Work closely with the Chief Executive, and as part of a co-located senior team, and make an active and positive contribution to the development of the corporate strategy. 

Create a clear collective vision and focus, enabling the implementation of a robust, long-term strategy which concentrates on local and regional priorities in the medium and long term. 

Advance the Council’s agenda with the Cabinet through strong collective leadership, forward planning, management and delivery against available, financial and people resources. 

Play a strong, positive, and equal role in the collective senior team:

• Team Working: Be part of an effective and close working senior team which role models the Council vision and values and supports others to succeed by engaging and enabling them to perform. 
• Strategic Planning: Work collaboratively on strategic planning, in the pursuit of priority led strategic outcomes. Longer term forecasting and planning around demand, supply and community needs.
• Financial Strategy: Deliver effective strategic and innovative, solutions-based resource and financial planning.
• Performance: Collectively lead and oversee service planning and performance, risk management and resolution.
• Organisational Development: Oversee Council transformation by promoting innovative and ambitious organisation design, system improvement, talent management and new service models. 
• Programme Management: Work collectively and individually to manage and deliver Council-wide projects and programmes to deliver innovative cost effective solutions.  
• Collaboration: Develop and secure collaborative and shared opportunities with partners and stakeholders to improve outcomes, performance, and financial savings for the Council. 
• Corporate Governance: Provide effective and proportionate corporate governance, ensuring that people and services are held to account and that Members are advised appropriately.
• External Relationships: Work proactively as a team to advance regional and national relationships, local partnerships, communities, and the media to support the positive reputation of the Council. 
• Public Sector Reform: Play a positive and proactive role in planning for the future of local government and public service reform as it develops and evolves.

Performance Measures: Community feedback; Achievement of Council strategic priorities; Achievement of agreed transformation plans; Implementation of Council policies and plans within budget; Statutory and National Key Performance Indicators. 

Lead, develop and implement a clear strategy for portfolio services through operational strategies and plans to achieve high levels of performance and excellence. 

Ensure that the following diverse range of services are delivered in a coordinated, collaborative way and in compliance with agreed policies, standards and relevant legislation:

• Integrated Services (Adults)
  • North East Wales Community Equipment Stores (NEWCES)
  • Disability Services
  • Older People’s Services
  • Regulated Services
  • Partnerships and Wellbeing
• Children and Early Years
  • Childrens Integrated Disability Service
  • Children’s Safeguarding Service
  • Childrens Fieldwork Services
  • Early Years and Family Support Services
  • Corporate Parenting (Fostering etc)
• Safeguarding and Commissioning
  • Safeguarding
  • Contracts and Commissioning
  • Workforce Development
  • Business Support

Discharge and deliver the Council’s statutory duties with regards to Adult and Children’s social care, including the role of Director of Social Services. Ensure the statutory accountabilities of the Director are effectively discharged through delivery and through others, with clear accountability for Social Services performance.  

Provide strategic and operational visible leadership for Children’s Social Services, ensuring relevant safeguards are in place to protect vulnerable and looked after children and families, enhancing their quality of life and improving outcomes. 

Provide strategic and operational visible leadership for Adult Social Service, ensuring proper and relevant safeguards, professional and specialist services to protect and support vulnerable adults. 

Lead the effective commissioning of relevant service delivery in line with the agreed strategies to ensure outcomes are in line with priorities, encouraging innovation and alternative models of delivery with staff and partners to maximise outcomes and minimise cost.

Provide strong and coordinated and visible leadership for safeguarding across the Council and with partners, ensuring appropriate mechanisms, processes and interventions are in place to safeguard vulnerable adults and children. The role should drive a culture of ownership and performance around safeguarding, procurement and vulnerable people care. 

Ensure effective financial management (revenue budget c£80m+) and risk assessments across services (with over 1,100 staff), ensuring that agreed priorities are met, and that services are delivered effectively and efficiently to the highest levels of performance. 

Develop and implement innovative and creative solutions for services to meet the Council’s needs and bring about change and improvement.

Facilitate and champion change and transformation across the portfolio as well as making positive connections across the Council; supporting managers in delivering efficient and new service models.

Performance Measures: Key performance indicators from the Council Plan; Key Performance Indicators from Service Plans; Stakeholder feedback; inspection and audit outcomes; Relevant National indicators, Annual Governance Statement.

Lead, enable and develop managers and staff to ensure that a qualified, talented, and motivated workforce meets Council objectives.

Leading by example, act as a local and visible role model of the Council’s values and leadership behaviors to drive behavioral and culture change in others.

