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Children's Services Strategy and Improvement Manager
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Children's Social Care
Children’s Services Strategy and Improvement Manager
Ref: 001668
Contract: 12 months fixed term
Salary: £47,181 - £51,356 per annum
Hours: 36.66 per week
Location: Spindles offices, George Street, Oldham, OL1 1LF
Closing Date: Wednesday 26 August 2026
Interview Date: TBC.
Role Overview
This is an exciting time to join Children’s Services in Oldham. We’re looking for an innovative and motivated person to develop and drive strategic improvement and transformation to help families keep children and young people safe and for them to have the best start in life.
If you’re looking to make a real difference, we are looking for people like you, to track progress, outcomes, and impact of improvement programmes across children’s services and co-ordinating directorate wide work such as business planning, inspection preparation and strategy and policy development.
For an informal discussion, please contact sheila.garara@oldham.gov.uk
Key Responsibilities
- To drive the development and implementation of robust Children’s Services strategies, improvement plans and local policy to deliver national reforms
- To track and evidence the implementation and outcomes of strategies, development activity and practice standards
- To work with senior leaders to deliver key priorities and projects
- Establishing a positive performance culture that delivers effective performance and continuous service improvement
- Provide effective, independent challenge, which is underpinned by robust evidence
Key Requirements
To succeed in this role, you will need as a minimum:
- Experience in leading and managing a high performing team
- Experience of working with a broad range of stakeholders, building consistently positive relationships, influencing senior decision makers and positively promoting organisational reputation and interests
- Well-developed presentation, communication, and interpersonal skills with an ability to explain complex information clearly and concisely to a variety of audiences
- Ability to work through problems, evaluate risks and offer practical solutions
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About Us
We want Oldham to have vibrant, safe neighbourhoods where people are proud to live with opportunities for healthier, more fulfilled lives; and a sustainable, thriving economy. As we look to the future, the challenges may be significant, but so are the opportunities. We’ve identified three missions with our residents and partners, focusing on what will deliver the biggest impact:
- A Great Place to Live
- Healthier, Happier Lives
- Green and Growing
We’re looking for candidates who will support us to achieve our ambitions and we encourage you to download our Corporate Plan: Ready for the Future and our Oldham Plan for further information.
Our Values And Behaviours
By driving innovation, investing in our people, and championing our communities, we will ensure that Oldham continues to be a place where everyone can live their best life. To support this, we have three core values which define who we are and how we operate. These are ‘Proud, Ambitious, and Together’, and they shape our culture, inform our decisions, and inspire us to deliver on our commitments to the people of Oldham.
We Have Translated These Values Into Five Behaviours Which Guide Our Actions And Are The Standards We Hold Ourselves To, Day In And Day Out
- Work with a resident focus
- Support local leaders
- Committed to the borough
- Delivery high performance
- Take ownership and drive change
You can find out more about our values and behaviours on our greater.jobs Oldham page
Our Benefits Package
At Oldham Council we offer a great benefits package for our employees, which includes the following:
- 25 days annual leave which increases after 5 and 10-years’ service
- The option to purchase additional annual leave.
- An attractive LGPS benefit pension scheme with the option to make shared cost additional voluntary contributions.
- Discounted gym membership with Oldham Active.
- Staff discount scheme for shopping, entertainment, eating-out, eating-in, travel, motoring and more.
- Salary sacrifice scheme for home and electronics and Cycle to Work.
- Wellbeing support, including a Mental Health First Aider network and an Employment Assistance Programme that provides 24 hours access to advice and support.
- Staff recognition and celebration events.
- Peer support groups
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Inclusive Recruitment
We work closely with employees to help them work at their best, including making adjustments such as flexible working, describing available working patterns, providing equipment or making changes to the workplace.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and therefore expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
If you have lived or worked abroad for 3 months or more in the last 5 years or 12 months or more (whether continuously or in total) in the last 10 years whilst aged 18 or over, please refer to the link below for details for how to obtain your Certificates of Good Character. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants
Unfortunately, at this time we are not able to offer sponsorship.
If you have completed the GM Elevate (Leadership Development) Programme please indicate this within the ‘About You’ or ‘Supporting Statement’ section of your application.
If you’re an applicant with disabilities and have previously been in or currently in care, a carer, someone who has served in the Armed Forces, or you’ve participated in the GM Elevate Programme, and you meet the essential criteria of the role, you are guaranteed to reach the first stage of assessment under our Guaranteed Assessment Scheme.
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For details of how we use your data please see our Privacy Notice
Important Information
Please note that should a vacancy that has been released for internal or external recruitment be deemed suitable for a current employee at risk of redundancy, it can be pulled back at any point, up to the post being formally offered to a candidate who is not at risk of redundancy.
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