Job info	Job info details
Job title	Divisional Director - Learning and Partnership Hubs
Strategic team/Directorate	Children’s Services
Service	Learning and Partnership Hubs
Business unit	Learning and Partnership Hubs
Responsible to (day to day issues)	Director of Children’s Services
Accountable to (line manager)	Director of Children’s Services
Salary grade	HAY460

1. Key purpose of job

• To provide strategic leadership and management of the division, ensuring that creative and innovative solutions are developed deployed to improve long term performance, effectiveness and efficiency of the Division and wider Directorate, whilst ensuring that these services meet the highest standards of governance, finance, people, risk management, probity, and service delivery.
• As a member of the Children’s Services and wider Council Leadership Team, to take a collective and shared responsibility for service delivery leading to improved outcomes.
• To support the development and delivery of the overall strategic objectives of the Council, working as ‘one Council’ across the organisation.
• To positively promote and represent the Director of Children’s Services to manage the Directorate – driving performance, effectiveness, and efficiency.
• To work in partnership with stakeholders and communities, recognising potential opportunities for joint agendas, to develop, design and deliver services that reflect the needs of our community, and deliver the best outcomes for vulnerable children

2. Anticipated outcomes of post

• To develop and lead the delivery of the Learning Academy and Family Hubs, driving strategic objectives and ensuring that services support the overall direction of the Council.
• To ensure that the learning academy is suitably developed and responsive to need to enable the services for children to be delivered by a trained and skilled workforce
• To lead organisational improvements, reform, and change management in line with the Community and Corporate Plan to support delivery of efficient, high-quality services which enable resident choice and a ‘One Council’ approach.
• Provides clear, strong and motivational leadership to create a high-performance culture, both across the Division, wider Directorate and partnership that drives continual improvement and good or better outcomes for children and young people, efficiency savings and high levels of customer satisfaction.
• Opportunities are identified to deliver the strategic agenda and find means of realising the full value of those opportunities through direct action, securing the necessary resources, adapting policy, commissioning, and community and partner action.
• An excellent manager with the ability to delegate responsibility and provide constructive feedback and coaching to individuals in roles where there is a high degree of discretion in decision making.
• The Director of Children’s Services will be supported to ensure that the Council is an active partner in the Southwest and will be engaged in all initiatives and opportunities that emerge from regional and national collaboration.
• As a Senior Leader in the Council, the role will support the continued improvement of our cultural aspirations, role modelling and embedding our values, driving engagement and innovation, and promoting diversity and inclusion.
• Providing support for the Director of Children’s Services and wider SLT in providing strategic advice to Members.
• A moderniser with ability to think innovatively within general principles and national agenda to develop vision and direction of travel towards a responsive and agile service performing to consistently high standards.
• An effective and ‘visible’ leader with the ability to inspire and motivate, providing vision and direction, promoting a ‘can do’ attitude and an environment of creativity and innovation.
• Highly developed political awareness with an understanding about its application to develop and improve the service.

3. List key duties and accountabilities of the post

Leadership

• To contribute towards the corporate management and leadership of the Council as a member of the Senior Leadership Team, actively understanding the challenges and proactively and effectively support colleagues in ensuring policy objectives are achieved and services planned, commissioned and delivered in an effective and efficient way.
• To ensure delivery of budget priorities and the effective use of the Council’s resources.
• To lead on areas of improvement activity, policy and organisational development.
• Contribution to a high-performance culture by providing strong and motivational leadership to drive continuous improvement and efficiency savings.
• To develop a culture of collaborative working relationships with partners and communities to ensure the effective delivery of services and management of resources

Strategic

• To support the strategic leadership of the Council’s financial position, in collaboration with the Director and other Senior Leadership Team colleagues.
• To proactively engage in the interface between elected Members and Officers; taking a leading role in relation to policy co-ordination and performance management; assist and advise Elected Members and work closely with the relevant Portfolio holders.
• Support strategic leadership of the Directorate, ensuring that the development, design, and delivery of services reflects evolving delivery models and supports the delivery of efficiency savings and high quality, customer focussed services.
• To assist the Director in ensuring that appropriate governance, programme management and stewardship for delivery of services is embedded within the Directorate.
• Ensure partnerships are created, developed, and maintained across Torbay, regionally and nationally in order to generate resources and opportunities.
• Build a cohesive management team that supports and delivers the Council’s Community and Corporate Plan

Service

• Provide clear leadership and management direction to achieve the efficient and effective operational delivery within services in the Divisional Directorate.
• Provide guidance and support to Elected Members to help them translate their political priorities into initiatives that deliver the intended outcomes for residents.
• Deliver on and when necessary update the service plan, ensuring that it underpins and supports the achievement of the Community and Corporate Plan and is aligned to the Children’s Service Continuous Improvement Plan
• Responsible for the strategic vision of the children’s service workforce plan to ensure the directorate has the right people with the right skills to deliver efficient, high-quality services to children and their families.
• Support the Director to deliver excellent client, management and contract oversight of all external service providers, ensuring delivery standards are met.
• Actively engage with the community individuals, groups, businesses, and public sector partners as required.
• Ensure that children and young people are involved in the development and delivery of services
• Lead on DfE Sector Led Improvement partnership support to other Local Authorities for the wider Children’s Services Directorate.
• Evaluate the impact of Family Hubs and the wider directorate for children and families and use the intelligence to shape service development and to respond to challenges and changes in demand nimbly and with agility.

