Title:Advisor/Senior Advisor - Residences

Group:Care Services

Reports to:Manager Operational Support

Location:As specified

Direct Reports:Nil

Budget:No

OUR ORGANISATION

About us / The Ministry for Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki is a new Ministry dedicated to supporting any child in New Zealand whose wellbeing is at significant risk of harm now, or in the future. We also work with young people who may have offended, or are likely to offend. Our belief is that in the right environment, with the right people surrounding and nurturing them, any child can, and should flourish.
Our vision / Our vision is: New Zealand values the wellbeing of tamariki above all else.
Our purpose / Our purpose is: To ensure that all tamariki are in loving whānauand communities where Oranga Tamariki can be realised.
The Oranga Tamariki way / We’re introducing a new way of doing things. A way of looking at the world that guides everything we do:

Our core outcomes / Our core outcomes are:
-All children and young people are in loving families and communities where they can be safe, strong, connected, and able to flourish.
-Improved outcomes for all children, especially Maori tamariki and rangatahi.

POSITION PURPOSE

The primary focus of this role is to provide advisory services to the Manager Operational Support, our Residence Managers and General Manager Care and Protection to facilitate continuous service improvement within the residences. A requirement of the role is to liaise with and provide information and advice from a residential services perspective to Ministerial staff, external agencies and key stakeholders.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Key Result Area / Accountabilities
Practice Advice and Leadership /
  • To manage the placement, support and monitoring of children and young people in high needs and residential services and programmes
  • To provide evidence and practice based advice on placement and services for high needs children and young people
  • To support the monitoring and mitigation of risks across Residential Services.

Analysis and Advice /
  • Carry out analysis and consult across Care Services teams and other groups in Oranga Tamariki, to lead or contribute to service development, practice advice or other advice to support the operation of the group and services
  • Consult key stakeholders to form an integrated viewpoint and prepare advice for Manager Operational Support, Residence Managers and GM Care
  • Prepare and draft responses to correspondence on behalf of the Chief Executive, General Managers including management of Official Information requests and other reports as required
  • Participate in and prepare advice for the Manager Operational Support and the General Manager Care on, policy and service developments related to high needs children and young people, including interagency work streams
  • Provide support to Care Services team by actively contributing to policy perspectives/development as required.

Report Writing /
  • Draft quality reports, memos, correspondence as required for service development, proposals, and advice for the General Manager Care Services

Service Development /
  • Develop and/or enhance components of the high needs care continuum including residential and externally provided services.
  • Lead the design and implementation of standards, regulations, training and service development initiatives for high needs children and young people

Relationship Management /
  • Build and maintain effective and collaborative relationships with NGOs and private providers of services for high needs children and young people
  • Build and maintain effective working relationships with Oranga Tamariki social workers andOperations and with health and education providers and other external stakeholders.

Monitoring and reporting /
  • Develop and provide reports on the placement, services and programmes in residential and high needs

The Senior Advisor will also:

Key Result Area / Accountabilities
Practice Leadership / Provide leadership and national co-ordination to social workers and regional operations in relation to high needs cases referred to the National Hub, drawing on understanding of national and regional services and Oranga Tamariki best practice frameworks and processes.
Leading specific programmes/ projects / Take lead responsibility for specific practice, programme and service development initiatives and/or projects for Care Servicesincluding:
  • co-ordinating the activities
  • setting and achieving quality standards
  • providing specialist input as appropriate
  • tracking progress and providing regular status reports, (including issue identification and strategies to address these risks), for each work item on the project plan
  • Identifying ‘risks’ and escalating to the Manager.

Leadership / Mentoring /
  • Take a leadership role within the team in terms of facilitating and supporting change and team capability
  • Provide coaching and mentoring to other team members as well as support and advice as necessary
  • Represent the agency on interagency forums including taking part in inter-departmental working groups.
  • Present to Oranga Tamariki Leadership team and other senior forums as required.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

Internal / -General Managers
-Manager Operational Support
-Care Services Group
-Legal Services
-Residential Managers and Practice Managers
-Site Managers, Practice Leaders, supervisors and field social workers.
External / -Ministry of Social Development
-Police
-Youth and Family Court Judges
-Children’s Commissioner

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

Qualifications / -A relevant qualification is desirable.
Experience / -Demonstrated ability to work in collaborative peer and other stakeholder relationships.
-A working knowledge and experience of the Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act and its operation, as well as knowledge of the Official Information and Privacy Acts and other relevant legislation.
-Knowledge of Ministry for Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki, social welfare issues and operational policy.
Skills / -Ability to perform under pressure.
-Calm professional demeanour, coupled with a sense of urgency.
-Demonstrated ability to handle confidential material in a professional and discrete manner.
-Demonstrated ability to efficiently deliver accurate work on time.
-A consistently high level of professional and personal presentation in keeping with the standards of a General Manager’s office.
-Ability to generate confidence when dealing with Officials, MVCOT managers, staff and clients.
-Sensitivity towards Maori, Pacific Peoples and other cultures.
-Commitment towards positive outcomes for children, young people and their families.

