Principal Policy Officer (Environment) (

About Us:

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM

Innovation and Change in Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories. Where people use their vision and commitment to open doors for the next generations.

Nothing beats the feeling of helping someone find their passion. At Westminster City Council, our City Lions team helps young local people engage with culture, creativity and dreams. When they came across a lonely, isolated 16-year-old who called himself a failure, they knew what to do. They worked 1-2-1 to find the thing this boy really loved. YouTube, it turned out. But it’s impossible to turn that into a career, right? Wrong. A week later, he was enrolled on the British Film Institute film-making programme. It was the ultimate light-bulb moment. And it turned him into what he is today – a budding Spielberg with a world of opportunity at his feet.

Please view the extraordinary story of the Impossible Dream here.

The Role:

As a Principal Policy Officer (Environment), you can make your own powerful contribution.

Today, our city creates an astonishing amount of waste. There’s too much air pollution. Residents don’t have equal access to essential environmental features, like open spaces.

This is why we need you. Join our small group of Environment Policy experts and you’ll become the architect of high-quality, cross-cutting policies on air quality, greening, , biodiversity, flooding and more. With a passion for the environment built in, , you’ll also have great influence downstream: in our efforts to lobby government, and as a valued advisor to project teams.

In terms of targets, you’ll work towards bringing air pollution in line with WHO guidelines, and ensuring our Council is carbon neutral by 2030. Long-term, we want all of Westminster to hit net zero by 2040 and for our environment to be healthier and fairer.

Virtually everything you do will involve close collaboration with a range of stakeholders, from other directorates and academic-led trials, analysts and business intelligence experts to policy and project colleagues, including the eight-strong Climate Emergency team.

However, your open and honest conversations with the public will be just as important. There’s no one size fits all approach, and we’ll look for you to innovate at every step of the policy process.

In turn, you’ll find everyone here open to new ideas, and keen to help you create a more sustainable and resilient future.

Please refer to the Job Description for more information.

About You:

While an environmental background would help; it’s not essential, so long as you’ve a keen interest in the area and passion for better stewardship of the world we share.

However, we need you to have policy development experience and knowledge of environmental sustainability and climate change issues, including their legislation, policies and working practices.

Equally, we’re looking for proven experience of leading high-profile and complex policies involving community engagement. You’ll have an impressive record of delivery under pressure – founded on your ability to think strategically, make incisive decisions, and drive progress.

Naturally, your skill at establishing and building strong partnerships will be key. And you’ll also enjoy the technical side of the work: managing, interpreting and harnessing data, and proving your expertise and ideas result in exceptional value for money.

We’re very happy to consider part-time or job share arrangements for this role.

The Council and its partners are committed to achieving diverse shortlists for all vacancies at Band 4 or above to support our desire to increase the number of staff from underrepresented groups in our workforce. As part of this ambition, if you are from a Global Majority (GM) you can self-declare this to the hiring manager as part of our positive action commitments.

What We Offer:

Westminster is an amazing place. There are 250,000 diverse residents, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people working here every day. Westminster City Council’s strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster. A Fairer Westminster is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city’s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.

At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the communities we service at all levels. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and are empowered to be their best, that is the Westminster Way. To find out more about how we do this visit https://www.westminster.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/public-health-strategy-policies-and-reports/equality-duties.

We are a multi award winning and forward-thinking Council which appreciates that people work in different ways, and where our staff benefit from working in a range of flexible and agile working patterns.

The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application, we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever possible.