4. Budgetary/Financial Responsibilities of the post

Management of a budget totalling:

• Learning Academy Budget: £1,234,172 per year
• Family Hubs Budget: Total £2,878,400 (for financial years 23/24 and 24/25)

5. Supervision/Line Management Responsibilities of the post

Direct reports:

• Head of Service - Quality Assurance
• Service Manager - Principle Social Worker
• Recruitment Hub Lead
• Learning and Development Hub Lead
• Youth Hub Project Manager
• Home Learning Environment and Early Years Lead
• Head of Service - Vulnerable Pupils
• Better Start Team Manager

6. Working environment and conditions of the post

• Office based with flexibility for homeworking on a hybrid basis
• Occasional weekend and evening work is required

7. Physical demands of the post

• Normal physical demands

8. Specific resources used by the post

• Laptop, Mobile Phone, iPad or similar

9. Key contacts and relationships

External

• Ofsted
• Department for Educatio
• Social Work England
• Higher Education Institutions
• Further Education and other Training Providers
• NHS Children and Family Health Devon
• 0-19 partnership
• Police
• Education providers
• Early Years and Torbay Safeguarding Children’s Partnership
• Central Government
• Other Local Authorities
• Other public sector organisations
• The Council’s auditors
• Private and voluntary organisations and employers

Internal

• Executive members
• Other Elected Members
• Chief Executive, Deputy Chief Executive
• Commissioners
• Senior staff across the Council
• Trades Unions
• Employees at all levels across the Council

10. Other duties

• To undertake additional duties as required, commensurate with the level of the job.

Other Information

N/A

Person Specification

Note for Candidate

All Candidates

The supporting statement on your application form will be used to assess ability to meet the essential requirements of the role, so you should explain how you meet each of the numbered essential requirements within your supporting statement. In a competitive situation, the desirable criteria may be taken into consideration, so you are encouraged to show how you also meet each of the desirable criteria.

Candidates who consider that they have a disability

Reasonable adjustments will be made to the job, job requirements or recruitment process for candidates with a disability.

If you consider yourself to have a disability you should indicate this on your application form, providing any information you would like us to take into account with regard to your disability in order to offer a fair selection interview.

Where ever possible and reasonable we will make adjustments and offer alternatives to help you through the application and selection process.

If you have indicated that you have a disability on your application form you will be guaranteed an interview if you clearly demonstrate in your supporting evidence how you broadly meet the essential requirements of the role.

Job info	Job info details
Job Title	Divisional Director - Learning and Partnership Hubs
Strategic team/Directorate	Children’s Services
Service	Learning and Partnership Hubs
Business unit	Learning and Partnership Hubs

Skills and effectiveness

Essential skills and effectiveness

• Excellent leadership and management skills, able to provide clarity to teams on the vision and purpose of their work and manage its implementation and delivery.
• Excellent analytical skills with the ability to interpret and deploy complex data and translate complex information.
• Strong track record of building and nurturing productive working relationships, able to influence at the most senior levels both inside and outside the Council.
• Ability to provide insight and strategic understanding around the current and future landscape of Children’s Services.
• Ability to show strong financial management.
• Highly effective communication skills, able to influence others with impact and professional credibility.
• Ability to work with and manage demands of elected members and their priorities.
• Ability to deliver creative and innovative solutions to improve the use of resources and achieve value for money across the Directorate.
• As this post meets the requirements of the Immigration Act 2016 (part 7), the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post

Desirable skills and effectiveness

• Experience of working in a similar role in the public sector.
• Experience of working with Elected Members and of dealing with politically sensitive issues

Knowledge

Essential knowledge

• Knowledge and understanding of the transformation of family and start for life landscape and the challenges facing Children’s Services and wider Local Authority.
• Significant experience of managing Quality Assurance and delivering resulting service improvement within Children’s Services and wider partnership.
• Experience of managing budgets.
• Extensive knowledge of Learning and Development within a Children’s Services context
• Detailed understanding of the function of social care services
• Detailed knowledge of legislation, national guidance and procedures specific to Children’s Social Care.
• Understanding of Children’s health and wellbeing agenda
• Thorough knowledge and understanding of current professional practice issues in relation to early help, children in need, child protection, children looked after and care leavers and the related interdependencies with partner agencies.
• An extensive knowledge of social work practice models and associated tools.
• Knowledge and understanding of how changes in the economic, political, social and organisation climate can impact on the organisation

Desirable knowledge

N/A

Experience and achievements

Essential experience and achievements

• Experience of managing and improving service delivery within a complex work environment.
• Experience of building high performing teams and providing inspirational leadership to teams, driving a high-performance culture.
• Highly motivated senior leader, able to act as a role model to team members and peers.
• An inspiring leader, able to engage team members to deliver exceptional performance in a challenging environment.
• Significant experience of working with partners and communities for the benefit of the Service and wider Council.
• Adaptable and flexible to meet a variety of challenges.
• Extensive experience of developing workforce development strategies that delivery a highly skilled and competent workforce, including succession planning and talent management.
• Innovative, change champion, who is happy to challenge the status quo.
• A passionate role model of the values of the Council.

Desirable experience and achievements

• Experience of working within children’s health and wellbeing services.

Qualifications/professional memberships

Essential qualifications/professional memberships

• Relevant degree or equivalent experience
• Educated to master’s level or significant demonstrable experience.
• Commitment to continued personal and professional development.

Desirable qualifications/professional memberships

• Project management qualification or equivalent
• Management qualification

Other requirements

Other requirements of the job role

• Demonstrates a commitment to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people
• Ability to travel efficiently around the Bay/South West/UK in order to carry out duties
• Ability to accommodate unsociable hours
• Ability to accommodate on-call working
• Ability to accommodate occasional home-working