Corporate Director - Commissioning & Partnerships

Corporate Director - Commissioning & Partnerships

About The Role

Working with the Executive Director and your own team, you will play a pivotal role in providing strategic and operational leadership to ensure the delivery of high-quality services for children and families in alignment with national legislative frameworks. You will lead our ambitious journey towards 'fit for the future' services, emphasizing value for money and exceptional customer service while supporting our digital transformation.

You’ll have a track record as a successful senior leader. You will bring significant experience in commissioning, partnership working and Early Help and be passionate about ensuring the needs of our children and young people guide decision-making.  

Proven achievements in decision-making, policy formulation, and service delivery will underline your leadership capabilities. Your excellent communication, negotiation, and influencing skills will ensure effective advocacy for the council at all levels.  

You’ll be financially astute and adept at leading large-scale transformation and delivering exceptional and responsive services. Influential, tenacious and politically sensitive, you’ll have the credibility and communication skills to unite a dedicated team and work effectively with key partners, including health and voluntary sector organisations.

We are looking to recruit a first-class individual with the right experience, knowledge, and dedication to help us improve the lives of children, young people, and families in Dorset.

Key Responsibilities:

• Strategic Leadership: Take charge of Children's Commissioning, Partnerships, Early Help, and Business Support teams to realize our vision of 'fit for the future' services. Lead the development and operational delivery of these teams, ensuring excellence in service provision and adherence to statutory frameworks.
• Collaborative Engagement: Work closely with the Directorate Leadership Team and Elected Members to contribute to the organizational vision, transformation, and strategic direction. Foster a culture of inclusivity, diversity, and excellence, promoting flexible and responsive ways of working.
• Change Management: Act as a strategic change-maker, shaping the evolution of our organization and translating our vision into actionable strategies. Drive transformation initiatives to enhance service quality and efficiency.
• Operational Management: Oversee a team and all associated services within, ensuring that services are robust to deliver corporate and service priorities and objectives making the most efficient use of resources. Provide leadership in early help services and practice development ensuring high standards of performance and quality assurance.
• Commissioning Excellence: Lead strategic commissioning efforts, including sufficiency planning and engagement with key partners. Develop and manage commissioning budgets effectively, ensuring alignment with the needs of children and families in Dorset.
• Business Support: Ensure the provision of high-quality business support services, promoting efficiency and digitalization. Direct the delivery of specified services to central and locality teams.

Qualifications and Experience:

• Significant experience in a leadership role within Children's Services or related field.
• In-depth knowledge of relevant legislative frameworks and statutory requirements.
• Proven track record in strategic planning, change management, and stakeholder engagement.
• Strong budget management skills with the ability to drive cost reduction and income generation initiatives.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to inspire and motivate teams.
• Relevant professional qualifications or certifications in social work, public administration, or a related field.
• Further Information

  Please contact Lateefah Sulaiman, Children's HR Business Partner, if you wish to arrange a short telephone conversation with Theresa Leavy for more details regarding this role. Email: Lateefah.Sulaiman@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk, Tel: 01305 221621.

  Interviews will be held on 17^th April 2024

  This post involves working with children and/or vulnerable adults and/or having access to significant information about them. It will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check. See our policy on the employment of ex-offenders. 

  See our policy on safeguarding children and young people. 

  This post requires significant travel. You must have a vehicle (or transport we deem suitable) available for use as needed.

  A generous relocation package is payable, of which up to £8,000 (of HMRC eligible elements) are free of tax. We can offer you help to move whether you are looking to buy or rent, depending on your circumstances.

  Our package includes:

  • an initial advance of up to £2,500 payable when you start
  • help towards fees associated with buying/selling (up to £6,500)
  • an option to receive help towards your rent or mortgage in the first two years
     
  About Us

  There has never been a more exciting time to join Children’s Services in Dorset.

  Dorset Council is a dynamic local authority committed to providing exemplary services for children and families. We are dedicated to delivering innovative solutions that prioritise the well-being and development of our communities. We are driving real improvements to children’s social care, education, early intervention, prevention, and governance at all levels and have a solid baseline of strong performance.

  We are proud to be one of three pathfinders, testing and learning  on behalf of the nation for social care reform.

  By working to a set of common values, we believe that our people can make a positive difference to the organisation and the communities we serve.

  The journey for Children’s Services is highly ambitious and already showing positive results. We are driven to enable continued improvement and ensure that outcomes for our children, young people, and families continue to improve.

  Our model brings together many services and support for children and families into six integrated locality teams across Dorset, supported by a central team of specialist services.

  Our priorities to improve the outcomes for children and young people in Dorset are:

  • Best Start in Life
  • Young and Thriving
  • Good Care Provision
  • The Best Education for All
  • Delivering Locally
  • Best Place to Live
  • Safe at Home and in the Community

  Dorset Council: A great place to work.

  We’re passionate about making Dorset a great place to live, work and visit. Working for us should be no exception. 

  At Dorset Council we: 

• provide more than 450 services to over 300,000 residents 
• have ambitious aspirations 
• are excited about our future 
• care about Dorset and all the people who live here 
• know that all roles make a difference and that our employees are key to our success 

You will: 

• have access to a range of employee benefits
• be part of an organisation that supports each other to grow and succeed 
• have access to range of training opportunities which will help with your personal development and career progression 

We are challenging ourselves to become a more diverse and inclusive organisation. We recognise that recruitment and inclusion of individuals with diverse skills, perspectives and backgrounds will bring real strength to the council and our communities. We have a commitment to equality and welcome applications from everyone. 

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We offer an interview to everyone who declares a disability and meets the essential criteria for the role. 

We are keen to make our interviews accessible. Let us know on your job application if you have a disability and need any reasonable adjustments. 

We also look for applicants who share our commitment to our behaviours. We will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the selection process. 

If appointed, the personal information we collect from you will be shared with Cifas who will use it to prevent fraud, other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct. If any of these are detected, you could be refused certain services or employment. Your personal information will also be used to verify your identity. Further details of how your information will be used by us and Cifas, and your data protection rights, can be found at https://www.cifas.org.uk/fpn. 

This role is UK based and we will need to establish your Right to Work as part of the appointment process. 

We use generic job descriptions and person specifications. This means the job title on any attachments may differ from the job title in the advert. We may provide specific information in a context statement if relevant.