South Gloucestershire Council
Service Director - Adult Social Care and DASS
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How You'll Make a Difference
As the Service Director of Adult Social Services (DASS), you will provide strategic leadership and direction for all Adult Social Care (ASC) statutory functions, ensuring services are delivered effectively, safely and in compliance with legislative requirements and council priorities.
Setting and communicating a clear vision for the service, you will lead transformation and continuous improvement programmes that respond to changing needs and deliver person-centred services. You will carry overall accountability for statutory compliance, financial performance and service quality, whilst working closely with colleagues across the council and external partners to drive innovation in service delivery and achieve strategic objectives.
Our service was assessed as Requires Improvement at the last CQC assessment, and our teams have worked incredibly hard to make progress to achieve a different outcome at our next assessment. You will be accountable for developing new options to deliver a more preventative approach, including the delivery of the Future of Prevention programme, on which we are working closely with our ICB and other local authority partners.
What You Will Be Doing
As an experienced Service Director, you will provide strategic leadership for statutory functions, ensuring compliance with relevant legislation and regulations, effective governance, financial and performance management and continuous service improvement.
- You will lead Adult Social Care services through a period of opportunity and transformation, setting a clear strategic vision that promotes innovation, drives organisational change and delivers sustainable, high-quality services that improve outcomes.
- Using your expertise, you will oversee complex programmes and initiatives, shaping strategic plans, policies and priorities that support council objectives, respond to challenges and influence the future direction of services across the organisation and wider partnership networks.
- It will be your responsibility to manage significant resources, including budgets, workforce planning, risk management and service performance, ensuring value for money, statutory compliance and the efficient delivery of services.
- As a trusted adviser to elected members, senior leaders and stakeholders, you will present clear recommendations, briefings and risk analysis to support informed decision-making and protect the council’s reputation.
- Building and maintaining effective partnerships across the council, health and care systems and external organisations, you will drive a collaborative service, promote equality, diversity and inclusion and support the council’s climate and sustainability objectives.
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What We Need From You
We require you to hold a degree and/or relevant professional qualification or have equivalent knowledge and experience. You must also be a qualified Social Worker registered with Social Work England.
- Bringing extensive specialist knowledge and expertise in ASC, you will have a comprehensive understanding of relevant legislation, statutory guidance, regulatory frameworks, local government and multi-agency working.
- It is essential that you have a proven track record of providing strategic and operational leadership across large, complex service areas. You will be able to demonstrate success in delivering services that impact communities and partner organisations, managing challenging situations and operating credibly at a senior level both internally and externally.
- You will have proven success in leading organisational change and innovation, including the successful delivery of complex, high-profile transformation programmes, with significant organisational, financial and reputational impact.
- Given the nature of the role, strong financial and commercial acumen is essential. You will have significant experience of managing budgets, resources and workforce strategics, with the ability to make informed decisions that deliver value for money, mitigate risk and ensure long-term service sustainability.
- You will have strong partnership, influencing and stakeholder management skills, alongside a comprehensive understanding of local government's social and political role, including knowledge of all relevant legislation, statutory guidance, local policies and procedures, national codes and multidisciplinary practice.
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What You Need To Know
- All applications will be initially reviewed and if you are shortlisted, you will be invited to complete a psychometric assessment as part of our selection process.
- This role is hybrid, with a mixture of working at our office in Badminton Road and working from home.
Interviews will be held in two parts, with a Leadership Panel on 20th August.
Selected candidates will be invited to a Members Panel on 21st August.
How a Career At South Gloucestershire Council Is Different
As part of our benefits package, you will receive generous annual leave (pro rata), employee wellbeing support and you will have access to a range of staff discounts, including eye tests, travel, shopping and leisure activities. We recognise that our diverse team of skilled and dedicated people make us a great place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and ensure that individuals are selected, promoted and developed on the basis of their merits and abilities. We trust our team to work in the way which allows them to make the biggest difference, and we continue to invest in technology to help staff do their jobs to the best of their ability and celebrate innovation. We value our staff as individuals, investing in their careers and we are recognised for the quality, breadth and depth of our training and development offer, which helps make the greatest long-term difference in work.
Our teams at South Gloucestershire Council are making a real difference to the lives of people who live, work and learn here.
We’re providing essential services across our internal network to ensure we can fully support our community. We’re positive and forward thinking, always looking for new and innovative ways of working and we’re ambitious about the future.
We've achieved a great deal, but we need talented and dedicated people to ensure we continue to make a difference.
We’re making a difference, be part of it!
To view the full job description, please click this link: Service Director Adult Social Care and DASS - Job Description
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