Job Details:
Community Projects Lead

Job Description

Do you believe in the power of communities to create a better future? We’re looking for community workers who will champion change and empower people across the region. This is a role for someone who is a facilitator, a collaborator, a project manager and a passionate advocate for community-led environmental action.

We don’t just work for communities; we work with them. You’ll be on the front lines, helping residents work to their strengths and turn their collective ambitions into reality. From revitalising local green spaces to building social resilience, your work will create lasting, positive ripples across Greater Manchester.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Co-Create and Deliver: You’ll lead impactful projects that are designed with and for the community, ensuring every initiative meets a real need.
• Build Capacity: Your focus will be on strengthening community assets and building the skills and confidence of local people to lead their own environmental change.
• Forge Strong Connections: You will build and nurture partnerships, bringing together residents, local groups, and businesses to achieve shared goals.
• Advocate for Community Voice: Ensure that the needs and priorities of local people are at the heart of everything we do, from project design to external partnerships.
• Grow Our Impact: Work with the team to identify new opportunities and help secure the funding needed to expand our reach and deepen our impact.

Who You Are

You’re an experienced community worker who is energised by collaboration and committed to environmental justice. You have a knack for listening, connecting, and inspiring people. You’re organised, resourceful, and ready to get stuck into a role where every day brings a new opportunity to make a difference.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Lead with Impact: You will have the autonomy to drive innovation, spot new opportunities, and build programmes that create lasting change across Greater Manchester.
• Manage a Talented Team: You’ll lead a passionate and supportive team. Our culture is built on trust, and we invest in our people’s development, giving you the chance to mentor future leaders.
• Empower Young People & Communities: Your work will directly empower young people and communities, giving them the tools and confidence to shape their own sustainable future.

Who We’re Looking For

You have a strong background in youth and community work and are ready for a leadership role. You’re a forward-thinking professional with a passion for people and a clear vision for growing services. You believe in the power of young people to drive environmental change.

We’re passionate about creating a future where every neighbourhood is vibrant and green, every community is strong and able to shape its own destiny and no-one is held back by their background or circumstances. We specialise in the following services and are committed to creating added social value through our delivery:

• Community engagement
• Landscape design & build
• Training & coaching for employment
• Early intervention to support health & wellbeing
• Safe & sustainable business support

As a Disability Confident employer we offer a guaranteed interview to applicants with a disability who meet the essential criteria for the role.

At Groundwork we ensure that we provide a safe environment for adults, children and young people to take part in any activity or service that we organise. We are committed to creating a culture that promotes safeguarding and the welfare of all children, young people and adults at risk.

Our safer recruitment practices support this by ensuring that there is a consistent and comprehensive process of obtaining, collating, analysing and evaluating information from and about candidates to ensure that all the people we appoint are suitable to work with our children, young people and adults.

If you want to work in a values driven team that makes a real difference to individuals and communities in Greater Manchester, read on.

The Community Projects Lead is a member of the youth and community team, leading the delivery of a wide array of community projects across GM, ensuring quality delivery and sustainability of the work.

Delivery 

• Lead the delivery of a wide array of projects across Greater Manchester including:
• environmental, climate, nature focused projects
• community engagement and development
• community capacity building, including building confidence and skills
• community outreach to support Groundwork’s services to reach their target audiences
• Meet deliverables and quality standards and collect impact and outcome data for learning and reporting. 

Business & Service Development

• Identify opportunities for growth and make recommendations to managers.
• Manage existing project partnerships, and networks and generate new relationships with partners to support project sustainability.
• Pro-actively seek stakeholder feedback and use internal and external data and learning to make recommendations for improvements to projects and services.
• Support the development of larger income generating opportunities and longer-term financial planning.

Financial & Resource Management 

• Plan and manage project budgets and resources.
• Plan and build an income pipeline to support existing activity in the short-medium term.
• Support the preparation of smaller proposals including design, writing and pricing, under guidance.

People Management & Development 

• Supervise volunteers or trainees.
• Actively share specialist knowledge and skills with others.

Support the embedding of GGM’s culture and values within the team

Internal Management

• Embed GGM policies and procedure within directly managed projects supporting the championing of delivery standards and compliance including:
• Project management
• safeguarding
• health and safety
• GDPR
• EDI
• Consider environmental responsibility in project planning and delivery.

• Maternity leave
• Paternity leave
• Pension
• Cycle to work scheme
• BUPA wellbeing scheme
• Additional holidays