Portsmouth (On-Site)
Temporary, Full time
Basic DBS check required
£50,000 - £74,999
FULLTIME
Salary: Band 13, £59,017 to £66,085 per annum
Contract: Fixed Term / Secondment for up to 18 months
Hours: Full time (37 hours per week). Part time (at least 25.9 hours) will be considered and can be discussed at interview.
Closing date: Thursday 2 January 2025, 23:59
Interview date: Wednesday 8 January 2025
Portsmouth City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and young people, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. It is also committed to promoting quality childcare across the city that works to improve outcomes for children.
Every post is subject to PCC and Portsmouth Safeguarding Children’s Board safer recruitment procedures.
Why come to live and work in Portsmouth?
Portsmouth is a great waterfront city and a vibrant place to live and work. It is an island city with an “inner city” feel, a seaside location packed with attractions and events, and the advantage of fantastic countryside on its doorstep. With fast road and rail links to London, Brighton and major airports, and ferry links to Europe, it is the perfect place to live and work. Portsmouth has a strong history of partnership working and has successfully integrated several local services.
The Service:
The Sufficiency and Resources Service is responsible for school place planning and school building projects. We work in partnership with mainstream and specialist settings to ensure that the growing number of children with SEND have access to good quality provision, improving outcomes for children and young people whilst also demonstrating value for money.
Your New Role:
You will develop robust internal and multi-agency governance arrangements to provide the mandate and direction for a co-ordinated local area response to the pressure on the High Needs Block (HNB) of the Dedicated Schools Grant. You will project manage the action plan, with regular updating, monitoring (RAG rating) and reporting to the working group on progress and timelines.
You will work with education colleagues to develop an evidence-led approach to the identification of opportunities to mitigate the pressure on the HNB, and with Finance colleagues to establish and support financial management processes and controls to embed sustainability at the heart of HNB service planning, design and delivery.
You will develop strong working relationships with external stakeholders and internal colleagues. You will chair and facilitate meetings, work with service managers and delivery partners, and manage expectations. You will produce regular reports, identify and manage risks, analyse data and translate it into proposals for action.
Please read the job profile for the full details of this role.
What you'll need to succeed:
You have a degree and a programme management qualification, or can demonstrate equivalent knowledge, skills and experience. You have proven and successful project management experience (ideally within SEND), and experience in developing pragmatic approaches and structured plans to bring about change in public sector organisations. You have experience of leading savings / cost avoidance driven strategic service developments. You have experience of developing a complex evidence base, and of the practical application of this to support strategic decision making within the public sector. You have strong communication, collaboration and organisational skills, and confidence in leading projects. You also have excellent analytical skills, and confidence in presenting highly accurate and relevant quality data.
Please read the job profile for the full details of this role.
You will need to demonstrate that you have the Right to Work in the UK. No post will be offered without it.
What you'll get in return:
We really appreciate our employees and fully realise they are essential to our success and look to offer an inclusive, supportive working environment where employees can reach their potentials with a healthy work life balance, offering the following rewards:
- Generous annual leave (27 days per year rising to 31, pro rata for part time hours) with the potential to purchase additional leave.
- A fantastic pension which allows you the opportunity to pay in more for that greater return.
- Flexible working options including hybrid working with a minimum of two days office based per week pro rata, giving you the flexibility to work up to three days at home every week. Hybrid working is dependent on the role and service needs, exact details will be discussed with you at interview.
- Access to a wide range of training and development opportunities including apprenticeships.
- Extensive wellbeing support through the Employee Assistance Programme
- Discount on travel, travel loans and the bike loan scheme
- Discounts on a wide range of goods and services – access a range of discounts and offers from thousands of restaurants, shops and more.
Staff rewards: https://careers.portsmouth.gov.uk/working-for-the-council/
Additional Information:
The full job profile is attached here.
Contact Details for an Informal Discussion:
Alison Critchley, Head of Sufficiency and Resources, alison.critchley@portsmouthcc.gov.uk, 023 92 841 973.
Mike Stoneman, Deputy Director, Education, mike.stoneman@portsmouthcc.gov.uk, 023 92 841 712.
A commitment to our values:
We are committed to our values of respect, integrity, collaboration, inclusivity and being people-focussed. These values set out how we can contribute to the success of the council and our own success as individuals. Learn more about our values and behaviours.
Application process:
How to complete your application: https://careers.portsmouth.gov.uk/how-to-apply/
We are a disability confident employer - committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection process is inclusive and accessible and welcome applications from all areas of society.
Please submit both a CV and a cover letter/personal statement. Remember to demonstrate in your cover letter/personal statement why you are suitable against each of the points described in the 'Who is the Person' section of the full Job Profile, using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work / personal experience, which clearly illustrates what you did and the effect it had.
If you upload a CV without a cover letter/personal sta