Strategic Children & Families Lead

As a key member of the Strategy, Governance and Planning Team, you will provide business management expertise to support the effective coordination of the Directorate savings improvement programme and offer support to the Director of Children and Families (DCS) and Head of Strategic Governance, Planning and Improvement in managing strategic governance and the political interface. This will include day to day financial data management together with analysis and collation of savings targets as well as tracking of saving delivery and associated activity. The post holder will also be centre to supporting the management of the Directorate's internal and external profile, offering robust responses to emerging issues and unexpected issues along with supporting the Directorate's approach to communication, engagement, and participation. In summary, this is a strategic role supported by operational arrangements, the post is designed and positioned to strengthen the Directorate's grip and coordination across the programme management of our savings programme, high profile public relations and communications and day to day emerging priorities., Please ensure that your supporting statement does not exceed 1500 words, we will only consider information that falls within the stipulated word limit. We encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the communities we serve. Our data tells us that for this level of role, ethnic minorities are underrepresented and therefore we will use positive action to support us to achieve diverse shortlists. This may mean that recruitment times are a little longer, but we think this is worth it to achieve our aim. We recognise and value the importance of a healthy work life balance and support flexible working arrangements. We believe that the success of the Directorate, relies on the strength of professional working relationships and our ability to facilitate engagement and participation. We actively promote the benefits of time in the office to connect with colleagues, collaborate on workstreams and remain connected to your team and our communities of partners across Birmingham. Therefore, whilst the role is hybrid, the post holder will be required to work from Birmingham City Council buildings as business needs dictate. Interviews for this post will take place in-person. Shortlisted candidates will be provided with further information. Birmingham City Council is an accredited Disability Confident Leader employer, and we are committed to employing, retaining and developing all of our people. We want to ensure your recruitment journey with us is a positive and equitable one, so please let us know if there are any reasonable adjustments, additional support, accessibility needs, or if there is any way in which we can support you through your application. We welcome applications from people with caring responsibilities and flexible working options will be considered. A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check will be undertaken Proof of Right to work in the UK will be required for all applicants in accordance with UK Home Office requirements, before any employment offer can be confirmed.

In a city facing unprecedented financial challenges, we are looking for a dynamic, bold, ambitious and solution focussed Strategic Lead to join our new and expanding team. We are working across a large, diverse city, across multiple services through a challenging, yet exciting time of transformation and improvement. This is an incredible opportunity for an experienced strategic thinker with the skills and knowledge to make a continuous meaningful impact. With your ability to drive progress and set clear objectives, you will have credible experience of building effective working relationships with stakeholders and negotiating and influencing at all levels. Putting children, young people, and families across Birmingham first at all times is at the heart of everything you do, you will manage resources, operate within financial priorities to deliver value for money for the Council and our strategic partners while ensuring the best possible services and outcomes for children, young people and families. You will be an experienced, driven, creative and a passionate advocate for children and young people. You will work to instil a nurturing empathetic culture that values high-performance, and inclusivity, shaping and developing the skills of your team so that each and every person can get the most from their role, feeling encouraged to thrive.

Do you want to make a real difference for children, young people, and families in Birmingham? Do you have a passion for collaborative strength based, relationship centred decision making and service design and provision? Outside of London, Birmingham is the UK's most diverse city and has the largest number of young people in its city than any of its European counterparts. Birmingham is on a journey of significant change, ready to reset, reshape and restart. To do this well we recognise that we need to strengthen our permanent arrangements across fundamental functions by increasing internal expertise and capacity. Birmingham's Children and Families Directorate are recruiting a series of posts to expand the Strategy, Governance and Planning service. This is truly an exciting opportunity to showcase your skills, knowledge, and experience to facilitate meaningful change for the children, young people, and families of Birmingham. Our team ethos is centred on appreciation for individuality and individual contribution and expertise and the value of this to the team's collective success and ability to sustain positive outcomes. We strive to ensure that our working environment is inclusive, supportive, and empowering., Working for Birmingham City Council is more than just a job; it's about making life better for the 1 million plus people who live and work in the city., The Council is a fantastic place to work. You will find an organisation that is both challenging and supportive; with a leadership impatiently adventurous in its pursuit of excellence. There is a clear vision which is ensuring that the Council is working for communities today and building for tomorrow, we focus our resources on five key priorities:

• A Prosperous Birmingham: through a focus on inclusive economic growth, tackling unemployment, attracting inward investment, and maximising the benefits of the Commonwealth Games.
• An Inclusive Birmingham: through a focus on tackling poverty and inequality, empowering citizens, promoting diversity and civic pride, and supporting and enabling all children and young people to thrive.
• A Safe Birmingham: through a focus on making the city safer, safeguarding vulnerable citizens, increasing affordable housing, and tackling homelessness.
• A Healthy Birmingham: through a focus on tackling health inequalities, encouraging physical activity and healthy living, supporting mental health, and improving outcomes for adults with disabilities and older people.
• A Green Birmingham: through a focus on street cleanliness, improving air quality, continuing the route to net zero, and becoming a city of nature.
We see the Council's role as providing strategic leadership - that's being able to visualise a new future for the city and equipping others to share our vision. We want to ensure the provision of services for all, so we can support those least able to support themselves by working with partners and putting citizens and neighbourhoods at the heart of our decision-making. We are always looking for people who put the customer at the centre of their approach, with a commitment to excellence to help us achieve our vision. We will support you to develop and thrive in your role, building a pathway for long-term success, with lots of development opportunities, such as apprenticeships.

In return, we will match your commitment to us with opportunities to grow and develop your knowledge and experience as well as other rewarding career progression routes. We also offer competitive salaries and annual leave, membership of the local government pension scheme, and access to a variety of employee assistance programmes, to support the well-being of our workforce., In return, we offer you excellent terms and conditions, generous annual leave, a great pension scheme, well-being support, annual travel passes and discounts at a number of city centre establishments.