NB19/16 Commercial Investment Manager

Band 15, £50,384 per annum, 37 hours per week, Permanent

This exciting new role will spearhead the council’s commercial and investment programme and lead a team which will appraise, co ordinate and deliver a continuous pipeline of projects to support growth in housing, jobs and skills in the county. Primarily these projects must generate a sustainable return on investment for the council.

The team will work closely with a range of colleagues, partners and specialists in the public and commercial sector to analyse the best opportunities for investment in land, property and other assets which reflects the council’s strategic ambitions and plans. Investment decisions will be underpinned by a robust appraisal of risk and delivered using a clear and consistent project management approach. The team will help to design and deliver new innovative models for service delivery which lead to better outcomes for people living in Shropshire’s towns and villages.

The team will be target driven. Measures of success will be financial in terms of cost reduction and income generation. Other measures will include economic, environmental and social benefits which underpin the council’s role as a place shaper and innovator in terms of public service delivery. You will require strong communication skills to be successful in this post and the ability to lead and influence others to think and act more innovatively and commercially within a public sector environment.

General

Shropshire Council is ambitious and innovative unitary council. One of our strengths is the strong sense of identity and commitment to growing Shropshire’s urban and rural economy in partnership with others.

The Council’s leadership are ambitious for Shropshire. The Leader is keen to drive economic growth to provide well paid jobs in the county so that more young people choose to live and work here. To that end, the Council has been instrumental in establishing a university campus in Shrewsbury in partnership with the University of Chester. We wish to attract more inward investment to the county ensuring that the right jobs and skills are matched with homes that are affordable and are in the right place to support vibrant market town economies.

The West Midlands Combined Authority views the Council as one of the most proactive of its non-constituent member authorities and understands that it wants to exploit its strategic location close to the West Midlands. The council also leads the One Public Estate programme in Shropshire in which all public sector partners work together to deliver key growth, innovation and community based projects.

The council purchased the three principal shopping centres in Shrewsbury in 2018 to facilitate the economic growth and regeneration of Shrewsbury town centre. This is one of several investment and growth projects which are in the pipeline including a proposal to set up a local housing company to deliver affordable homes to address

unmet housing need. The council is also investing in the health and social care estate and creating new community hubs.

The Council has set ambitious capital investment and income generation targets as part of the financial strategy. The objective being that £8m of additional revenue income will be achieved through investment and commercial activity in the period up to financial year 2022/23. This aligns with the commercial strategy approved by Cabinet in March 2017.

To drive forward these plans we plan to recruit professionals to an investment and commercial team. The team will initially comprise of ten members of staff with a multi disciplinary range of skills, qualifications and experience. The team’s focus will be on seeking opportunities to invest in property, assets, services and skills to raise sustainable levels of income for the council. This will allow it to achieve its corporate objectives and continue to deliver high quality services at low cost in new and innovative ways.

Closing date - Thursday 28 March 2019

To apply for this role, or for more information, please click the apply button.