Principal Improvements Officer

About The Job

West Sussex County Council is on the lookout for a passionate and dynamic Principal Active Travel Improvements Officer who isn’t just seeking a job, but a mission!

Salary: £48,226 to £51,356 per annum.

Working pattern: 37 hours per week, with flexible working agreements.

Contract: Permanent.

Location: County Hall, Chichester. You will also have the opportunity to partially work from home, depending on the service needs.

Annual leave: 30 days holiday + Bank holidays = 38 days.

In this role, you'll champion active travel solutions that enhance transportation while promoting community well-being and environmental sustainability. Your expertise will fuel innovative projects that encourage active travel and reduce carbon footprints.

As a strategic client, you will spearhead the Local Transport Improvement Programme (LTIP) to enhance Active Travel infrastructure. You will offer technical and strategic guidance to internal and external partners to foster cultural change, lead key stakeholder groups, manage a Project Support Officer, and oversee external consultants.

You will assist the Group Manager in fulfilling a primary client role that will:

• Undertake evidence‑led scheme identification and develop a pipeline of infrastructure schemes.
• Lead to the development of feasibility studies.
• Lead the development of preliminary designs for stakeholder and public consultations.
• Undertake monitoring and evaluation (including analysis and interpretation)
• Work with internal and external agencies to identify and secure funding to support a cultural shift towards active travel.

You will prepare and lead revenue and capital business cases and funding bid submissions to the Government and other external groups. You will be responsible for coordinating designs for consultation, commissioning and managing consultants, and coordinating, monitoring, and evaluating scheme delivery together with the associated reporting.

You will work closely with a range of stakeholders and partners, to identify and develop changes that will improve Active Travel across the county and feed future annual capital delivery programmes. This work will focus heavily on the journey to and from school.

You’ll help County Councillors, planners, developers, school leaders, and community partners identify and develop the LTIP for future capital delivery plans. Additionally, you will provide detailed advice to various stakeholders, respond to queries, and build effective relationships while collaborating with internal and external partners to leverage available s106 funds for local development projects.

• Communication skills with the ability to influence the actions of others and communicate information that may be complex and contentious. Including the ability to negotiate and persuade.
• Skilled in research, analysing, and interpreting information to make informed judgments and create detailed reports, business cases, and bids.
• Capacity to foresee issues, devise effective solutions, and make informed decisions that significantly impact the service.
• Effective people management skills including performance management skills and the ability to provide direction and support to individuals and teams.
• Relevant advanced theoretical and procedural knowledge of local transport, plus a detailed knowledge of the general operation of the service gained from practical application.
• Knowledge of active travel (e.g. LTN 1/20 and ‘Gear Change’), working with school communities to develop capital and behavioural change projects to nurture walking, wheeling and cycling, air quality, planning, climate change, safety and health issues.
• Experience of working in partnership with stakeholders.
• Experience of managing a dedicated budget, with effective and appropriate deployment of resources.
• The ability to present and interpret technical drawings.

• An excellent local government pension scheme.
• Generous holiday entitlement of 30 days (plus opportunity to buy additional leave).
• An arrangement of flexible working options, depending on your job role.
• Maternity, paternity, dependency and adoption leave.
• Volunteering opportunities.
• Training and development…