About Camden
'Camden is building somewhere everyone can thrive, by making our borough the best place to live, work, study and visit. Because we're not just home to UK's fast-growing economy. We're home to the most important conversations happening today. And we're making radical social change a reality, so that nobody gets left behind. Here's where you can help decide a better future for us all.
About the role
Camden is committed to delivering the highest quality services to meet the needs of our residents and businesses in the most efficient and cost-effective way we can. In Camden, the number of children in our care and who are care-experienced young adults (aged 18-24) has been declining, however, the costs associated with their homes and support (known as placements) has been increasing and has doubled each year for the last three years creating a £7m pressure on the budget.
We have recently scoped an ambitious 'Placement Sufficiency' programme of work which has been agreed at departmental and corporate management team level with Camden's chief executive. This short term, highly strategic and creative role requires a high calibre, experienced programme director that can mobilise across the whole organisation and wider system swiftly to deliver at pace the ambitious programme that has been scoped. The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate inspirational leadership and be able to galvanise and put in place capacity across the organisation. The role requires a strong track record of successful delivery and be highly competent at stakeholder management across the breadth and depth of an organisation.
This role requires input, support, and collaboration from across the councilespecially relating to adults, corporate services, property services, and housing. This is strongly aligned to our organisational responsibility as corporate parents and our recent commitment to making care-experience a protected characteristic.The transformation programme is informed by powerful commissioningthinking, looking at all the assets and strengths, focusing on outcomes and thinking creatively about the best way to achieve them.
A public health lensguides the overall programme to ensure the wider determinants of health are driving our thinking and approach to ensuring quality placements for our most vulnerable young people
To fulfil this role, we are looking for a candidate who can lead, manage, and motivate others to deliver projects whilst acting as a role model, embodying our corporate values and behaviours, demonstrating a positive attitude, and acting with honesty and respect for others. Excellent interpersonal skills, political awareness, and experience of operating in a politically sensitive environment are also important.
Example outcomes or objectives that this role will deliver:
- Lead the programme to deliver the agreed outcomes within time, cost and quality constraints
- Oversee all programme documentation in accordance with the organisational approved programme methodology
- Bring innovation and creativity to how the programme is delivered
- Manage two project managers who are allocated to support delivery of the programme.
- Track and report delivery against milestones.
- Effectively identify and align direct and indirect resources (outside and inside the programme) to support successful programme delivery
- Form effective working relationships with members and officers across the Council including at director and chief officer level
- Build and maintain effective relationships with partners and other external bodies and use these relationships to continually improve service delivery and promote the Council
- Actively manage the programme risks and issues ensuring mitigation actions are appropriate, implemented and/or escalated as appropriate
About you
Qualifications:
- Educated to degree level or equivalent
- Evidence of continuous professional development
An enhanced DBS check will be required for this role.
Technical Knowledge and Experience:
- Experience in leading major programmes and projects
- Delivering projects including taking work through from initial ideas to delivery
- A minimum of 3 years' experience in programme and project management
- A proven track record delivering outstanding performance in a complex organisation
- Co-ordinating and prioritising project work and resources
- Working with senior leadership and senior managers
- Awareness of the issues facing local government and the public sector
- Awareness of the financial management processes within the public sector
- The ability to apply sound judgement in responding quickly to fast moving priorities whilst also identifying and working towards longer-term goals
- Considering relevant data when making evidence-based decisions
- Considers diversity issues when making decisions and proposals
- Experience of delivering change in a large, complex organisation
- Working within an effective project approach and the effective use of change management principles and practices. This will include substantial experience of working in or with Children's Services or similar environment
- Highly developed communication, challenge and negotiating skills with the ability to engage with a wide range of audiences.
- Well-developed analytical and problem-solving skills
- A successful track record in developing effective working alliances together with a proven ability to network
- Experience developing external partnerships, with other organisations and stakeholders, to deliver key strategies and programmes
- Experience of working in a dynamic and complex environment, handling several projects, developments, and other business as usual tasks
- Ability to think creatively and be adaptable in negotiations to achieve the desired outcomes
- Aligning your work with the wider organisational processes and procedures
- Outstanding verbal, written and data analysis/presentation skills