Job Description

Adult Social Care Commissioner

Employer

Kingston Council

Location(s)

Kingston

Contract Type

Permanent

Working Hours

Full Time

Grade

H/I

Hours Per Week

36

Salary Range

\xc2\xa337,038 - \xc2\xa346,857

Salary Basis

Per annum

Leave Entitlement

30 days

Application Deadline

03/09/2023, 23:55

Anticipated Interview Date(s)

Week Commencing 11th September

About the Borough

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.

About the Role

We\'re hiring an Adult Social Care Commissioner to join our Learning Disabilities & Carer commissioning team!

In this role you will lead the development and commissioning of a full portfolio of services for people with learning disabilities, including supported housing, supported living and residential care, home support, respite & shared lives and access to further education, employment and day opportunities. This role is responsible for managing individual commissioning activity based on specific needs analysis and understanding of market and needs opportunities to achieve the best outcomes for Adults and ensure sustainable delivery across the service.

Alongside that, you will be working with the children and young peoples\' service to ensure transition arrangements are robust to assist in preparing children and young adults into adulthood. You will be working to provide deep technical expertise to lead on commissioning activity for a designated portfolio of services including needs analysis, cost benefits models, service delivery models and the development of commissioning strategies.

When you join the team, you will be working on projects such as;

• VCSE commissioning
• Contract management
• Project management

This role reports into the Strategy & Transformation Lead. We are a hybrid working organisation and whilst you are able to work in the office as much as you wish, we ask that you attend the office once a month.

About Us

The ASC Commissioning Team offers a supportive and innovative environment, with space to develop and make a true difference to residents of Kingston.

This role sits in the Strategy & Transformation team within the Adult Social Care & Health Directorate. We are a vibrant and friendly team who support each other in developing skills, providing a safe space to share thoughts and innovative ideas and challenging ideas.

Please refer to the attached structure chart to view the teams structure within the service.

About You

This role would be suitable for those with either commissioning, project support officer or project management experience.

To be successful in this role, you will need:

• Expert knowledge of client groups and care markets
• Experience of effective service development, redesign and improvement methodologies
• Expert knowledge of commissioning, category management and supplier relationship management, focusing on flexible end to end delivery across designated portfolio of services client groups and care markets
• Experience analysing data and developing cost benefit models
• Understanding and awareness of key legislation for Public Sector social care, including health, housing and social care
• Demonstrate excellence in partnership working with a wide range of stakeholders, multi-disciplinary teams, agencies and providers

It is desirable that you have:

• Have experience in project management with a PM qualification
• Previous experience working in local authority within adult social care
• Be organised and can prioritise workload to meet tight deadlines
• Able to work well under pressure

Please refer to the attached job description for more in depth information about the role.

Our Offer To You

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:

• 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

Application Process

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.

Additional Information

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 for right to work guidance.

Important Information - Criminal Records

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory result to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. It replaces the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA).

The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames