Consultant (Public Sector)

About us:

31ten is an agile, independent consultancy and certified B Corp. Trusted by our clients and partners, we’ve been named as one of the UK’s Leading Management Consultancies by the Financial Times every year since 2020.

We work in partnership with the public sector to make places better for the people that live, work, and learn in them.

Integrity, inclusivity, social and environmental awareness are at the heart of what we do, and we collaborate with our clients to deliver sustainable change, meaningful impact, and better outcomes.

Work-life balance is important to us – we recognise that everyone has interests and commitments outside of their work and so we strongly advocate for working in the way that’s best for you. Whether that’s part-time, condensed hours, from home or the London office, flexible working arrangements are actively supported.

31ten works across Local & Central Government, Housing & Development, Education, Health & Social Care and Blue Light Services.

Our services in these sectors typically take the shape of:

• Customer, Digital & Technology

• Strategy & Transformation

• People & Change

• Placemaking & Regeneration

• Finance & Assets

• Procurement & Partnerships

• Business Cases

About the role:

As a Consultant, you'll play an active role in supporting the delivery of our projects across the business, working alongside senior colleagues to design and deliver a wide range of services to the public sector:

• Local Government Reorganisation (LGR): Supporting councils through the most complex phases of LGR, including option development, service and financial disaggregation, business case production, programme mobilisation, shadow authority preparation and early implementation planning.

• Place-Based Investment: Promote approaches that drive inclusive economic growth and long-term value for local communities.

• Financial Sustainability: Supporting organisations facing acute financial pressure to stabilise their position, identify credible savings and income opportunities, and put in place sustainable operating and governance arrangements beyond short-term fixes.

• Economic Strategy: Leverage public investment, catalyse regeneration and sustainable growth through local economic strategies.

• Social Care, SEND and Housing: Driving transformation of critical statutory services, including adults and children’s social care, SEND and housing, through commissioning and market management, service redesign, demand management, and system working with NHS and other partners.

• Strategic Asset Reviews: Deliver asset-based business cases, providing a framework for our clients for managing, maintaining, rationalising, repurposing, and investing in assets to maximise long-term value and support local growth ambitions.

• People-Led Change: Supporting organisations to deliver workforce and cultural change as part of wider transformation programmes, including post-LGR integration, financial recovery, service redesign and technology-enabled change, with a focus on leadership, capacity, ways of working and productivity.

• The Development of 'Places': Securing future housing provision through sound strategic decision-making, by carrying out option appraisals and feasibility studies, stakeholder engagement and business cases.

• Digital, Data & Technology: Supporting councils to deliver technology-enabled transformation, including data and insight, AI-enabled service improvement, ERP and core system change, cloud migration, and management of complex technology programmes.

• Structures & Delivery Vehicles: Develop a strategic approach to securing investment by developing and setting up trading companies, joint ventures and partnerships.

• Operating Models: Redesign of organisations to align with levers of change, including place-based approaches, redesigning how residents access services, and exploring new delivery models, including redesign following LGR or major service reform.

• Procurement Strategy & Advice: Provide delivery expertise via complex, high-value procurement exercises and route-to-market advice.

In this role, we’d expect you to:

• Communicate clearly and confidently, adapting your style to suit different audiences and client contexts

• Deliver high-quality client work — from data analysis and insights to well-structured, proofread reports

• Take ownership of clearly defined tasks, meeting deadlines and proactively flagging risks or asking for support

• Build a growing understanding of the sector, market and commercial context of public sector consulting

• Contribute to business development, from supporting proposals and case studies to building positive client relationships

About you:

A great ‘31tenner’ is a self-starter with drive and ambition. We are looking for people who can build excellent client relationships and work collaboratively within a team environment. But above all else, you must be passionate about social impact and working with the public sector.

We hire the person first, experience second, shaping the role around the individual. We recognise that every candidate's experiences and background will be different. We value a broad, diverse range of perspectives.

We’re keen to hear from values-driven candidates, with:

• Experience in consulting, or a similar client-facing role

• Experience working either for or with the public sector, directly in-house or in a consulting role for public sector clients

• A growth mindset, regularly seeking feedback and continuous self-improvement

• The ability to deal with ambiguity and to navigate complex or unclear issues

• The ability to think analytically, systematically, and logically, breaking down complex information to enable us and our clients to better understand them

• An active contribution to the development of our company culture, role-modelling our values and engaging with internal initiatives and knowledge-sharing

Benefits:

• 25 days annual leave + bank holidays

• The option to purchase up to 5 additional annual leave days (per year)

• Flexible working - part-time, condensed hours, home-based or office-based, with no mandatory days in the office

• Annual performance-based bonus (discretionary)

• Private healthcare package with BUPA and the ability to add family members

• Flexi bank holidays - the option to substitute religious holidays for a date that is meaningful to you

• Matched pension up to 6% of gross salary

• Enhanced maternity and shared parental leave

• A friendly and supportive working environment with regular opportunities for collaboration, team socials and modern offices with excellent facilities for staff in a central location

• Annual team away day and Christmas party

• Opportunities to get involved in our social value programme of volunteering and pro-bono support to causes that align with our mission

• Continuous opportunities for career development and training, including support to pursue professional qualifications (that align to our work)

• Salary sacrifice cycle-to-work, tech at home and electric vehicle scheme

• Access to our Payroll Giving scheme, enabling tax‑efficient donations to charities of your choice

Our interview process:

• 1st stage - Initial call with our People Lead

• 2nd stage - Technical interview - Includes an Excel test and case study / presentation task (2hrs, virtual via Teams) with two members of the hiring team

• 3rd stage - Values & behaviours interview - Final meeting with two members of our Senior Leadership Team (1hr, in-person)