Job title: Principal Place & Regeneration Manager
Salary: PO6 £53,051-£56,293
Hours: 37 hours per week
Location: Merrion House, Leeds
Deliver some of the UK’s most ambitious regeneration programmes: x3 Principal Place & Regeneration Managers up to £56,293k
Prior to applying, please contact Stephanie.Mcgourlay@leeds.gov.uk for a candidate pack.
Leeds is one of the UK’s fastest-growing cities, with a regeneration agenda that is both ambitious and visible. Working at the heart of the Council’s Place and Regeneration Programmes team, you will operate across some of the most high-profile and complex projects in the country. Leeds is delivering one of the most ambitious and diverse regeneration programmes in the UK. This is a city investing in growth, infrastructure, housing, innovation and place-making of national and international significance. This is an environment where regeneration is not theoretical, it is happening now.
We are therefore building capacity to deliver the next era of growth for Leeds, and are now looking for x3 Principal Place and Regeneration Managers to play a central role in shaping and delivering this agenda.
You will be working on live, high-profile projects with real visibility and long-term impact, helping to unlock investment, shape major development opportunities and deliver regeneration that will define the future of the city – delivering long lasting benefits for communities.
These are technical and commercial specialist roles for someone who understands how to turn strategy into delivery, working across and through partnerships, unlocking sites and making things happen.
Three Distinct Roles
Role 1: Culture & Heritage and Spatial Programmes
You will co-ordinate the delivery of culture and heritage programmes - leveraging the Council’s role as a funder and the utilisation of wider technical + commercial tools, to secure heritage and cultural led physical regeneration.
You will play an integral role in driving the delivery of:
- Temple Works - grant, Homes England partnership, potential delivery of the British Library North, comprehensive area regeneration through land disposal/ developer selection.
- Royal Armouries Waterfront – Grant.
- Neighbourhood Regeneration - Morley Investment Fund & Heart of Holbeck.
- Lower Kirkgate Comprehensive Regeneration via various interventions.
- Technical enabler - Designing and delivering bespoke interventions to drive growth at priority heritage and cultural locations – utilising technical and commercial tools to co-ordinate and enable delivery.
- Global Positioning - Supporting Place Marketing of Leeds to position our anchor project work on a global scale, supporting Inward Investment colleagues.
- South Leeds Gateway Regeneration - covering Key Account Management, Visioning, evidence base, infrastructure scoping, convening work with landowners and developing and implementing interventions to stimulate regeneration through a broad technical toolkit.
This role will be suited to applicants with deep experience of commercial transactions such as administering public grants/ loan to third parties (particularly on culture and heritage assets) developing business cases, funding bids but most importantly, you will have exceptional stakeholder management skills and an ability to drive spatial regeneration beyond any funding agreement. As a built environment specialist, you will be able to utilise development and commercial expertise to drive partnership working that unlocks the delivery of large-scale spatial programmes. You will be comfortable leading financial transactions but also utilising a broader toolkit beyond funding to drive and secure regeneration adjacent to grant/ loan investments through leading spatial programmes, including co-ordinating land assembly, land disposals and utilisation of Council powers to achieve delivery.
The role is more than just process, transactions or governance compliance, but about driving forward commercially, politically and technically difficult projects in line with public law and having the ability to project our ambition to local, regional, national and international audiences. You will understand and be experienced in working within cultural and heritage focussed regeneration and be passionate about how such assets can help Leeds achieve its international ambitions.
Role 2: Economic and Spatial Programmes
You will co-ordinate the delivery of major spatial programmes to deliver place and real estate solutions to achieve major economic growth for key sectors identified in the Leeds Economic Vision through physical regeneration.
You will play an integral role in driving the delivery of
- North-West Leeds Employment Hub - land assembly, developer procurement and Joint Venture formation.
- Elland Road Neighbourhood - investor partnership, positioning and development agreement for development of 30 acres of land and regeneration delivery strategy.
- Microsoft AI Opportunity Zone - defining with partners spatial vision and regeneration delivery plan to complement Microsoft’s investment.
- Technical enabler - Designing and delivering bespoke interventions to drive economic growth through physical regeneration at priority locations: utilising technical and commercial tools to co-ordinate and enable delivery.
- Place Marketing - supporting the Place Marketing of Leeds and major real estate focussed inward investment missions and cases, supporting Inward Investment colleagues.
- Innovation Arc/ Investment Zone/ Northern Square Mile - covering Key Account Management, Visioning, evidence base, infrastructure scoping, convening work with landowners and developing and implementing interventions to stimulate regeneration through a broad technical toolkit.
