Active Essex Relationship Development Officer – Skills & Organisation Development
Fixed Term / Secondment (18 months), Full Time
up to £43,233 per annum
Location: Chelmsford*
Working Style:
Closing Date: 30th November 2025
Please note this opportunity is available on a fixed-term contract or secondment basis for 18 months.
*You will work from the Chelmsford office at least one day a week and across our operational area on other days, depending on business need.
Active Essex is hosted within Essex County Council’s People, Policy, Economy and Public Health team, and is the strategic lead for sport and physical activity across Greater Essex including Southend and Thurrock.
We are pleased to offer an exciting opportunity to join our team as a Relationship Development Officer, with a focus on supporting and developing our Skills, Employability and Organisational Development work.
This role will respond to emerging opportunities that system changes will bring to the skills landscape, including how skills are funded, commissioned, and delivered locally, with greater emphasis on employer-led priorities and place-based decision-making. System changes will also bring decision-making closer to communities, making it essential to support strong, resilient VCSFE organisations that can play an active role in shaping and delivering local priorities.
The role will work with Relationship Development Leads and Relationship Managers to deliver key initiatives around Skills and Employability and around building a Resilient and Sustainable VCSFE sector across Greater Essex.
The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of the skills and employability landscape, experience in building strategic relationships across sectors, and the ability to navigate complex system changes to support resilient, community-based organisations.
Role and Responsibilities:
1. Support the development and delivery of the Your Essex Community Place offer across Essex.
2. Work in partnership with our locality hub teams to ensure a local Your Essex Community support offer that builds on local strengths and responds to needs identified in the place insight plans.
3. Support sector engagement within the Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) structures, ensuring the sport and physical activity sector remains a key contributor to county-wide workforce development priorities.
4. Collaborate with employers, educators, and health leaders to co-create innovative solutions that address skills gaps and strengthen the sector’s capacity to deliver on strategic objectives.
5. Champion the sector’s role in preventative health interventions, addressing leading causes of work absence, through the development of targeted programmes.
6. Promote the sector as a major economic contributor and growing employer, leveraging its potential to drive inclusive growth, youth engagement, and health system transformation.
7. Support the delivery of the Essex Sport and Physical Activity People, Culture, Skills Plan, gathering employer insights, identifying workforce gaps, and coordinating training and development efforts across Greater Essex.
8. Utilise data-driven approaches, including workforce diagnostics from Skills Boards, to ensure training and qualifications are aligned with employer needs, future-proofed, and accessible to diverse communities.
9. Advocate for equality and diversity in sport and physical activity, ensuring it is embedded in all developments.
10. Facilitate ongoing learning and sharing of expertise within the Active Essex team and localities.
11. Drive a culture of continuous improvement, high performance, and sustainability.
12. Meet individual and shared targets set annually within the performance management framework.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience:
13. Educated to A level or equivalent by experience, with ongoing professional development.
14. Knowledge, understanding and experience of the support needs of the Voluntary and Community sector organisations
15. Strong relationship management skills with a broad range of individuals and stakeholder organisations across different system settings
16. Experience working collaboratively across sectors to co-create solutions and deliver shared objectives.
17. Understanding of place -based approaches and experience supporting community-led initiatives.
18. Knowledge of skills and employability frameworks, including Local Skills Improvement Plans
19. Experience in aligning workforce development initiatives with employer priorities and regional strategies.
20. Effective team player with strong collaboration skills
21. Competence in using data-driven approaches, including workforce diagnostics, to inform planning and decision-making.
22. Ability to interpret and present insights to influence strategy and delivery.
23. Experience managing multiple projects and coordinating training and development initiatives.
24. Strong organisational skills to meet targets within performance frameworks.
25. Excellent verbal and written communication skills to advocate for the sector’s economic and social contribution.
Please note that the job role requires you to be mobile throughout an operational area. Therefore, the post holder will need to have a driving licence and access to a vehicle, or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means.
Why Essex?
As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we’re committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in. With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you.
In February 2025, Greater Essex was accepted onto the Government’s devolution priority programme, which will see local authorities in Essex work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority by May 2026. You can read more about
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