Sustainable Partnership Officer

Job Title: Sustainable Partnership Officer
Starting Salary: £38,220 progressing to £41,771 per annum (pro rata for part time)
Hours: 37
Location: Countywide - office base Stevenage - across County travel
Contract Type: Permanent
Directorate: Growth & Environment

About the team

Our department is committed to supporting residents and communities across the county by improving access to sustainable transport. This includes helping people switch to electric and low-emission vehicles, in line with our goals to cut carbon emissions and improve air quality.

Our primary goal is to increase the provision of Electric Vehicle chargepoints across the county, especially for those without driveways or in close proximity to chargepoints in car parks.

As the programme progresses, the role will evolve to include greater responsibility for contract management and oversight of our appointed chargepoint operators. This will involve monitoring delivery against agreed performance targets, managing relationships with the operators and ensuring compliance with procurement frameworks, contract terms, and funding conditions.

As a Sustainable Partnership Officer, you will report to the Programme Manager and play a key role in driving this programme forward. You will act as a crucial link between the county council and the district & borough councils, leading allocated workstreams and making workstream-level decisions.

Our team consists of a Programme Manager, Sustainable Partnership Officers, and a Strategy Manager. We pride ourselves on being a collaborative team, leveraging each other's strengths while continuously seeking areas for improvement both as a team and individually.

About the role

Hertfordshire County Council is committed to increasing electric vehicle infrastructure across the county. This is an exciting opportunity to join the team within the Growth & Environment and help us achieve our vision to enable residents and businesses across Hertfordshire to charge their electric vehicles conveniently and appropriately.

We are looking for self-motivated and enthusiastic individuals with an interest or experience in sustainability, the environment, and tackling climate change. You’ll have a track record of delivering work to a high standard within agreed milestones,

and be confident working alongside a range of internal and external stakeholders. With strong interpersonal skills and a proactive mindset, you’ll be comfortable resolving issues, navigating delivery challenges, and maintaining momentum across workstreams.

The primary aim of the role is to work with our district and borough councils to ensure the implementation of additional electric vehicle charging infrastructure across the county, in line with our Electric Vehicle Strategy. You will act as the main point of contact within a defined geographical area, providing support, guidance, and coordination to ensure delivery remains aligned with strategic objectives.

As the programme evolves, the role will also include supporting contract management and supplier oversight—monitoring performance, maintaining delivery documentation, and escalating risks where necessary. You’ll help ensure that partnerships remain accountable, outputs are delivered to agreed specifications, and that reporting is clear and consistent.

In addition, the role will contribute to the delivery of HCC’s wider sustainable transport policies and strategies. This includes researching and assessing emerging technologies, identifying opportunities for innovation, and supporting the development of initiatives that promote green transport across the county.

There will also be opportunities to contribute to additional projects within the broader Transport for Hertfordshire strategy, offering scope to shape delivery across a range of sustainability and infrastructure programmes.

About you

Essential:

· Strong Project management and organisational skills

· Strong communication skills, both written and verbal

· Driving licence and access to a vehicle (travel across Hertfordshire will be required)

· Ability to work as part of a team and with external stakeholders

· Educated to degree level or equivalent experience that must be demonstratable

· Ability to monitor performance and keep organised records and escalate risks

· Strong analytical and data analysis skills to assess service providers performance and value for money.

· Advanced skills in Microsoft Project, Excel, Word and Powerpoint.

Desirable:

· Experience managing contract or supplier relationships

· Experience of working in a local authority

· Knowledge of electric vehicle landscape/sustainability issues

· Knowledge of local government democratic process

We welcome applications from candidates who currently reside in the UK with established proof of right to work documentation. We are not able to offer sponsorship at this time for this role.

This job role is within the Technical Services, level TEC10 job profile. Please locate this via:

Job profiles: Technical services

To hear more about this opportunity please contact james.watson@hertfordshire.gov.uk for an informal discussion about the role.

Interview Date: TBC

Benefits of working for us

How to apply

As part of your application, please upload your most recent CV. Ensure your CV is up to date with your employment history (including any employment gaps), and including any training/qualifications. We encourage you to include examples of where you have demonstrated the requirements/criteria in the advert / job profile to allow the panel to fully recognise your skills and abilities. You will have the opportunity to include a short covering paragraph within your application to give us a little more information about your skills, knowledge, and experiences.

Additional information

Disability Confident
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

Driving required
You’ll need to have the ability to drive and/or travel around Hertfordshire, either using your own mode of transport or a company car to travel to other locations.

English Fluency
The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required). Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.