Assistant Director (Inclusion)
North Yorkshire
£88,177 to £100,200 plus relocation support
-
37
16th Oct, 2022
penny.keatings@northyorks.gov.uk
Job description

The Council has a reputation for delivering high quality services. Its Children’s Services are nationally recognised for their excellence, taking a national lead to share best practice. We are immensely proud of our track record and are committed to ongoing continuous improvement to ensure that our services are of high quality and have impact in the communities that we serve whilst providing efficient use of public money. For many of our residents, the quality of life is high but the needs of communities across our localities are diverse with some areas experiencing significant deprivation, alongside the rural nature of the county which impacts on accessibility.

The ADCS led peer review in February 2020 gave further recognition to the vision and ambition throughout the organisation… ‘There is a strong and clear council vision for children’s and SEND services and outcomes, shared across Members and Officers. The vision is clear and simple and is underpinned with a strong sense of what is right for children. Members described officers as committed and having pride in their work and the working relationship between officers and members is good.

It is an exciting time for the Council as we deliver local government review by merging the 8 district, borough and county council to form a new North Yorkshire Council for April 2023. The county council is the continuing authority, therefore children’s services are unchanged by this structural transformation. It brings with it the opportunity to improve localised services in this great county and secure greater investment through a devolution deal for North Yorkshire. A devolution deal for York and North Yorkshire could potentially unlock around £2.4bn of investment over 30 years, with a focus on improving the economic prosperity and future long-term opportunities for all residents.

We are strongly committed to ensuring children and young people receive the best education within inclusive and high quality settings that value diversity and individualism. High quality education brings alive aspirations for adulthood and ambition and liberates talent and ingenuity. We understand children and young people thrive within family environments and prioritise support to ensure this continues for the majority of children. We are recognised for our growing reputation for Children’ Services with our outstanding Ofsted outcome and our involvement in award winning innovative programmes.

 However we are mindful that there are significant challenges facing both children’s services and our organisation as a whole, including rising demand for services due to increased needs, changes in government legislation and the continuing the impact of COVID 19. We are well placed and experienced in meeting such challenges working with our key partners to identify opportunities for transformation involving external scrutiny and review to provide independence to our thinking and inform our decision making. We have positive and highly valued partnerships with professional associations, elected members, health, schools and settings and voluntary organisations at county and locality level to transform services to improve outcomes for children and young people and their families.

 About the role

  • We are now looking for an Assistant Director who is a confident and innovative leader with vision and drive to continue to drive forward the strategic vision for SEND and inclusion across all key stakeholders within a context of changing government legislation and focus. You will continue to strengthen and build strong relationships with key stakeholders to endorse collaboration and transformation.

  • We are looking for someone with a proven track record in inclusion across education and SEND across the local authority area, with the ability to lead and deliver complex transformational change with a demonstrable ability to do so in a large authority together with ensuring high quality and value for money.

  • You will understand and have the ability to navigate the challenging and ever changing children and young people’s landscape and above all you will have a passionate commitment to young people with a moral purpose at the core.

  •  As Assistant Director you will lead on ensuring stakeholders are meeting their strategic and operational duties for SEND and inclusion, as underpinned by the Children and Families Act 2014, associated legislation and government policy change.

  •  You will provide clear direction and innovative leadership to ensure the needs of children and young people with SEND and their families are understood and that partners work collaboratively to ensure that provision and services are high quality and meet needs across education, care and health. You will be confident in identifying and driving forward areas for transformational change to ensure services provide value for money and reflect lived experiences of children and young people and their families.

  •  You will be integral to the senior leadership team for CYPS and as such will play a crucial role in shaping and transforming the integrated approach across Children and Young People’s services and will contribute the cross cutting organisational themes beyond the directorate services, with a varied portfolio. Given our lean senior management system you will play a key role in the corporate leadership of the council, working with the Chief Executive, Corporate Directors, elected members, and other senior colleagues across the Council.

  •  You would be joining, geographically, the largest and amongst the best local authorities in the country at a very challenging and exciting time.

  •  Our success provides a great foundation to further shape exciting, innovative approaches, making their mark in this role and on a national stage.  This presents an ideal opportunity for an aspirational Head of SEND or related service or an existing Assistant Director on their journey towards Director of Children’s Services.

If you are interested and are inspired to help lead the next phase of our journey, we look forward to your application. We welcome you to contact Penny Keatings at Penny.Keatings@northyorks.gov.uk or Leanne Auton at Leanne.Auton@northyorks.gov.uk to arrange an informal and confidential conversation regarding the role.

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