£10K/yr to £100K/yr
London, England
Permanent, Variable

Business & Employer Engagement Lead

Posted by The Guardian.

Help shape the local economy and open up new opportunities for our residents.

As the Business and Employer Engagement Lead, you'll play a key role in bringing businesses, developers and local services together to create employment, skills and enterprise opportunities for people across Kensington and Chelsea. This is your chance to help build a thriving, inclusive local economy - one that benefits everyone.

Help shape the local economy and open up new opportunities for our residents.

As the Business and Employer Engagement Lead, you'll play a key role in bringing businesses, developers and local services together to create employment, skills and enterprise opportunities for people across Kensington and Chelsea. This is your chance to help build a thriving, inclusive local economy - one that benefits everyone.

Working Style:

You'll be based in the Borough at least 3 days a week, playing a key role in serving the local community. Whether you're working on the frontline or behind the scenes, you'll be part of a dedicated team making a real difference to residents' lives.

What you'll be doing:

This is a new role in a newly formed team, giving you the space to shape how we engage with businesses and deliver real impact. You'll work closely with employers, developers and internal colleagues to secure local employment, training and supply chain opportunities - particularly through major developments and Section 106 agreements.

You'll be a key player in ensuring that the multi-million-pound Earls Court and Kensal Canalside schemes deliver more than just buildings - helping unlock lasting economic benefits for local residents and businesses. You'll take the lead on employer engagement around these schemes, support negotiations with developers and work closely with Planning to ensure commitments translate into action.

You'll also support the development of the borough's Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) - including revitalising progress on the Earl's Court BID, which offers both a significant challenge and a real opportunity for change.

Working with colleagues across the Council, you'll contribute to our economic development plans, promote inclusive enterprise and business growth, and ensure that supply chain opportunities are reaching local firms. You'll also champion the role of local employers in supporting apprenticeships, work placements and skills development.

For further details, please review the Job Description and Person Specification.

What you'll bring:

  • You understand how to connect the dots between economic growth and community outcomes - and have the confidence to engage with stakeholders across sectors to make it happen.
  • You bring experience in enterprise development, skills and employment initiatives, and have worked with both public and private sector partners. You're confident negotiating with developers, understand Section 106 obligations, and ideally have experience of securing local employment or supply chain benefits from planning agreements.
  • You're someone who knows how to get businesses on board, and who sees opportunity in complexity. Whether you're working with a contractor to open up apprenticeships, or supporting the launch of a new BID, you know how to build trust, find common ground and keep things moving.
  • You'll also be comfortable with a bit of ambiguity - this is a new role in a dynamic context, and we're looking for someone who can bring energy, focus and ideas to shape what comes next.

Why join us

At RBKC, we're all in - investing in our people, our communities and our future.

This role is at the heart of our renewed commitment to inclusive economic growth - and offers the chance to make a meaningful difference in how developments and business activity benefit local people.

You'll be joining a collaborative team with a clear sense of purpose and a big ambition: to ensure that the borough's growth supports its people. This is a highly visible role that cuts across departments and sectors, offering lots of scope to grow your influence and develop your career.

You'll also be part of shaping the borough's future - helping ensure that investment translates into skills, jobs and opportunities for our communities.

About us

Kensington and Chelsea is home to diverse communities, thriving businesses and unique local places. Everything we do is focused on supporting our residents, strengthening our approach and creating a fairer borough.

As a competent and caring Council, we take pride in our work every day, ensuring our services are delivered with care and competence. We listen to our residents, act with integrity and work together to build a borough that is greener, safer and fairer for all.

In this role, you'll be building the partnerships that make real change possible. From securing training places through local developments to helping new business districts take shape, your work will help ensure that growth in Kensington and Chelsea works for everyone.

Interview Details

Face to Face interviews taking place 7th & 11th August 2025.

Ready to join us?

We're all in - are you? If you share our values and have the skills to contribute, we'd love to hear from you.

Please apply online explaining how you meet the requirements set out in the person specification and job description.

We reserve the right to extend or close this vacancy early without warning subject to the volume of suitable applicants.

We are committed to promoting equality and respecting diversity and welcome applications from all sections of the community.

We are a Disability Confident Employer - committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection process is inclusive and accessible.

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