Corporate Head of Change and Improvement

Kingston Council
Kingston
Fixed Term, Secondment
24 months
Full Time
M
36
£68,439 - £74,793
Per annum
30 days

19/05/2021, 23:55

w/c 1st June

This special place in South West London between the capital and the country has been a Royal borough longer than anywhere else - it is where the first kings of England were crowned.

Today it is a vibrant and diverse borough, with a long history and strong cultural and community heritage. Kingston's riverside location, fantastic retail offer, historic market place and church, parks and gardens all make Kingston town centre the vibrant space it is, and each of our district town centres (Surbiton, New Malden, Tolworth and Chessington) have something unique to offer.

Situated in Zone 6, Kingston is among the best-connected town centres in London – with direct train links from Kingston and Surbiton stations to Clapham Junction and London Waterloo, as well as Wimbledon for an interchange with the London Underground and Tramlink.

Kingston’s people are innovative and entrepreneurial, and have a strong sense of community pride. The borough has been home to great industry and creativity for many years, reflected in assets such as the Rose Theatre, the International Youth Arts Festival and Kingston University, which boasts more new graduate business start-ups than any other.

We have seen tremendous generosity and compassion within our communities, particularly in response to COVID-19, which is a demonstration of Kingston’s key strength. The council offers a strong level of support to vulnerable groups and those who need additional support, which has also increased significantly as a result of the pandemic. Like most places, the average age of our population is rising as more people are living longer, so we are working closely with residents to help them maintain their independence and further improve the cost effectiveness of our service to meet the ongoing rise in demand.

Kingston is home to people from diverse and interesting cultures and backgrounds, which helps to create the rich sense of community shared across the borough. In particular, Kingston has a large Sri Lankan Tamil community and is home to more people from Korea than any other part of the UK.

Purpose of the job - This is a strategically important and high profile role working collaboratively with senior leaders and other stakeholders to develop and embed a change and improvement culture across the organisation and collaboratively lead the Council's Transformation programme.

This role will be responsible for: 

  • Collaboratively translating the Council’s strategic ambitions and priorities into action, with well-defined programmes, projects and plans accompanied with the right capacity, capabilities and resources to deliver better outcomes at pace.
  • Ensuring robust and proportionate PPM and PMO practices are in place across the Council to enable the effective control, monitoring and benefits management that holds people to account for the delivery of better outcomes and Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS). 
  • Bringing inspirational leadership, programme and change management best practice, financial and technology awareness to stimulate innovation, drive insight and external learning, and provide effective challenge and delivery support across Council services.
  • The management of the Corporate Transformation team; the Business Improvement Team and leadership of the Transformation network working across departmental and organisational boundaries.

 

Like most places Kingston has been significantly impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic but the Council has significantly adapted the way it works, forging new relationships with its communities and partners; and embracing digital tools and ways of working to respond. The Council now has an opportunity to Seize the Moment and Shape the Future and has four thematic transformation areas it is focusing on with a vision to Maximise the Independence of residents, develop Sustainable Communities, become a Leading Council and be an Enterprising Borough. The Corporate Head of Change & Improvement will lead across these portfolio's of change, leading the Corporate Transformation team, the Business Improvement team and the leadership of a wider Transformation network that cuts across the organisation.

 

In order to successfully deliver the responsibilities of the role, you will need to: 

  • Have exceptional leadership skills, modelling a strong performance culture and constructively building achievement, confidence and skills in others

  • Have the ability to question and challenge conventional thinking, with a continual eye on the bigger picture in terms of the corporate context and external environment  

  • Have commercial confidence and the financial management skills to bring about demonstrable improvements in efficiency, value for money and income generation

 Role specific:

  • Hold significant experience of successfully leading large scale/complex transformation in a dynamic environment with financial challenges

  • Experience of establishing a new transformation or change function; developing a coherent vision, defining the value proposition and evidencing return on investment

  • Experience of strategically aligning financial resources with people resources, ICT and other assets to ensure strategic objectives are achieved

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

In addition we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff supported by our IT infrastructure, Google Chromebooks and Google Apps, which have acted as a key enabler for collaborative and streamlined working. The COVID-19 pandemic has required us to be even more flexible in how we work and manage staff workloads, ensuring they have the correct equipment and resources to be able to maximise their talents and looking after their wellbeing.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:

  • A market supplement of up to £5,000 per annum which is dependant on experience.
  • Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)
  • Three volunteering days per year
  • Flexible and agile working arrangements
  • Comprehensive learning and development programme
  • Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres
  • Interest free season ticket loans
  • Local Government Pension Scheme
  • Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
  • Zip car scheme
  • Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
  • Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
  • Subsidised gym membership
Please apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please ensure you refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. 

We pride ourselves on being a diverse, tolerant and welcoming Borough and we aim to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve. We are respectful of difference and realise the positive value of diversity in our workforce. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds and particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates and disabled candidates as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce.

We are proud to be recognised as a Disability Confident employer, and are committed to thinking differently about disability and taking action to improve how we recruit, retain and develop disabled people. We guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role.   

We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums, and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are an accredited London Living Wage Employer and this means that everyone working at the Royal Borough of Kingston, regardless of whether they are permanent employees or third-party contractors and suppliers receive the London Living Wage. The real Living Wage is higher than the government’s minimum, or National Living Wage, and is an independently calculated hourly rate of pay that is based on the actual cost of living.

The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.

Good Business Charter

This opportunity is closed to applications.