Programme Manager - Thriving Communities

About the Role:

As Programme Manager, you will oversee the successful delivery of a multi-project climate action programme that supports voluntary, community and grassroots organisations to develop and deliver local solutions to climate challenges. You will act as the key link between Wirral Council, funded partners, the Programme Board and funders, ensuring projects achieve their objectives, remain compliant with funding requirements, and demonstrate clear impact

This role offers the opportunity to work at the heart of community-led change, supporting initiatives focused on energy efficiency, sustainable transport, food systems, biodiversity and wider environmental sustainability.

About the Candidate:

We are looking for someone who can demonstrate:

• Experience managing community, partnership or sustainability-focused programmes.
• Strong project management and organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Experience of monitoring, evaluating and reporting on funded projects.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and relationship-building skills.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including report writing and presentations.
• Knowledge of climate change, sustainability, environmental justice or community development.
• A collaborative approach and a passion for helping communities thrive

Essential Requirements

• Degree-level qualification or equivalent experience in a relevant discipline.
• Ability to achieve Carbon Literacy accreditation within three months of appointment.
• Ability to travel across the borough and work flexibly across partner locations.

For an informal conversation about the post please contact Victoria Chadderton, via email - victoriachadderton@wirral.gov.uk

Interviews to take place on 8th September 2026.

We welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates. For this vacancy, candidates must have an existing right to work in the UK before commencing employment. Skilled Worker visa sponsorship is not available for this post. Eligibility to work in the UK will be verified in the final stages of the selection process.

If you’re already a Wirral Council employee, and as part of our Talent Strategy, we’re committed to strengthening opportunities for our people to learn, grow, progress, and thrive. For many of you, this may be preparing and applying for your next role with us, and we're passionate about ensuring you feel supported throughout your internal recruitment experience. Please get in touch if you want to know more about some of the ways in which we could support you by emailing recruitment@wirral.gov.uk

Working at Wirral

You’ll also want to know what it’s like to work here so, as a start:

Our values are more than just pieces of paper on our walls! We’ve all played a role in developing these, so they reflect the immense pride we have in what we do, what matters to us, what inspires us and inform how we think, approach things and behave.

We believe in ensuring staff are well looked after, staff wellbeing is a priority for us. We’re serious about recognising and rewarding people for the great things they do. You’ll benefit from our track record of developing, growing and investing in our people.

We have a range of staff benefits including staff discounts, an excellent pension scheme which includes a generous employer contribution rate, immediate life cover and ill-health protection. We have a strong flexible working approach, hybrid working, family-friendly employment initiatives and an annual leave package starting with 28 days leave plus public holidays.

We have an inclusive, engaged culture, everyone has a voice, everyone is valued for their contribution and understands the role they play in delivering our strategic priorities.

Each voice is heard, each contribution valued. We embrace diversity in our workforce and recognise it is critical to our success. We support an inclusive culture that champions differences and nurtures a sense of belonging. We encourage people from diverse backgrounds, who share our values and our commitment to inclusion to apply for roles with us.

We want you to be your best at work, we create the conditions to help you thrive and we mirror this in our recruitment process. If you’d like us to do anything differently during the recruitment process to make it barrier-free and as accessible as possible please contact recruitment@wirral.gov.uk

Please note that in accordance with the Council’s policy, employees who are in a formal redeployment situation will be considered in the first instance for all vacancies.

It is Council policy not to re-appoint any employee who has left under the terms of the Council's Early Voluntary Retirement (EVR) scheme or who have left with a voluntary severance (VS) package, unless in exceptional circumstances.

Applications will be accepted until midnight on the closing date.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy earlier than the specified date should we receive sufficient applications.

Applications can only be accepted through the Jobs page following registration. Forms received via the post will not be processed.

All applicants invited to interview must evidence their right to work in the UK. Details of required documents can be found by clicking the link at the bottom of the Jobs page.

The job description and other supporting documents will not be accessible once the vacancy closing date has passed so if a copy is required you should download it now.

We do not accept applications or CV’s from recruitment agencies, unless otherwise stated. Therefore, any candidates submitted via a recruitment agency will not be considered for this role.