HAY Job Description Senior Manager

/ Job Title / Head of Commissioning, Contracting and Market Management
Department / Community Well-Being
Section / Commissioning and Quality
Grade / Hay 4
Reports to / Operational Director, Adult Social Care
Staffing Responsibility / 3 direct reports. Total staff group of 45.
Organisation / Please attach organisation structure.
Job Purpose:
  1. Ensure the delivery of a high quality and cost effective service underpinned by data-driven continuous improvement. Ensure that services meet regulatory standards and statutory duties where required, and are a model of best practice for the wider market.
  1. Lead in ensuring close working with the Direct Services and Assessment and Care Management teams. Take on leadership roles which cross cut the whole department, including chairing Quality Assurance Meetings, project sponsor leadership roles (for time specific projects), policy or system lead roles (such as Market Position Statement or Frameworki).
  1. Take the lead for Adult Social Care in corporate projects, championing the department and its objectives, ensuring the department’s needs are recognised in corporate projects and that it delivers on corporate objectives.
  1. Take the lead for key partnership agendas, boards and projects working with customers, carers, voluntary, community sector and statutory partners to build strong relationships which contribute to the delivery of the Council and departmental objectives.Ensuring the reputation of the department and Council.

Dimensions:
Annual budget responsibility
  • Directly controlled budget (Is the budget holder for) = £4.3m
  • As a member of DMT responsible for authorization of high cost care packages, and as the member of DMT responsible for all contracts and commissioning very significant influence over the total purchasing budget of £70m

Principal Accountabilities:
  1. Work collegiately with colleagues on the Departmental Management Team (DMT), and make a proactive contribution to delivering departmental and corporate objectives.
  2. Work closely with the Operational Director, Adult Social Care to support effective working relationships with relevant portfolio holders and partnership working, including acting as an effective ambassador and advocate with external organisations
  3. Provide strategic leadership and direct line management for three thematic teams who lead, develop and manage the department’s relationships with all external service providers: Residential and Nursing Homes, Housing Related Support, Supported Living and other Accommodation Based Servcies and Community and Preventative Services.
  4. To ensure compliance with statutory requirements and government guidance.
  5. Ensure the effective and efficient delivery of services by providing leadership and expert guidance and support to the designated Team Managers and staff teams, enabling them to deliver quality services to customers within clearly defined resources.
  6. To ensure the new structure for the Commissioning and Contracts Service is fully embedded and staff are supported to work in a cross cutting and multi-disciplinary way.
  7. Provide leadership to the social care market in Brent, and across the West London Alliance, with a particular focus on robust contract management and quality assurance programmes which make a measurable difference to the services and support the department purchases, and in terms of outcomes for people
  8. Deliver the internal and external change programme for the Department, ensuring there is clear focus on co-production, creativity and clear direction in seeking new models of support, and that the programme has measurable impact
  9. Ensure value for money across all the department’s contracts and individual purchases and that there is a robust and evidence based balance of cost and quality.
  10. Responsible for achieving National, Local and team performance targets, with a view to improving the quality of service delivery.
  11. Lead the annual planning, monitoring and review across the designated service area budget and other resources to enable the development of a cost effective business plan which meets the council’s financial and performance targets.
  12. Chairing Quality Assurance Meetings which allocate funds for high cost placements and ensure the quality of the assessments and support plans for those cases.
  13. Accountable for strategic policy development and planning in the lead areas of responsibility, ensuring that high quality effective practice and performance is achieved to meet defined performance standards.
  14. Take on departmental project sponsor roles in line with the Council’s OneCouncil programme methodology.
  15. Deputise for the Operational Director,Adult Social Care as, when and where required
  16. Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and all employees are required to act in such a way that at all times safeguards the health and well being of children and vulnerable adults.
  17. Carry out duties with due regard to the Council’s customer care; equal opportunities; information governance, data protection and health and safety policies and procedures.
  18. Undertake any other duties commensurate with the general level of responsibility of this post.

