Area Operations Manager

Role Responsibility

An exciting opportunity has arisen in our Adult Social Care Directorate, with the introduction of an Area Operations Manager in each of our four areas in Kent. This role will be on a fixed term 18-month basis.

The Area Operations Manager is a transformational role to support with the delivery and development of the locality model and drive and sustain place-based working. The successful applicant will work alongside the Area Assistant Director to establish local partnerships and drive forward transformation of integration and partnership working. This role will also link with Commissioning to build the market picture for the Area and influence local market shaping. It is a dynamic role designed to initiate and manage change in the pursuit of strategic and operational objectives.

About Us

This is an exciting opportunity to join our leadership team across Kent as we enhance our locality working practice and put the person and good practice at the heart of what we do.

Our social care interventions are structured around the three pillars of excellent practice, exceptional innovation, and meaningful measures. Therefore, our work is orientated around building relationships with the individual their families and carers. We engage with communities early on to help people feel empowered to find trusted help and support locally from a range of sources.

About You

You will be an experienced manager,  who can demonstrate post-qualification experience in Social Services, Health related agencies or related private or voluntary organisation. Educated to Degree or Diploma level qualification in a relevant field, registered profession of Social Work, Nursing or Occupational Therapy and relevant professional registration. You will have a management qualification or equivalence experience, including completion of Managing in Kent, or willingness to work towards. You will be able to demonstrate expertise in the supervision and development of staff, including performance management, and experience of  monitoring of complex budgets including prioritising and targeting resources in a cost-effective way,

You will have a track record of sustained success and achievement in a senior management role within Social Services, Education, Health Service, related voluntary Sector, or Private Sector, alongside experience of developing successful collaborative working and partnerships to improve outcomes for adults with care and support needs and their carers.

This role is subject to holding a Full UK Driving Licence – The Council is committed to making reasonable adjustments so whilst this job requires the jobholder to drive your application will still be considered if you are unable to drive due to a disability.

Our Support Offer

In return, we offer an attractive benefits package and a commitment to ensuring that you achieve a healthy work life balance and opportunities for flexible working arrangements that meet business need.

We offer generous market premium payments (subject to eligibility). You will also be entitled to a generous annual leave allowance and the local government pension scheme.

You will have excellent opportunities for professional development with access to our social care academy, progression routes and our newly launched practice framework.

We will support you to consolidate your skills and knowledge, assisting you to develop areas of specialist practice development such as Approved Mental Health Professional Training, Best Interest Assessor Training and Practice Educator training.

You will receive regular professional supervision and have the opportunity to critically reflect on your practice. You will be supported to develop your practice and progress your career.

We are increasingly accessible to the public outside of traditional office hours, as we move towards an 8 am to 8 pm, 7 days a week service to ensure service needs are met.

This post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure application to the Disclosure and Barring service and a relevant professional qualification (Social Work, Nursing or Occupational Therapy) as well as up to date registration with the appropriate professional body.

This post is considered by KCC to be a customer-facing position. The Council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English/Welsh sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the Job Description/Person Specification.

The interview process will commence w/c 25 September with shortlisted candidates undertaking psychometric testing.  Stakeholder interview panels will take place w/c 2 Oct and a formal structured interview w/c 9 Oct.

Area Operations Managers will sit in each of the four areas of Kent: South Kent Coast and Thanet, Ashford and Canterbury, North Kent, and West Kent. Applicants can express a preference for which area they would want to be based in the reason for applying section of their application.

As part of the interview process for this role you may be required to complete additional testing.

Contact Details

For more information about the role, please contact Laura.Prentice@kent.gov.uk and a member of the team will respond appropriately.

About the Company

KCC is committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the county's working residents, encouraging applications from people of all ages, abilities, genders, sexual orientations, ethnic backgrounds and faiths, and aspires to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves at work.

Please note – if you are interested, please apply as soon as possible as the closing date for this advert may be earlier than stated should a number of suitably qualified candidates apply.