Director of Climate Emergency & Behavioural Change
London Borough of Waltham Forest
View the opportunityWelcome
Dear Applicant,
Thank you for your interest in joining the London Borough of Waltham Forest. We have ambitions to be the greenest, most sustainable borough not just in London but across the UK, and our track record shows our willingness to make the tough decisions that achieve real change, including the establishment of our Climate Emergency Commission in 2019.
Here, a bold approach is paying dividends. Despite some real challenges we have delivered over 40km of segregated cycle track and other safe and priority sustainable active travel improvements- unlocking huge potential for our residents to ditch the car for local journeys, and we have already seen increased cycle use and reduced car ownership of seven per cent. The number of Waltham Forest households exposed to high levels of NO2 reduced from 58,000 to 6,300. As a result of our interventions, a report by Kings College London estimates that life expectancy in the borough has increased by seven months.
We’ve retrofitted a Council home into an innovative eco show home, invested £4.5m into our Suntrap Education Centre, London’s very first Climate Campus where our young people will be given the tools and knowledge to become climate activists and advocates for change.
Over the last decade, we have invested over £2.4m through energy efficiency measures in our corporate estate and delivered 33 energy efficiency projects. We have installed over 1,000 solar panels on council properties, retrofitted more than 10,000 Council homes, and reduced gas consumption by 25 per cent and electricity usage by 10 per cent, contributing to carbon emission falling by almost 35 per cent since 2005. We now have a radical, transformative agenda to achieve net zero by 2030 putting behavioural change at the heart of this.
We are looking for a Senior Leader who is inspirational and influential. It’s about tenacious leadership and a willingness to be disruptive to make a meaningful difference and bring the Council, residents and our partners with us on this journey.
You will be an experienced change and transformation professional with experience in, and / or a passion for, the climate sector, but do not necessarily have to have Local Government experience. We need you to be able engage with all communities as we seek to significantly change behaviours on a previously unseen scale.
“Waltham Forest is a Disability Confident Employer.” This means that anyone declaring a disability who meets the minimum criteria will be offered an interview, they will also be contacted to determine any adaptations or reasonable adjustments required to objectively compete in the selection process. We are determined to reduce staff underrepresented at the level and/or in the role advertised. In order to tackle this deficit, we would particularly encourage Women, people of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic heritage, people who live openly as LGBTQI+ or those with a disability to apply.
We would like to thank you again for considering this role in this great part of London, if you have any questions please get in touch at michele.moloney@walthamforest.gov.uk and we look forward to working with you in the future.
Dep. Leader
Strategic Director, Resident Services
About us
There’s a buzz about Waltham Forest. Bursting with culture, energy and opportunity, it’s a place people want to live, raise a family and start a business. We were the first ever London Borough of Culture, names MJ's Local Authority of the year in 2019 and have a rich cultural heritage that takes in William Morris and Alfred Hitchcock and a host of new creative talent.
We’re at the forefront of regeneration in London and we’re working hard to make a big difference to our residents’ lives. We’re proud to be one of the most diverse areas in the country, with a vibrant and strong sense of community. Our ambition is to make Waltham Forest a place where everyone can enjoy a quality life, and we are making good progress.
Local facts and figures
- Waltham Forest is home to an estimated 276,940 residents as of mid-2020 (ONS 2020 MYE Estimates) and 102,800 households (ONS Household Projections)
- The median age of residents is 35.6 years compared to the England average of 40.2 years.
- Our borough is one of the most diverse areas in the country. An estimated 53% of residents are from a minority ethnic background.
- The top six countries of origin for residents born overseas are Romania (11,000), Hungary (6,000), Poland (6,000), Bulgaria (5,000), and Lithuania (5,000) and Pakistan (5,000). (ONS 2019)
- The top five languages spoken locally other than English are Urdu, Polish, Romanian, Turkish and Lithuanian.
- 94.2% of enterprises in Waltham Forest are micro businesses employing fewer than 10 people.
- As of March 2020, more than 156,000 working age residents (73.6%) are in employment.
- The median annual earnings for full-time working residents is £35,000.
- Waltham Forest is currently ranked 82nd most deprived borough nationally according to the 2019 Index of Multiple Deprivation (an improvement from 35th in the 2015 edition, and 15th most deprived in the 2010 edition).
