About the role
Home to School Transport is a high profile service for the Council, assessing and then commissioning transport through commercial contractors to ensure that young people can access education. The service also provides transport for social care, on behalf of both Children’s and Adult’s services.
The post holder will be accountable for the performance of the Home to School Transport service providing leadership, guidance and support to the team, whilst achieving best value for North Northamptonshire Council, and maintaining the required standard of service provision.
At the heart of our service are children and young people, many of whom have additional needs requiring extra, and sometimes specialist, support. Understanding the challenges that these young people face will help you and your team make the correct decisions and identify appropriate transport solutions. You will work closely with your team and other stakeholders, both internal and external to the Council, to ensure that the service user experience is consistently excellent and that the service we deliver represents the best value for all.
What will you be doing?
You will lead and direct a team of 20 staff, managing the delivery of the Home to School Transport service so that it is efficient and suitable to meet the service users' needs. You will be accountable for ensuring that legislation is complied with at all times, including procurement and commissioning processes, and that the solutions devised and delivered are safe and effective, as well as affordable within the annual budget of around £18m.
You will use your experience and expertise to identify and report on trends in demand and costs, enabling you to highlight concerns to senior managers at an early stage.
You will use your negotiation and communication skills to develop effective working relationships within the wider Council and externally.
Your communication skills will be key to your success in this role, and you will be able to tailor your style to your audience to ensure that the message is delivered accurately and effectively – even if the message is not one that the audience wants to hear. You will have the confidence to make decisions and recommendations, but the experience and wisdom to know when to ask for assistance.
You will take an active interest in the development of effective working relationships with our service providers and in ensuring that they deliver the required service safely and in the most cost-effective way possible. You will need to support your team with site visits and inspections including visits to educational establishments and commercial premises and representing the Council and the Home to School Transport team in events and activities.
About you
You will be an experienced leader and manager, with an approachable and open style. You will have a good understanding of procurement and financial processes within a local authority environment. Experience with transport operations and commissioning, especially in Home to School and Special Educational Needs would be an advantage.
You will have demonstrable experience of working at a senior level, developing strategy and policy, and your experience of interpreting legislation and policy will enable you to provide professional expertise and knowledge to your team, as well as for Senior Officers and Members.
You will have a track record of delivering effective, practical solutions to problems with a background in logistics. This is a busy role with many potential distractions, so you need to be organised and able to manage your varied workload effectively.
Experience of working within a Local Authority is not necessary, but an understanding of how a Local Authority operates and is funded would be a considerable advantage, as would an understanding of working in a political environment.
Because of the need to visit educational establishments, you will require high-level clearance of DBS for working with children and adults, together with a good understanding of Safeguarding for all age groups.
Our benefits
We offer:
- a competitive salary
- a pension scheme, where we pay a significant contribution on top of your contribution. It provides life cover and ill-health protection.
- opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council
- generous leave entitlement (28 days, rising to 33 days) and bank holidays, plus the option to buy up to an extra 10 days
- agile and flexible working arrangements to help you with a healthy work-life balance.
About us
We are a new unitary council, established in April 2021; we are one of the largest unitary councils in the country. Our vision for North Northants is to be 'A place where everyone has the best opportunities and quality of life'.
Our priorities are:
- helping people live active fulfilled lives
- caring for our young people, providing them with high quality education and opportunities
- enabling a thriving and successful economy
- leading on a green and sustainable environment
- ensuring our communities are connected so they can shape their lives and where they live
- providing modern public services
Our values, as chosen by our staff, are - Customer-focused, Respectful, Efficient, Supportive and Trustworthy.
Your differences make us different - Achieve Together.
Attached documents
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