Overview

Buckinghamshire Council is a brand-new unitary council with ambitions to be the best in the country. We are seeking an innovative senior manager to help transform our localism agenda. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for an exceptional individual who has the drive, ambition and strategic vision to really make a difference. It is a unique opportunity which includes developing our exciting new community boards which focus on local voices, local choices and local action.

Buckinghamshire has a rich history and heritage and is an area of outstanding natural beauty, ranking as one of the top rural areas to live in the UK, and yet it is incredibly well connected - only an hour from London on the train.

About us

The Deputy Chief Executive directorate is central to Buckinghamshire Council's journey to establish itself as one of the best councils in the country. With a clear focus on service improvement through transformation and a drive to build better relationships with the local community, the directorate is fast-paced; but extremely rewarding. Our teams are not only proactively delivering on projects and plans but also reacting to developing situations. If you are ambitious, innovative, and would relish the opportunity to influence change - a role within our service area could be your next career move.

The team includes exciting areas of work, including a brand new localities model - delivering 16 community boards across the county to make it easy for our residents to engage with us as we work together to plan for the future. Other teams include our Policy and Communications and Legal and Democratic Services teams - innovating the way we communicate with our colleagues, Members and the local community, and role-modelling best practice through policy, planning and legal services. If you think you can help us achieve our goals, and want to be a part of this exciting journey, we would love to hear from you!

About the role

Now is an exciting time to join. You'll provide the strategic leadership and work closely with members to deliver the council's brand-new localism agenda. At the heart of this approach, 16 community boards present a new way of working with partners and diverse communities on issues that matters most to them. This is a unique opportunity to establish vibrant boards which will be the local face of the council, empowering communities, working together tackling some complex issues and most importantly making a difference. This exciting new initiative will strengthen the voices of local people, helping them work with the council, local agencies and other organisations within their communities.

This role brings an opportunity to be innovative and proactivity engage with our strategic partners to deliver solutions to complex and cross-cutting community issues. This includes strategic leadership for the council's community coronavirus recovery plans, working closely with our parish councils and voluntary sector colleagues. You will also lead the design, development and implementation of the council's local devolution.

This is a newly created position which means you can really put your own stamp on the role. You'll head up a very recently established team with freedom and responsibility to find creative ways to perform this role. You'll work closely with our Cabinet Member and Community Board Chairman and in return you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that you've made real differences within communities.

About you

We are looking for an exceptional Head of Service who will work collaboratively with elected members, colleagues and partners to develop the culture and achieve the aims of the council.

You will need professional credibility, resilience, drive and demonstrable evidence of role modelling the values and behaviours that underpin how we work at Buckinghamshire Council - Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative, Trustworthy - doing our very best for our residents, service uses and businesses, with customers at the heart of everything we do.

You'll need to show aspirational and visionary leadership that inspires members, the team, the wider organisation and partners to be ambitious about what can be achieved through innovative community engagement and a collaborative approach.

You'll have significant experience of strategic leadership and operational management of localism services in a political environment, and you'll bring experience of establishing community boards (or similar initiatives) and community engagement strategies with multiple stakeholders. Additionally, you should have significant experience of establishing deliverable devolution strategies.

Other information

This team takes a very flexible approach to base location and working hours. However, applicants must be willing to work outside of normal working hours in order to attend evening and weekend meeting and events, and to undertake regular local travel.

The closing date for applications is 9th October. Late applications will not be considered.

Interviews will take place remotely using Teams on 20th and 23rd October.

Claire Hawkes, Service Director Localities & Strategic Partnerships, welcomes the opportunity to have an informal discussion with you about the role and can be contacted at claire.hawkes@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.