- Life expectancy in Waltham Forest is like the England average – 79.4 years for men and 83.8 years for women
- The average house price in the borough as of December 2019 was £450,000, an increase of 83% since 2013.
For more information visit www.walthamforest.gov.uk
Our progress
Housing
To address the impact of housing, which accounts for over 50 per cent of local carbon emissions, the Council and partner Aston Group have unveiled their ground-breaking EcoHome showhome - a London council first- a Victorian-era terraced property that has been retrofitted to bring its energy performance rating up from E to A. This will result in a warmer home that is cheaper to run. Alongside this work, the Council has so far helped insulate more than 150 residential homes in the borough and retrofit three of its sheltered housing schemes. Developments such as the landmark relaunch of the iconic former Granada /EMD Cinema in Walthamstow incorporate efficiency measures including air source heat pumps and solar photovoltaics panels.
Transport
Transport is another important action area. The Council, already a recognised leader in promoting active and sustainable transport through its pioneering Enjoy Waltham Forest programme, has secured funding for a further five extra School Streets, where roads outside schools are closed to motor traffic during drop-off and pick-up times, as well as plans to install a further 150 of the hugely popular and heavily oversubscribed resident bike hangars enabling even more residents to consider cycling more often. Furthermore, the Council has committed to doubling its Electric Vehicle Charging Points from over 200 to over 400 by Spring 2022.
For further information visit www.enjoywalthamforest.co.uk
Climate Campus
A key element of the plan has seen Suntrap Centre undergo a £4.5 million refurbishment to create London’s first climate campus for young people, delivering a curriculum that informs, empowers, and provides them with the skills to take meaningful action to protect our environment. The upgraded facility stands as a model of sustainability, including eco pods for all-year residential visits alongside new communal space.
Biodiversity
To give pollinators and insect life a boost the Council has already announced plans for its annual bulb giveaway, which will see community groups and schools plant 100,000 bulbs in green spaces over the weekend of 23 - 24 October. This builds on the recent project that asks residents to nominate their roads as Bee Friendly Streets with volunteers controlling and removing weeds by hand so that chemicals do not have to be used. 11 ‘Bee Friendly Streets’ have already been submitted with over 150 enquiries so far.
Another key new policy will see at least one mature tree, older than 10 years and taller than two metres at time of planting, and four younger trees planted for each tree that needs to be felled for a development on any council-owned site – a total of five new trees for any that is removed. They will be planted in locations where they will thrive, helping to clean toxic air and providing a boost to biodiversity by encouraging pollinators and native animal species.
We will plant at least 8,000 additional trees before March 2022, 600 of which will be mature. These will add to over 100,000 that are already growing across the borough, helping Waltham Forest have the fourth highest canopy cover in London, more than at any point in the borough’s history. 56,000 of these trees are directly managed by the Council.
Our action plan
The Waltham Forest Climate Action Plan has been created in response to the Council’s independent Climate Emergency Commission, a panel of experts bought together in 2019 to closely examine what can be done on a local level to address the global challenge of the climate emergency. The panel studied several key themes, including housing, transport, and business, and made recommendations on what the Council can do to create a cleaner, more sustainable borough.
The work of the Climate Emergency Commission was informed by the council’s largest-ever consultation with residents. Over 4,000 people took part, including 1,400 young people, and over 90 per cent of participants expressed concern regarding the impact of the climate emergency.
Our response to the Climate Emergency Commission report focuses on changing behaviours to protect our environment and become a net-zero borough by 2030.
- Empowering and educating young people about the climate emergency and delivering green job opportunities key to success
- More trees and flowers all across borough to help clean air and provide boost to local biodiversity
- Housing and transport biggest challenges – but meaningful action already underway
We have agreed an action plan that includes all departments coming together to tackle the climate emergency through behaviour change and delivering more employment and education opportunities, especially for young people who will be worst affected by the climate emergency.
The response to the commission’s report covers five overarching pledges:
- Waltham Forest Council as a Leader: The council aims to be ‘best in class’, leading the way in tackling and adapting to the climate emergency by ensuring our services and operations are sustainable and have a net-zero impact. Waltham Forest will make and influence change at a local, regional, national, and international level.
- People, Communities, and Climate: Putting people and communities at the heart of tackling climate change to ensure that everyone who lives, works, studies, and visits the borough is well informed and empowered to play their part in tackling the climate crisis.
- Greener Buildings: Developing new and transforming old buildings to reduce the demand for energy and water and be adaptable to a changing climate.
