Tell us about Southend
Southend is a great place to live and work. We’re a relatively small borough, so it’s a place where a strong sense of community persists, and where you can be close to the outcomes of your work. You can see the difference that services make to people’s lives and that makes it a really rewarding place to work.
We’re well known as a seaside resort and we are within easy reach miles of beaches and coastline. But we’re also only 40 miles from London and the transport links to the capital are excellent. We also have our own airport linking us to various destinations across Europe, so we’re incredibly well connected.
I think Southend has a great cultural offer. It’s a busy and vibrant place and there is always plenty going on in the borough – hopefully enough to cater for all tastes.
And what about the council?
We’re a unitary authority so we work across the full remit of local government service areas. Recent years have been marked by considerable improvement and this was recognised in 2012 when the council was named as council of the year. That achievement gave us a great platform on which to build – it instilled a real sense of pride and ownership in the organisation, and that purpose and confidence is still very much in evidence today. There’s a genuine appetite for change and we know that standing still isn’t an option. We have to continually challenge and test our thinking to ensure that we continue to offer the very best to our community. That makes it a challenging place to work at times, but it also means that Southend is a place where you can expect real opportunity for professional development.
How would you describe the working culture?
I’m really proud of the commitment I see in my colleagues on a daily basis. There’s a genuine desire to deliver the very best outcomes for our customers and a readiness to engage our service users in the decisions that impact on their lives. If I had to define “the Southend way” of doing things I’d say that it’s about being open and approachable – ready to listen to new ideas and willing to put in the work to see good ideas come to fruition.
Tell us about the role of head of adult services
This is an area that has undergone significant change and we continue to work closely with a growing range of partners to deliver high standards of services to some of the most vulnerable members of our community. Financial pressures remain at the forefront of the agenda and when considered alongside the demographic changes that indicate growing levels of need in the future, it’s clear that the focus of this role has to be on doing things very differently and shaping the partnerships that will both increase and diversify our capacity.
We place considerable value on good ideas – they are the fuel of our organisation. So our new head of adult services will be a person who can bring fresh thinking and different perspectives to services that are already performing well, so that we identify and realise all opportunities for improvement. They will benefit from considerable support from our elected members and our chief executive who see adult services as a corporate responsibility.
What will be the key to success?
We won’t deliver successful outcomes in isolation. It will be the combined efforts and contribution of partners, colleagues and service users that will shape a service that works. So our head of adult services will need to be a person who can listen, who can learn from others’ experiences and can translate that into action on the ground that can make a real difference to people’s lives. The authority together with NHS Southend-on-Sea clinical commissioning group, Southend university hospital NHS foundation trust, and South Essex partnership university NHS foundation trust is one of fourteen integrated care service pioneers announced by the government last year. This recognises the strong working relationship with our health service colleagues that is already in place.
Tell us a bit more about the team within which this role sits
Early in 2013, Southend borough council took the decision to create a single people directorate, covering children’s and adult services (as well as learning, commissioning and housing). This created an innovative new structure for effective planning and delivery of services in a streamlined and genuinely customer-centred way. It is designed as a strategic response to current significant challenges, particularly those driven by budget reductions, as well as the funding and service challenges of the future. The role will be one of four heads of service within the directorate and will be responsible for an annual budget in the region of £40 million.
Where will the right person be now?
We have a very open mind about who might take up this opportunity. Not in relation to the professional skills and experience they will need to present; candidates need to assure us that they have the professional credibility and personal presence to make an immediate impact in this role. However, we are very happy to consider applications from individuals who would like to take on the role on a fixed term rather than a permanent contract. Our focus is very much on the outcomes that we need to deliver, so we are keen to invite expressions of interest from as wide an audience as possible, and will consider alternative approaches to delivering those outcomes.
Find out more about this opportunity here.
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