AddressAbout The Role
The City Council’s commitments are set out in the Our Manchester Strategy: a) Young people having a strong sense of citizenship and pride in the city. b) Young people improve their health and wellbeing and be more active. c) Our young people are known to have a high quality of life, better green spaces and access to world class, sport, leisure and culture provision.
Responsible for strategic oversight to ensure that there is sufficient access for children and young people to access high quality informal education and leisure activities across Manchester.
Design, develop and implement effective city-wide strategies relating to youth, Play and Participation work and ensure the involvement of children and young people, elected members, partners and communities within this.
Ensure that there is effective and targeted Youth and Play commissioning and performance management of this within the City through working with colleagues officer and key external third and private sector partners.
Oversee the commissioning, distribution and performance management of activities targeted at addressing inequalities and poverty and improving the health and wellbeing of children and young people, including the Holiday Activity and Food Programme.
Develop and provide oversight of the implementation of a city wide strategy for the engagement of children and young people with the aim of increasing their voice and influence. i.e. Youth Council, Area Forums and other means.
Ensure that there is strong commitment and involvement from the service, council colleagues and partners in the City’s progress to being a UNICEF Child Friendly City.
Ensure that the service meets its relevant statutory, safeguarding and Health and Safety responsibilities when working with children and young people and in the delivery of commissioned or other activity.
Lead the ‘Keeping children safe’ theme of the Community Safety Partnership through working in a muti-agency way with schools, youth and Play providers, GMP and others to ensure children and young people are safeguarded.
Provide strategic support to the development a sufficient Early Help targeted support, including work on a citywide strategy for young carers, supporting the Work & Skills team to raise participation and reduce the number of Not in Education Employment or Training (NEET) young people across the City.
Oversee programmes to provide a range of new, refurbished and modernised youth assets across the City through initiatives such as the Youth Investment Fund and work with partner organisations.
Ensure that there is an effective Universal Youth Offer to maximise the range of activity and awareness across the sector, maximising funding opportunities and targeting of spread of activity across wards, working with community organisations and the sector..
Ensure Manchester’s children and young people are represented at a regional and national level and influence the work of the City and Council and its partners.
About the Candidate
You will be a key member of our management team who are proud and passionate about Manchester; supporting the delivery of consistently high standards of practice and be able to demonstrate our behaviours.
We are looking for someone who understands ‘good’ practice and can effectively work with others in a culture of high support and challenge; and is experienced in delivering improvements and is skilled in strategically leading multi- agency partnerships.
This post requires you to have a suitable qualification relevant to the role and will require you to undertake occasional evening and weekend working.
You will also need to have,
- comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the Youth, Play and Participation sector at a national, regional and local context
- a strong understanding of the legislative and policy context within which a Youth Play and Participation Service and the wider sector operates
- Experience of strategic planning and working effectively with partner organisations and the ability to develop business cases for investment decisions.
This role is subject to -
About Us
We’re the local government authority for Manchester, and have teams across the city helping to make this a great place to live for everyone. We’re proud to do local government differently, in a city with an international reputation for diversity, creativity, culture and passion.
When you join us, you’re joining a team of over 7,000 council staff helping to make our ambition for Manchester a reality. Whatever your role, you’ll be supporting our residents and communities to be the best they can be, and helping to build a Manchester that's fairer for everyone who lives, works, volunteers, studies or plays here.
To make our ambition a reality, every person we recruit needs to play their its part. It takes a certain type of behaviour, attitude and way of working to get Manchester where it wants to be. Our people and partners have agreed five ‘behaviours’ – the grounding for how we must work together and treat one another:
- We take time to listen and understand
- We work together and trust each other
- We show that we value our differences and treat each other fairly
- We ‘own it’ and we’re not afraid to try new things
- We’re proud and passionate about Manchester
A career with us means you can be yourself, thrive, and build the career your talent and ambition deserve.
Creating an inclusive team at Manchester City Council
At Manchester City Council, we strive to create a fair and inclusive workplace that is as diverse as the communities we serve. We want to further increase the diversity of our workforce, in particular the number of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff and disabled staff at all levels of the Council. This advert is open to all applicants, and we would particularly encourage applications from candidates identifying with one or both of those characteristics.
If you want to find out more about the role, our ways of working, flexible arrangements or any workplace adjustments, please let us know by emailing jobs@manchester.gov.uk. If you are invited to interview, we will ask you if you require any adjustments for you to best demonstrate your suitability for the role in the interview process.
Guaranteed Interview Scheme
As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role, and identify with one of the below criteria:
- Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
- Are currently in care, or have previously been in care
- If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition
Accessibility
As a Disability Confident Employer, we provide support for employees with physical or mental-health conditions, a disability or neurodiversity. Our workplaces are accessible by design, and we make workplace adjustments including providing aids, adaptations and equipment. These, combined with our flexible working policies such as disability-related leave, enable our employees to perform their role, thrive and be their authentic selves in work.
We’ve also included some useful tips on how to submit the best application.
When you join us
We want everyone to be able to be themselves at work and give their best. If you need additional support to undertake the duties of the role, we’ll make every effort to source any necessary aids, adaptations or equipment. If, however, any task proves to be unachievable, we will look at redesigning parts of the role.
Other relevant information
Greater Manchester Continuous Service Commitment
Who we are - Manchester City Council
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