Policy and Partnerships Manager

We are looking for an inspiring, strategically minded Grade 6 Policy & Partnerships Manager to join the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) of the award-winning One Public Estate (OPE) programme.

The OPE team is a highly collaborative, supportive, and diverse group operating in a fast-paced environment. This senior position offers you significant autonomy, stretch, and influence. If you have extensive policy development experience, deep property or asset management expertise, and are an expert at navigating complex political and stakeholder landscapes across central and local government, we would love to hear from you.

About One Public Estate (OPE)

OPE is a unique and impactful partnership between the Office of Government Property (OGP) in the Cabinet Office, Local Government Association (LGA) and the MInistery of Housing, COmmunities and Local Government. Established in 2013, we work with 98% of local authorities in England and have supported over 850 transformational property-led projects.

Our mission is to help central and local government partners unlock public land and property to drive regional economic growth, deliver integrated citizen services, and release land for housing (supporting the target of 1.5 million homes in this Parliament).

We are currently embarking on an exciting transition to an evolved, place-based asset management model. This includes shaping system changes across government and piloting innovative Local Asset Management Plans (LAMPs). This G6 role will be a critical driving force behind this transformation.

As the Policy & Partnerships Manager, you will report into the Grade 6 Programme Director and work alongside them to co-lead the team. As a core member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), you will steer, shape, and map out the future strategic direction of the programme.

You will lead our policy and systems change workstreams, designing solutions to break down historic barriers to collaborative public sector asset management. You will engage at the highest levels across governmentincluding with Chief Executives, Senior Directors, Senior Civil Servants (SCS), Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs), and Ministers.

Your specific responsibilities will include:

• Strategic Leadership: Act as a key member of the SLT, steering the future direction of the programme and leading a multi-disciplinary team alongside the Programme Director.
• Shaping LAMPs: Lead the development of the new Local Asset Management Plans (LAMP) framework, steering the co-design and testing of the initial model with a selected Pathfinder Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) or local authority.
• Systemic Policy Reform: Drive the policy interventions, engagement, and influence strategies needed to reform existing siloes, fragmented decision-making, and guidance across central and local government.
• High-Level Stakeholder Influence: Engage and influence senior stakeholders across HMT, MHCLG, Cabinet Office, NISTA, and local government to communicate the "size of the prize" of a collaborative, place-based approach to assets.
• Property Function Integration: Lead the programme's contribution to wider Office of Government Property (OGP) and Property Function-wide strategies, including the Government Property Strategy and Strategic Asset Management Plans (SAMPs).
• Evidence & Business Cases: Oversee the development of robust, evidence-based policy proposals and contribute to future Spending Review (SR) business cases to secure long-term investment for scaled-up place programmes.

Essential Experience

• Policy Leadership: Substantial experience leading policy development, reform, and implementation across the public sector, preferably at the intersection of property, land, or local government.
• Strategic & Systems Thinking: Strong political awareness and the ability to generate innovative ideas, navigate system complexities, and break down barriers between central and local government.
• Senior Influence & Partnership Mastery: Exceptional communication and negotiation skills, with a proven track record of influencing senior public and private sector leaders (e.g., Chief Executives, SCS, Ministers) to create buy-in and deliver change.
• Leadership & Delivery Through Others: Proven ability to inspire a team, give clear direction, make effective and timely decisions in complex environments, and manage multiple competing objectives simultaneously.

Technical Qualifications

Given the technical requirements of place-based asset management, candidates must hold (or be actively working towards) professional chartership/membership in at least one of the following fields:

• RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Member/Fellow)
• RTPI (Royal Town Planning Institute Member)
• MCIPS / FCIPS (Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply Chartered Status)

Additional information:

Cabinet Office policy is that a minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. For some roles, due to their nature and the business need, this may be up to 100%. Requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.