POSITION COMPETENCIES

Competency / Description of success profile behaviour
  1. Client focus
The desire and willingness to understand and meet or exceed client expectations. Clients are those groups or individuals, internal or external, who use MVCOT’s services. / -Develops understanding of who does what and is able to refer client appropriately
-Maintains clear communication with clients regarding mutual expectations and monitors client satisfaction
-Acts on client feedback to change and improve service
-Corrects problems promptly and maintains a positive and professional approach at all times
-Adopts a “can do” attitude.
  1. Communication
The ability to clearly convey thoughts and ideas effectively. This may include listening, interpreting, formulating and delivering: verbal, non-verbal, written, and/or electronic messages. / -Adapts communication content according to the audience
-Chooses the most appropriate medium (writing, face-to-face, etc) and most appropriate language (level of formality/style) to get the message across
-Listens actively and responds to others
-Paraphrases information to check understanding before drawing conclusions
-Drafts full, clear and concise reports
-Draws together a variety of ideas into a single, coherent paper, structuring information to help others understand the key points of the message.
  1. Planning and organisation
The ability to identify objectives and develop effective action plans to achieve them. This may include using sound personal organisation disciplines, a methodical and systematic approach towards planning workloads and using project management skills. / -Prioritises work and manages own time effectively; takes on a realistic amount of work
-Thinks ahead, identifies potential problems, and gives early warning of any difficulties
-Keeps track of work requested and consults appropriately on plans
-Takes required resources into account when planning.
  1. Integrity
The ability to maintain confidences and trust, and to act in an honest, ethical and professional manner. / -Is honest, trustworthy and can be relied on for confidentiality
-Takes actions that are consistent with personal values and beliefs
-Demonstrates professionalism at all times.
  1. Information gathering
The ability to collect and manage information relevant to an issue through a variety of methods. This includes research, networking with others, observation, computer databases and sharing knowledge and information with others. / -Identifies and locates appropriate sources of information for routine situations
-Finds out the key facts from people involved in situations
-Gathers pertinent information from external sources
-Uses readily available information, or consults others who can get it.
  1. Technical skills & knowledge
Demonstrates specialist or technical knowledge and skills within one’s functional area (e.g. Finance, HR, Policy, QA, etc). / -Uses technical knowledge appropriately
-Possesses the technical skills and knowledge required to effectively deal with more complex or unusual tasks or problems
-Independently performs most work activities
-Provides informed advice
-Keeps up to date with current issues and trends.
  1. Team work
The ability and willingness to work with others co-operatively and productively in order to achieve group objectives. This may include informal work groups, advisory groups or committees and project teams. / -Participates willingly and co-operates with others
-Respects others and does one’s share of the work
-Supports team decisions and is a good “team player”
-Expresses positive expectations of others and genuinely values others’ input, ideas and points of view.
-Keeps people informed and up-to-date
-Shares all relevant or useful information as required.
  1. Problem solving & judgement
The ability to apply an objective, logical reasoning process to a problem or work situation in order to develop a conclusion or recommendation. This includes logically breaking down problems into different parts, identifying key issues and their relationships, interpreting, clarifying, analysing, explaining and developing recommendations or advice / -Breaks problems down into simple lists of tasks
-Understands simple linkages (e.g. A leads to B). Identifies the relevant issues
-Draws on past experience to solve the current problem.
  1. Cultural responsiveness
The ability and desire to show cultural sensitivity, awareness and understanding of diversity. This includes reinforcing culturally sensitive behaviour, being responsive to Maori and other cultural groups, effectively relating to clients from diverse cultural backgrounds, fostering a culturally safe working environment for staff. / -Understands and is responsive to the needs of different cultural groups in the delivery of services
-Maintains effective relationships with MVCOT clients and employees and understands their perspectives and priorities
-Understands the debates and practices surrounding the Treaty of Waitangi
-Interacts appropriately with Maori taking into consideration tikanga and kawa.
  1. Relationship management
The ability to interact with and develop effective working relationships with a wide range of people of different types and in different situations. This includes establishing formal and informal working relationships, developing win/win relationships and assessing and responding to individual behaviour. / -Develops and maintains positive relationships with relevant people
-Is considerate and demonstrates respect and tolerance for others.
  1. Change orientation
The ability to think about a situation, issue or process in new or varying ways and to generate new ideas. This includes the willingness to seek out and implement better ways of doing things and to embrace change. This may include: thinking of situations from different points of view, being alert to opportunities for new ideas, accepting and welcoming new ways of doing things and adapting to change in the work environment. / -Is willing to accept that there are ways to do one’s job better and to improve the current way of working
-Demonstrates a limited ability to suggest and contribute new ideas or improvements
-Stays positive when change is introduced.
  1. Self development
The ability and desire to take ownership of one’s development and to proactively pursue opportunities to learn and develop. This may include recognising opportunities for self-development, taking responsibility for remaining competent and learning from mistakes and successes. / -Keeps up to date with knowledge required to perform the job
-Attends training or development courses when arranged.

Position Description – Advisor-Senior-Advisor-Residential-Services 1