This role will be suited to applicants with deep experience of building and delivering deep rooted partnerships to drive growth as well as real estate focussed inward investment. You will have a full appreciation of the challenges/ opportunities of Leeds’ priority sectors and how to translate this to delivery through our built environment.
Through a real estate lens, you will have substantial experience working across professional disciplines such as economic development policy professionals, surveyors and planners to deliver high impact economic growth through physical regeneration. You will be comfortable and experienced in real estate focussed inward investment and city promotion and possess wide-ranging technical and commercial experiences to drive delivery– from authoring business cases, authoring Regeneration Frameworks, to designing and delivering developer procurements, undertaking options appraisals of delivery mechanisms, as well as designing and implementing real estate focussed inward investment campaigns.
You will have exceptional interpersonal skills and proven track record working on large scale and high-profile regeneration activities that bring partners together, an ability to compel a wide range of audiences, and significant experience of close working with developers and investors to achieve transformation.
Role 3: Housing and Spatial Programmes
You will co-ordinate the delivery of major spatial programmes to deliver place and real estate solutions, major housing growth and increased affordable housing provision in accordance with the Leeds Affordable Housing Strategy.
You will play an integral role in driving the delivery of
- Mayoral Development Zone - enabling private sector and Registered Provider led housing delivery
- Affordable Housing - City Wide unlocking of third party led affordable housing through partnership
- Commuted Sums - Grant Programme leadership
- East of Otley - LCC Co-ordination.
- Technical Viability - Undertaking and appraising viability assessments.
- Unlocking growth - Designing and delivering bespoke interventions to drive housing growth at priority locations; utilising technical and commercial tools to co-ordinate and enable delivery.
- Strategic partnerships - with Homes England, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Registered Providers and others.
- West End Riverside & Potential New Town - covering Key Account Management, Visioning, evidence base, infrastructure scoping, convening work with landowners and developing and implementing interventions to stimulate regeneration through a broad technical toolkit.
This is a role suited to technical and commercial specialists with a deep-rooted understanding of development economics, viability, and development delivery, with particular focus on the housing delivery. You will have compelling experience directly delivering homes or working with/ for developers and or registered providers to turn strategy into genuine delivery. You will be confident and experienced in directly undertaking viability assessments, negotiating, convening partnerships, navigating complexity and conflicting positions and ensuring that delivery happens.
You will have the commercial and technical acumen to design solutions to achieve delivery of new provision. For example, you will be able to identify challenges, and lead complex technical work to achieve delivery, whether it be co-ordinating land assembly, leading on Joint Venture delivery structures, or negotiating grant or loans.
A key focus of the role is relational – building meaningful relationships with partner delivery agencies, developers and in particular registered providers. You will be passionate about affordable housing delivery and have the strategic insight to ensure Leeds can influence partners and policy to achieve our ambition. This role is ‘sleeves up’ and focussed on tangible delivery with one of the most ambitious housing growth opportunities in the country.
What we offer you
We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:
- a competitive salary of up to £56,293 and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays (starting at 26 days rising to 28 days and up to 33 days after 5 years’ service)
- membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions
- flexible and hybrid working arrangements subject to service requirements
- a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities
- a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further
How to Apply:
The Job Description and essential requirements are detailed further below, outlining essential and desirable requirements. These are technical and commercial roles, and candidates should have a relevant technical specialism/ experience and flexibility to work beyond their professional discipline/ interests.
Please upload in one document no more than 5 sides of A4 (size 12 font), both a CV (up to 3 sides of A4) summarising your career history, achievements, and to include a personal statement (up to 2 sides of A4) outlining your fit for the role in line with the Job Description.
Then, complete the online form for the supporting statement in no more than 500 words to describe 1) your motivation for applying for this role (role 1, 2 or 3), 2) your most recent salary and 3) any notice period.
Your application should outline your relevant professional accreditations, technical or commercial expertise and experience.
Read our guidance for further advice.
Please contact Lee Arnell or Stephanie McGourlay if you would like an informal discussion in advance submitting your application. To request a candidate pack, please email Stephanie.Mcgourlay@leeds.gov.uk
Lee Arnell - phone: 0113 3787717 email: lee.arnell@leeds.gov.uk
Stephanie McGourlay - phone: 0113 3782134 email: Stephanie.Mcgourlay@leeds.gov.uk
We welcome applications from everyone and actively seek a diverse range of applicants from all backgrounds and cultures. We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to, women, carers, veterans as well as LGBT+, ethnically diverse, disabled and care experienced people.
This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa.
If you do not have the right to work in the UK, you must consider your own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker visa route before applying. To be eligible for sponsorship you'll usually need to be paid the standard salary rate of at least £41,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. Ensure you are eligible before applying.
