Project Officer Economic Development, Skills

About the role

Economic Growth & Sustainability is part of the Council’s Place & Economy Directorate and spans different activities from inward investment and business support to external funding and programme management, to digital and electric vehicle infrastructure, to climate change and sustainable living.

External funding is a crucial element of the team’s work. It is responsible for identifying opportunities, developing business cases, bids, and submissions to secure funding to support economic growth and regeneration, and putting in place robust processes and systems to ensure that resources are targeted to deliver improved outcomes. This involves a mixture of bidding in competition with other areas and securing funding which has been provisionally allocated to the area but requires the submission of an Investment Plan or similar case to confirm and drawdown the allocation.

In recent years, the team has managed one of the largest Community Renewal Fund programmes in England and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) with over £10m secured for local projects supporting businesses, communities, and skills. Pivotal to this was being able to demonstrate stakeholder engagement to inform the interventions that would be prioritised for support through this funding, and political support from the areas’ MPs.

Details of activities that are being delivered through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund are available at Shared Prosperity Fund | North Northamptonshire Council ().

Whilst the UKSPF programme is coming to an end in March 2026, the team is working on new funding programmes and opportunities including the Pride in Place initiative, which will see targeted funding and support helping to regenerate three local communities in Corby, Kettering, and Wellingborough.

Business support activities include site visits and business owner meetings to support and discuss issues impacting local enterprises. The team uses a triage system to signpost businesses to sources of specialist help. This is aided through the North Northants Business Forum which brings together the main public sector organisations, business networks and partners representing local businesses in the area.

The Council is a member of the Northamptonshire Chamber of Commerce and sponsors the local Business of the Year category. It also attends local business events and meetings to explain the services offered by the Council, gather intelligence, take ‘soundings,’ and provide advice and support.

With North Northants a target for housing growth, it is vital that new businesses are attracted to support the growing population and reduce out-commuting. Inward investment is an important activity for the team. Some of the recent enquiries which the team has dealt with include investments by Iron Mountain (Information Management Services), Ball Corporation (Manufacturing), Navarra (Manufacturing), and Nike (Sports).

The team manages the Superfast Northamptonshire initiative which is bringing new investment in digital connectivity to Northamptonshire. Attention has shifted to Phase 4 of the initiative which will be delivered through Project Gigabit led nationally by the Government Agency Building Digital UK (BDUK). This will focus on premises which have not benefitted from gigabit connectivity through previous phases, or are outside of commercial coverage, or planned coverage with delivery through Cityfibre.

The team also manages the North Northamptonshire Electric Vehicle Initiative (NNEVI) with the NNEVI Strategy adopted in 2024. A key objective of the strategy is the expansion of the EV charging network in the area to cover all the towns and serve the wider rural area. The team has secured almost £2.9m from Government to invest alongside the private sector to build, operate and maintain this network.

The team also has a key role in leading the Council’s strategic approach to climate change, which includes the Carbon Management Plan and Climate Change Strategy, which was adopted earlier this year, and in shaping North Northamptonshire’s transition to a greener, more resilient future.

Currently, work is underway to advance the development of a Local Area…