Job Context:
Brent Council:
  • Wide range of internal and external contacts including directors, senior managers, elected members, professional bodies, partner organisations and government functions involving the use of a wide range of interpersonal skills.
  • Partner other local authorities, public sector organisations and agencies, local businesses, the voluntary sector and other stakeholders.
  • Developing partnership working with key external stakeholders across the public, private and voluntary sectors.
  • Management and leadership of a high performance team.
  • Lead role in the development of the Council’s services in this area.
  • Operates within a framework set by Corporate and Departmental Management teams but with considerable freedom to shape services.
  • Leads on policy and development and ensures implementation of new legislative requirements.
  • Ensures high professional standards.
Adult Social Care:
  • Prevention: offering information, advice and guidance which enables people to make informed choices and take personal responsibility
  • Early intervention: providing people with intensive short-term assistance so they can regain and sustain their independence
  • Support Planning: ensuring that if people need ongoing support from us that they can access practical support which is tailored to suit their individual need and is designed to maximise their independence now and in the future
  • Zero tolerance of abuse: helping people to avoid abuse and responding swiftly and effectively if abuse occurs
  • Working with people, their families and their communities to find solutions which work for them and are cost effective to ensure we can support the maximum number of people.

Additional Information:
In this role you will lead the department’s engagement of the social care market where 90% of the department’s budget is spent. This means leading in terms of:
  • Innovation - inspiring and developing the market to bring on new services and support models working across statutory, private and increasingly third sectors
  • Quality - we work with over 100 providers who deliver services to the most vulnerable people in Brent although ultimately the providers themselves are responsible for the quality of that service and they will in many cases be regulated by the Care Quality Commission, our contract management function has a crucial role in avoiding and identifying abuse and responding effectively either with the organisation as a whole or through the Safeguarding Adults team in individual cases of abuse.
  • Value for money - from the market leadership role, to the delivery of a range of complex procurement processes to the individual purchasing of car and support, this function is fundamental to delivering cost effective services for 90% of the budget spend.

DBS Status / Enhanced DBS required
Politically Restricted / Yes
Person Specification
Knowledge, Experience Skills
Specify the knowledge, experience,skills and abilities required.
Knowledge and Qualifications
  • Evidence of significant relevant Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
  • A degree or comparable qualification and evidence of analytical skills, report writing and lateral thinking skills required for this level of post
  • Evidence of a relevant management qualification or sufficient level of management training commensurate with this level of post
  • A relevant social or health care qualification e.g. Social Work, Nursing, Occupational Therapy and evidence of current registration with appropriate registering body is desirable for this post but not essential
Experience
Track record of achievement at a senior leadership level in a similarly large and complex organisation including evidence of:
  • leadership of the social care market across all sectors ensuring a clear focus on quality through robust contract management arrangements and quality assurance frameworks
  • design, co-production and delivery of new service and support models through partnership with statutory and third sector partners which deliver measurable improvements in outcomes
  • ensuring value for money through the leadership of the market, complex procurement processes and individual purchasing arrangements
  • delivering customer focused services and service improvements managing demands and pressures on the service and tight deadlines
  • successful management of significant budgets and resources (including staff teams, purchasing, commissioning and capital budgets) to ensure that the service is effectively resourced to deliver to the required standard
  • planning for a minimum of one year anticipating priorities, changing landscape and predict the future service
  • successful senior management and leadership of operational services in a large complex social care, health or other relevant setting
  • successful management of significant organisational change including culture change, change management programmes and project management
  • successful development of a performance management culture in operational services and the delivery of high quality standards of customer service
  • ability to develop and lead on strategic policy areas and change
  • successfully working in partnership across key agencies and organisations providing leadership and working as a key team player.
Key Skills
  • Strong Leadership and management skills including people, performance and budget management
  • Communication, negotiating and influencing skills
  • Work collaboratively corporately and departmentally creating a strong team spirit
  • Strong role model who demonstrates a personal commitment to high standards of public service, honesty and integrity and professionalism
  • Strong analytical skills (analysing demand, priorities, trends and predicting future customer needs) in order to solve problems
  • Able to design, develop and implement solutions with a clear focus on evidencing the difference this makes to the service and our customers
  • Able to represent the department and council in internally and externally
  • Communicate open honestly: listening and responding to individual situations and the ability to have difficult conversations
  • Build honest, respectful and fair relationships based on dialogue and transparency
  • Keep things simple, learn from mistakes and challenge yourself and your colleagues to constantly improve
  • Take individual responsibility, but work as one team to manage risks and create seamless services
  • Work with partners (statutory, voluntary, service users and customers) to find solutions that make a difference
  • Recognise potential and actual abuse (of any kind to an adult or a child) and respond effectively
  • Show resilience and drive to cope with the demands and pressures of the post including the ability to cope effectively at times of crisis
  • Ability to work flexibly across service as and when required.

Version 3: June 2017

Job Evaluation Date: November 20131