There has never been a more exciting time to join Wirral Council. We’ve got ambitious targets to meet and to achieve everything we have promised to our residents, we need people who are ready to deliver the very best for our communities and show how they can #BeTheDifference. Our vision is to secure the best possible future for our residents, defined by the community prosperity we create and supported by our excellent people and services. If you strive to #BeTheDifference and want to be at the heart of our change and improvement journey, then this could be the perfect job for you.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a new senior position within the Regeneration Team at Wirral. Working in conjunction with the Chief Regeneration Officer, the role of Head of Place, Culture and Visitor Economy, has the opportunity to shape and drive forward the place making agenda as part of Wirral’s Regeneration strategy. The successful candidate will ensure a joined-up, place-making agenda covering urban design, environmental sustainability, climate change, digital connectivity, transport, infrastructure, public realm, culture and heritage.

The ideal candidate will have knowledge and understanding of how all place-shaping disciplines interact and need to be managed to create well-designed, sustainable communities. They will also be able to demonstrate technical understanding of at least two of the disciplines within the service, namely master planning, strategic transport, people focused regeneration, infrastructure, urban design, visitor economy, culture and heritage. Above all extensive experience of designing and delivering large-scale urban regeneration projects and programmes needs to be demonstrated.

The role will be fast-paced and require the ability to manage and respond to competing and changing priorities. We are looking for someone who has excellent relationship management and communication skills, particularly when dealing with multiple stakeholders and has a 'can do' attitude, bring innovative and fresh thinking ideas whilst challenging the status quo.

Key duties will involve:

• Lead the development of a Culture and Visitor Economy Strategy aligned to the Councils regeneration priorities.
• Lead the implementation of the suite of regeneration and place-shaping key strategies and area masterplans, to achieve the Council’s ambition to regenerate the east of Wirral by creating a well-designed, green, sustainable, waterfront community along the Left Bank of the River Mersey.
• Champion joint working and lead negotiation across the Council and with partners so that the Council’s place-making agenda is collaborative in its design and delivery, drawing upon global best practice and innovation.
• As a senior leader within the Regeneration and Place Directorate actively identify new opportunities for collaborative working, project ideas and funding opportunities which ensure the regeneration programme responds to economic, social and political changes.
• Establish and foster effective working relationships with Elected Members in creating the vision, strategy and delivery priorities for regeneration and place-making, ensuring these agendas are collectively understood, connecting parties as appropriate.

For an informal discussion please contact Becky Lowry on rebeccahlowry@wirral.gov.uk or recruitment@wirral.gov.uk

Interviews are anticipated to be week commencing 22^nd April.

If you are a Wirral resident, are unemployed or out of work, and require help with your application, please contact Involve Northwest’s employment and skills team on info@involvenorthwest.org.uk or contact 0151 644 4500 or 0151 652 4349.

If you’re already a Wirral Council employee, 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.