- Sustainable Transport: Building on the success of Enjoy Waltham Forest, the Council will create pleasant streets and neighbourhoods in which people can more easily walk and cycle to create a cleaner, greener, and healthier borough for all.
- Adapting to the Future: Shaping the future to ensure residents live safe, prosperous and healthy lives, in a local natural environment with diverse wildlife that thrives.
- Prioritising a green recovery through low carbon and circular economy and fostering skills for careers of the future so that business can grow.
The Cabinet agreed to fund a first round of projects through the dedicated Climate Emergency Capital fund. Over £1.5m has been allocated to six projects including installing extra electric vehicle charging points, creating 15 new parklets, and opening four new cycle hubs at train stations across the borough.
The opportunity
DIRECTOR OF CLIMATE EMERGENCY & BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE
c£95,000 to £109,000 per annum
Waltham Forest, London
LEAD WALTHAM FOREST'S CLIMATE EMERGENCY RESPONSE | DELIVER NET ZERO CARBON AND HELP PROTECT OUR WORLD
At Waltham Forest we are developing an ambitious, transformative agenda to tackle the global Climate Emergency. We have created an exciting new post for a Director to shape and deliver this agenda; an inspirational leader, communicator and expert who will be at the forefront of our commitment to deliver net zero in the Borough by 2030.
Uniquely, we are placing behavioural change at the heart of our response. We are looking for an inspiring, credible leader to deliver our sustainable transformation in a way that is visible across the borough and sets the standard nationally.
About the role
This role is the first of kind in London and is different from traditional climate emergency posts by focusing on harnessing behavioural change to meet our objectives.
As the lead officer for the Council’s Climate Emergency, you will provide leadership and strategic direction to the organisation; including advising Management Board and Cabinet on the most innovative approaches to meet our net zero target.
You will lead the delivery of significant, large-scale and complex Climate Emergency and Behaviour Change programmes within the Borough, securing substantial carbon emission reduction outcomes both from Council operations and within the Borough boundary by changing how residents, businesses and partners think and act. You will have the mandate from the Chief Executive to ensure that every director, partner and resident in the borough buys into this agenda.
You will maximise external grant income and investment opportunities, including revenue creation if possible, to drive the attainment of key objectives and goals and deliver a sustainable programme of change.
About you
Your personal presence, persuasiveness, assertiveness, and negotiation skills will ensure you are able to work with diverse audiences successfully and galvanise momentum. You will need to be able to deal with people from all works of life confidently and diplomatically as we seek to significantly change behaviours on a previously unseen scale.
Working in partnership across organisational boundaries will be your default way of doing things.
Your knowledge and experience of leading innovative responses to the climate emergency will ensure you are able to define and deliver best practice in Waltham Forest. This will include establishing and leading large scale climate programmes or major projects including behaviour change. You will be able to evidence the development and delivery of strategies that have had a measurable carbon reduction impact.
About Waltham Forest
There is a real buzz about Waltham Forest. Bursting with culture, energy and opportunity, Waltham Forest is a place people want to live, raise a family and start a business. We are fundamentally changing the way we work, building relationships, connecting people, harnessing our unique opportunities and the power of new technology to create strong, sustainable and self-reliant communities. Waltham Forest is one of the greenest and fastest growing areas in the Capital, Council of the Year 2019 and London’s first Borough of Culture. With fantastic connectivity, huge investment potential and limitless ambition Waltham Forest is a great place to live and work.
The borough has excellent transport connections and represents the best of both worlds in London; the City 10 minutes to the South and the Epping Forest 10 minutes to the North. Good schools, great parks, vibrant culture, regeneration and local entrepreneurs make Waltham Forest a community that people want to call home.
You can find out more about Waltham Forest’s role in protecting our world, by clicking on the link here: https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/content/climate-change
How to apply
To apply please provide a tailored CV and covering letter. Please note that your CV should be up to date and demonstrate your experience in the context of this role.
Covering letters should be of no more than 4 pages and should demonstrate your proven ability to undertake the role and meet the criteria set out in this job description and person profile.
Please provide two referees.
Applications should be uploaded via the apply link.
The closing date for applications is midnight on Monday 20th December 2021.
Interviews will be held in January 2022.
For an informal discussion, contact Mark Bearn at HAYS Executive on 07872 672290 or email mark.bearn@hays.com
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