Community Engagement Manager

In Sutton, there is much for us to be proud of both as a council and as a borough. This includes high levels of resident satisfaction, the quality of our services, our success in addressing our financial challenges to date, the way that we involve and engage with residents on key issues facing the borough, and the enthusiastic and motivated staff that we employ. 

Looking ahead, there are plans for the delivery of new homes and new schools and the London Cancer Hub is being developed, while the Council is also seen as a driving force within the South London Partnership of five outer south west London boroughs focused on strategic growth, regeneration and investment.

All of this demonstrates a good track record and an authority that is ambitious and set to deliver more improvements for the borough. We've set out our vision for the future of Sutton in our corporate plan - Ambitious for Sutton. This strategic plan will shape the outcomes we achieve, the services we provide, and the impact we have on residents, to make Sutton a great place to live, work and raise a family.

Situated in Zone 5, Sutton is less than 30 minutes by train from central London, and south and south west London are easily accessible by public transport. There are 10 train stations which serve key neighbourhoods within the borough providing direct connections to London Victoria, London Bridge, London Blackfriars and St Pancras International. Sutton also has direct rail connections with Epsom, Dorking, Guildford and Horsham, as well as Wimbledon for an interchange with the London Underground and West Croydon for the London Overground. There’s also an extensive road network which provides close and easy access to the M25 and M23.

This is a role with real influence. You will shape how the London Borough of Sutton delivers for its residents. You and your team will be their eyes, ears and voice. 

We are looking for a community engagement specialist who can build real, insightful partnerships with all our residents and community groups - including those who do not naturally engage with us. We want someone who can speak  - and listen to - all our communities and feed their insights into our wider council communications and policymaking. We want our people to have a voice, through you. 

You and your team will deliver excellent community engagement, involving residents in decision-making, co-design and policy creation. You will provide insights into Sutton’s communities, which will inform how the Council frames and conveys its story, and input into strategic planning work. You will also advise on and oversee statutory consultation projects.

You will ensure that insights from your engagement work are acted upon by the wider communications team and beyond.

In Sutton, communicating and engaging with our residents, communities and businesses is at the centre of everything we do as a Council.

The Communications and Engagement service supports the Council in engaging with residents, businesses and stakeholders, asking for their views to help decision-making, as well as being responsible for communicating what the Council is doing and the services it is delivering. 

The Communications and Engagement service includes media and social media, corporate communications (including the Leadership Office), marketing, campaigns, internal communications and community engagement.

The service is responsible for ensuring the Council has a clear, concise and consistent message both externally and internally. It is vital that the communications team has excellent and detailed insights into the communication needs of its communities, including how they consume communications and how they prefer to respond to the Council in a genuine two-way conversation.

In this role you will need to be able to:

• Lead the Council’s Approach to Engagement, working particularly closely with the Communications and Engagement, Committee Services, Policy and Customer Experience Teams to connect communities, councillors and council officers.
• Manage a small team of engagement specialists and develop an engagement network across the Council.
• Bring engagement insights to the wider Communications and Engagement Team and to support communication plans with community insights.
• Advise on and use a range of engagement methods to meet the needs of different communities, including local committees, community events, focus groups and one-to-one discussions. 
• Champion accessibility to make sure all voices are heard, and acted on. 
• Build strong relationships with partners and service providers to develop a community engagement network in Sutton. 
• Advise on formal consultations and manage statutory ones. 
• Be willing to work evenings and weekends as required.

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across - however big or small - will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

In addition, we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff, supported by our IT infrastructure, including Google Chromebooks and Google Apps.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)
• Flexi-time (Please note, this applies to roles at grades 1-9 only)
• Comprehensive learning and development programme
• Local and national discounts for shopping, eating out and leisure activities
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Car parking scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Zip car scheme
• Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
• Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
• Subsidised gym membership

Please apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please ensure you refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application.

To support our diversity agenda and reduce the risk of bias in our recruitment activities, our short listing process completely anonymises personal information that can identify job applicants e.g. name, title etc. Our hiring managers review and short list applications based on the information provided as part of your application as to how well you meet the requirements and criteria for the role, as outlined in the job profile.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

We pride ourselves on being a diverse, inclusive and welcoming Borough and we aim to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve. We are respectful of difference and realise the positive value of diversity in our workforce. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds and particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates and disabled candidates, as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce. As part of our Disability Confident Committed status, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role.

We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums, and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.