Fixed term/secondment opportunity until 31 March 2020
OPE is an established national programme delivered in partnership by the Office of Government Property (OGP) within the Cabinet Office and the Local Government Association (LGA). It provides practical and technical support and funding to councils to deliver ambitious property-focused programmes in collaboration with central government and other public sector partners.
Since our first pilot phase in 2013 we’ve expanded to cover over 90% of all English councils working in 76 partnerships whether in City Deal, Combined Authority, or some other arrangement for cross Whitehall/local government land & property programmes:
- We’ve distributed over £50m in revenue grants to councils to deliver over 450 projects that will see the creation of 25,000 homes and 44,000 jobs by 2020, as well as £615 million in capital receipts and £158 million in running cost savings;
- In 2017 we administered MHCLG’s Land Release Fund, a capital allocation that will unlock a further 7000 homes on tricky, often unviable, public sector sites;
- And this year we cemented that relationship with MHCLG who are funding most of the latest OPE Phase, targeted specifically at producing new homes.
This year we celebrated our 5th anniversary and it’s an exciting time to join OPE. We commissioned an independent review earlier this year that confirmed we’ve embedded the basics of good asset management amongst public sector land owners – mapping the assets; establishing a partnership; applying dedicated project management; and leadership at all levels – and now it’s time to protect the investment of the last five years, really enhance delivery, and take the programme to the next set of challenges.
We want to support partnerships more; we want to lever in greater levels of patient investment to some of the larger, 30+ hectare, schemes; and we want to become a sector influencer through our academic partnership with Liverpool and Manchester Universities.
To this end we have a range of posts at all levels that we’re seeking top calibre candidates for including a Director with a lateral view and an eye for an opportunity: you will have good communication skills, tact and diplomacy, an ability to work in partnership and form partnerships, and be an empowering staff manager. You’ll likely have a background in local government at a senior level, but also have had senior level contact with central government and understand how to leverage land and property to get better outcomes for localities. A track record of demonstrable success goes without saying.
You’ll be coming into an established Programme, and partnership: we’ve worked closely with our Cabinet Office colleagues for five years now. Although these posts will be working in the LGA, our strategy is jointly agreed; our Regional Managers work together in pairs; and our team structures are intertwined. You’ll find a Cabinet Office team who are open minded about change; flexible in the way we operate our rules; and relentlessly focussed on delivering better services, and better outcomes for people locally.
You can find out more about the programme here .
For more information on the Programme Director’s role, please call Brian Reynolds on 07957 401 488.
Closing date: 5pm, 25 November 2018
Interview date: 7 December 2018
As a Disability Confident Leader the LGA values diversity and encourages applications from all sections of the community