Change Project Officer

Location(UK): Office Hybrid* - London / Chesterfield
Hours: Full-time 35 hours per week
Salary: £31,918 per annum (London), £29,016 per annum (rest of UK)
Benefits: Read more about the excellent benefits we offer
Contract type: Fixed-term – 12 Month Maternity Cover
Travel: Occasional travel to either our London or Chesterfield office.
Closing date: 23:59, Sunday 19 January 2025

Join us and use your skills, knowledge, passion and energy to help us achieve a future free from arthritis.

Within the Finance and Corporate Resources Directorate, the Change Delivery Team are driving delivery of a strategic programme of work to transform Versus Arthritis into a more sustainable charity. As experts in project, programme, and change management, we are deployed to identify, deliver, and embed the organisation’s most complex changes. We also support colleagues to deliver the smaller scale changes and improvement activities in their plans by providing project management guidance, learning and development opportunities, and a suite of tools and templates. We are looking for an enthusiastic and proactive Project Officer to join our tenacious and supportive team.

About the role

This role is perfect for someone looking to develop their proficiency in project management within an experienced team of project and programme managers and working closely with senior leaders from across the organization.

The purpose of this role is to coordinate the charity’s most complex programme of change and provide support to the wider Change Delivery Team with opportunities to lead on some activities.

The Project Officer will work directly with the Head of Change Delivery and Senior Project Manager to support the governance of the Sustainability Programme, improve portfolio business processes, coordinate programme management software, and support programme stakeholder engagement activities.

This role will also champion our approach to project management, advising and upskilling colleagues in this area.

Additionally, the role may be deployed to provide Project Officer support to a component project within the Sustainability Programme- providing efficient co-ordination of project governance groups, contributing to the formulation and maintenance of project documentation, and supporting project stakeholder communications and engagement.

About you

If your knowledge, skills and experience include the following then we’d love to hear from you:

Experienced in utilising project management tools and templates to support and coordinate projects.
Strong organisational and planning skills; ability to deliver to deadlines, and independently manage workload in a fast-paced environment that includes multiple concurrent priorities.
Advanced Microsoft Office skills (SharePoint, Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel in particular). And bonus points if you’re familiar with Monday.com!
Excellent listening, communication and written skills with attention to detail and ability to tailor and present information for different audiences.
Analytical skills, recognising problems and creating innovative solutions.

*As a hybrid worker the expectation is that you will spend around 40% of your working time in our office spaces or working in community settings. As an inclusive employer we will consider home-based working for anyone where office-based hybrid working would be a barrier to being able to work for us, for example for someone living with a long-term health condition or disability.

Download the job description and person specification for the Change Project Officer role (Word 48.7 KB).

Benefits

Your excellent benefits include:

Flexible hours, environments and working practices to promote a healthy work/life balance.
Health and wellbeing support – including the Employee Assistance Programme (free confidential 24/7 support with mental health, legal and financial queries).
Simplyhealth cash plan.
Supportive and inclusive culture, with a wide range of employee networks and support groups available to join.
Learning and personal development opportunities.
Competitive annual leave, with the option to buy/sell up to five days per year.
Generous pension plan, with employer contribution of up to 10%.
Life Assurance plan (4 x salary).

How to apply

You must be based, and hold the right to work, in the UK to apply for this position.

To apply you MUST submit:

a concise, up-to-date CV
along with a completed Application form (Word 41.2KB) demonstrating how you meet the key requirements set out in the job description and person specification for the Change Project Officer role (Word 48.7 KB). All sections must be completed.

Email both documents as Word or PDF attachments by 23:59 hours, Sunday 19 January 2025 to recruitment@versusarthritis.org. If you have a health condition that prevents you from following the steps above, please email us regarding alternative ways to apply. 

Application deadline and shortlisting 

We advise candidates to apply early as we reserve the right to close applications ahead of this date.  
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

We do not wish to receive contact from agencies or media sales. 

Interview

Interviews expected: First interview on either Wednesday 29 or Thursday 30 January 2025 at our London or Chesterfield office.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we guarantee you will be offered an interview if you disclose a disability and demonstrate sufficient evidence within your application that you meet the essential criteria for this role. We will also make any reasonable adjustments you may require for your interview.

About us

We have made a commitment in our Diversity and Inclusion Strategy to increase the diversity of our charity and we welcome candidates from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. We want our employees, volunteers and trustees to represent the broad diversity of the communities of which we are a part.

There are over 10 million people living with arthritis. That’s one in six, with over half of those living in pain every single day. The impact is huge as the condition slowly intrudes on everyday life – affecting the ability to work, care for a family, to move free from pain and to live independently. Yet arthritis is often dismissed as an inevitable part of ageing or shrugged off as ‘just a bit of arthritis’. We don’t think that this is OK. Versus Arthritis is here to change that.

Versus Arthritis is committed to keeping children, young people and vulnerable adults safe from harm. During the recruitment process we will undertake safer recruitment practices and relevant checks to ensure applicants are suitable to work with children, young people and vulnerable adults.