Thank you for considering applying for this role with South Gloucestershire Council. I warmly welcome your application.

You could join us at a really great moment in our development of our children’s social care and preventative services. Following a very challenging Focused Visit in 2021, and an Improvement Notice from the DfE, we have worked very hard to improve the quality and performance of our service. We have had significant investment into the division, and really strong support from the Council Members. We have made significant improvements already, though we’re not yet where we want to be. We are well into our improvement journey and the DfE has recently lifted the Improvement Notice, reflecting the progress we have achieved so far. Whilst we have made many changes, our current challenge that you can help us with, is to embed those changes into a learning culture.

This role is to head up our operational delivery in children’s social care and preventative services. It is a role that carries great responsibility and has great opportunities. You would join a strong team of senior managers and would work collaboratively alongside our Service Director for Quality Assurance, Commissioning and Strategic Safeguarding. You would be a member of the People Services Department Management Team (DMT), alongside colleagues from Education, Public Health and Adult Social Care.

South Gloucestershire is a great place to work. We know this because our staff regularly tell us how much they enjoy working here. It is a place where you can develop your talents and your skills and I look forward to discussing this more with you when we speak.

I’m looking for someone who is able to demonstrate good change leadership and collaborative working with peers. You will be someone who is politically astute and able to support our Council Members to be the very best corporate parents they can be. You will need to work as part of our Integrated Care System delivery, so a good understanding of influencing and collaborating with partners will be essential. I’ll want to see someone who can inspire our team to be the best they can be, and I’ll support them to be the best they can be too.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Chris Sivers
Executive Director - People
South Gloucestershire Council