Adult Social Care Commissioning Lead

We are currently recruiting for two permanent positions in the Adult Social Care Commissioning team at Kingston.

You will take a lead role in the development of commissioning projects within a supportive and knowledgeable team. You will develop an understanding of residents' needs and opportunities to achieve improved outcomes and sustainable service delivery.

These roles will suit someone who has excellent interpersonal skills, is accomplished at analysing data, has a keen eye for detail and who is able to prioritise a fast-paced and varied workload. Please note we encourage you to apply if you feel you are a good match for this role, even if you have not had previous experience in social care commissioning.

The two roles are;

1. Lead role for Carers and People with Learning disabilities

This includes respite,shared lives, transport, community based support and facilitating access to further education, employment and day opportunities.

2. Lead role for older people and people with physical disabilities.

This includes areas including provision of equipment, reablement support, wider community based support and prevention.,

• Leading commissioning activity, working through all aspects of the commissioning cycle. Using technical skills in data analysis, research and working with a wide group of professionals including people who have lived experience of adult social care services.


• Work with the children and young people's service to strengthen commissioning arrangements for young people coming into adult services.


• Manage and monitor the performance of commissioned services., As a Disability Confident employer, we 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 a 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.
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 roles are suitable for those with either commissioning, strategy & policy, community development or project management experience.

To be successful in either role, you will need:

• Knowledge of services and people's needs within the scope of the role.


• Experience of developing or redesigning a service


• Knowledge of the commissioning cycle, contract management and relationship management


• Experience in research and analysing data and developing evidence based recommendations.


• To demonstrate an understanding of key legislation for social care.


• Good communication skills.


• Ability to prioritise workload to meet deadlines


It is desirable that you have:

• Experience in project management


• Previous experience working in local authority within adult social care
  
  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., The ASC Commissioning Team offers a supportive and innovative environment, with space to develop and make a true difference to residents of Kingston.

The roles sit 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., We are committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) so all personal information that can identify job applicants e.g. name, title etc is completely anonymised during the shortlisting process. Our hiring managers review applications based on the knowledge, skills and experience demonstrated in your application, and how well these match the job profile. Our HR Shared Service with Sutton Council was recently recognised nationally for having the 'Best Inclusion and Diversity Programme' at the PPMA Excellence in People Management Awards 2023, something that we're incredibly proud of.

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. We operate hybrid working, a flexible working model which allows staff to work from a variety of locations and staff are not required to work within the office 5 days a week. It enables staff to achieve a work life balance whilst still meeting the needs of the organisation.

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 in Kingston


• 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