact Eithne George, Head of Economy and Climate Change at eithne.georgecambridgeshire.gov.uk Interviews will be held in person on Monday 31 March at Sunley House, Papworth Everard. Our benefits We value our colleagues in Cambridgeshire County Council and have developed a number of benefits in addition to the basics like annual leave, sick pay, pension and mileage… A comprehensive wellbeing package to cover all aspects of wellbeing, both in and out of work, which can also be accessed by your family Buy up to 4 weeks additional annual leave (pro-rata) through our salary sacrifice scheme Take your bank holidays flexibly to better suit your personal circumstances Make Additional Voluntary Contributions (Shared AVCs) to your pension with tax and National Insurance savings Access to development opportunities, apprenticeships and qualified coaches to support your personal and professional growth Paid volunteering hours each year so you can make a positive impact on our community during your normal working day Access to Peer Support Groups through our IDEAL staff equality, diversity and inclusion network Opportunities to nominate and receive Employee Recognition Awards An Our Cambs Rewards account, giving you access to in-store and online discounts as well as our Car Lease and Cycle to Work schemes Take a look at our Employment Benefits Brochure attached to this advert to find out more. What will you be doing? As Community Energy Manager, you will help strategically shape how the Council supports communities to tackle the climate crisis, fuel poverty and inequalities through its community energy programme. You will need to stay on top of opportunities that arise through government policy and grant initiatives and other factors that influence the type of projects that maximise impact and are financially viable for communities to deliver. You will oversee a small team which has a role to play in the existing portfolio of schools’ decarbonisation projects over the long term and will work with colleagues around the Council on how to deliver net zero across schools in Cambridgeshire. You will assist with grant applications and source funding for new programmes of work to be undertaken, when these are available. Your role will involve managing the governance of this programme, including drafting and presenting papers for committee, providing briefing notes and presenting in various internal and external meetings. You will oversee a portfolio of over 60 schools in Cambridgeshire that already have low carbon technologies installed as part of our existing programme. You will help to ensure that these continue to function well for the schools and deliver the benefits they were set up to achieve, both financially and in carbon terms. Working with communities and schools, you will set up and manage a fund to support community energy projects and support groups to source match funding where needed. You will be able to support colleagues from across the organisation to secure grant funding and other finance, where this is available. You will have an excellent grasp of project viability and be able to work constructively and collaboratively with groups to make their projects a success. You will also work with a range of predominantly public sector partners to identify opportunities to work collaboratively and achieve more for the community energy sector. You will manage a small team and support them to deliver their objectives. With support from Communications Team colleagues, you will develop a communications strategy and action plan for this area of work, to increase the profile of the programme and encourage more communities to take action, where this is possible. You will take a proactive approach to meeting with community groups, parish and town councils, other public, private and third sector organisations, to help build a flourishing community energy sector in Cambridgeshire, very much guided by the communities themselves. About you You will have a strong understanding of the technical and financial aspects of renewable energy and other energy saving projects. You will be able to constructively work with groups and stakeholders on projects of a variety of sizes and types to understand viability challenges and manage their resources efficiently, to deliver successful projects. By guiding your team in their work with communities, you will add real benefit to the community energy sector. You will play a supportive role and stay in keeping with the role of a local authority. Your experience of trouble shooting, where issues occur, and finding ways to overcome hurdles will unlock activity at scale. You will have an excellent understanding of governance and anticipate where challenges may arise, and the input of decision makers is required. You will be able to manage budgets competently and stay on top of a challenging workload, balancing priorities and escalating issues where needed. You will enjoy communication at a relatively strategic level, with partners, to help unlock opportunities for communities. For a full list of the requirements of the role, please check out the Job Description & Person Specification. About us Cambridgeshire is a great place to work and live with a diverse population, an urban centre in Cambridge, historic Isle of Ely, Huntingdon and St Ives as well as more rural landscapes. Our four values are central to our culture, driving everything we do. We are proud to serve the diverse communities of Cambridgeshire and want our workforce to be reflective of this diversity, which we firmly believe benefits our colleagues, the organisation and our communities. If you don’t meet every single requirement in the job role but think this could be you, please don’t be put off. We are committed to building a workplace that is compassionate and inclusive as well as diverse, so if you think you could be a good candidate for this role please consider applying and speak to the recruiting manager if you have any questions. Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, along with our employee network 'IDEAL' and self-organised peer support groups help us to foster an inclusive, supportive and safe working environment where people feel valued, respected, and empowered. We collect relevant diversity data for monitoring as part of the recruitment process to understand the diversity of our applicants and monitor any trends throughout the recruitment processes so that we can take meaningful action. We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We fully support providing reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process, as well as when you join us, and we encourage candidates to contact the Hiring Manager, whose details can be found in the advert, to discuss any adjustment needs. Some examples of adjustments could include additional time to complete an assessment or printing a document on pastel coloured paper with larger font size and line spacing. We would value talking about what might be possible to enable you to join us and thrive, so if there is something that would help you to do your best during your journey with us, please get in touch. Visit our jobs and careers section to find out more about our wide range of learning and development opportunities; apprenticeships; our wellbeing package; staff benefits; our commitment to equality, diversity and Inclusion. https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/council/jobs-and-careers