Performance Measures: Feedback from managers and staff; progress against leadership and team development (behaviours, styles, 360 feedback); People Plan objectives and measures.

Establish and maintain strong working relationships with elected members in governing the Council, providing high level advice and support to maintain and improve Council performance.  

Create effective political and professional relationships in governing the Council, with a focus on strategic priorities, with clarity on accountability and effective decision making.

Performance Measures: Member feedback; Effectiveness of relationships in advancing Council objectives.

• Educated to degree level (ideally within a relevant social care field) with demonstrable professional and personal development.
• May have a post graduate degree in a relevant discipline.

• Significant senior management experience in a local authority working across a range of social care diverse services. The role holder should have the experience, ability, and credibility to act as the statutory director. 
• Experience of working corporately on organisation-wide priorities
• Significant strategic and operational experience managing and achieving social care service delivery and performance.
• Experience of the commissioning cycle and in developing alternative models of delivery. 
• Experience of managing significant resources to achieve outcomes. 
• Experience managing service delivery transformation across people, finance, systems, processes, relationships and resources.
• Experience of leading staff and services in a time of change by being flexible, creative, responsive, resilient and high performing.
• Experience of developing alternative service delivery models, working within a commissioning approach.
• In depth knowledge around organisational design, change and transformation to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
• Detailed understanding of public sector working government priorities and policies with particular emphasis to Wales.
• Deep understanding of the wider economic and political context
• A deep understanding of the current legislation, regulatory requirements, and wider practice in relation to all areas of expertise

• Ability to work effectively as part of a close, collective senior team – balancing service and corporate priorities.
• Ability to recognise collective strengths, experience and accountability of the team to focus on problem solving and joint accountability.
• Ability to translate organisational/corporate strategies into effective functional plans.
• Ability and willingness to develop and deliver collaboration with other partners and providers in support of Flintshire and regional priorities.
• Success in developing working relationships internally and externally to successfully deliver a wide range of outcomes against Council priorities (able to influence others).
• Ability to lead complex, cross-Council projects in support of improved corporate or service change.
• Political acumen and sensitivity, with the ability to influence others.
• Business acumen and commercial awareness, with a strong financial understanding.
• Significant ability to analyse and resolve complex information, situations and issues, and create effective collective and individual solutions while acting decisively.
• To speak and read Welsh to a minimum of Level 1 (or agreement to achieve this within 12 months)

The following behaviors have been identified as critical to Chief Officer success. 

• Focuses on the community: Having a continual focus on the outcomes that are delivered for local communities. This is built on a strong sense of moral purpose but goes beyond ‘wanting to do the right thing’ for communities to genuinely engaging with them. Chief Officers will act as role models for engaging and empowering the customer/community and will systematically embed a customer focused culture to their portfolio. 
• Thinks strategically and creates clarity: Having the ability to think systematically and spot links and connections. This underpins Chief Officer capacity to simplify complexity, create clarity and focus and think creatively.  Chief Officers will create new ways of working for the future, drawing insights from elsewhere and creating new approaches. 
• Drives continual improvement: Having the persistence and drive to continually identify and deliver improvements without being distracted by other priorities and ongoing delivery. It involves an understanding of the drivers of quality and value and, the confidence to challenge what has come before and take calculated risks.  Chief Officers will challenge the status quo and existing performance levels and maintain focus over the long term. 
• Works collaboratively: Being open to the perspectives of others, effectively working in partnership personally or enabling others to do so to deliver the best results for customers and communities.  It recognises that decisions need to be made to deliver the best services, rather than focusing on ‘what’s in it for my services?’ Chief Officers will build cross partner alignment across the area and create collective commitment to high value solutions. 
• Leads and engages: Providing direction, support, and clarity to others to enable them to deliver effectively. It involves creating the right climate for people to do their best work, ensuring a culture of mutual respect, support, honesty, learning and constructive challenge. Chief Officers will build a shared and compelling sense of purpose. 
• Is confident and courageous: Having the optimistic attitude and confidence to deliver, challenge and persist even when times are tough or in the face of opposition. Chief Officers will pro-actively take on challenges and reach out and explore unchartered territory. 

The Council has also recognised that as well as these behaviors, there is an expectation that Chief Officers will be able to: 

• Support continual innovation (with a commitment to developing and enabling others)
• Scan the environment (make plans, set direction, and pre-empt issues)
• Manage performance for outcomes (providing clear expectations, standards, and objectives) 
• Create opportunities (taking the initiative and pre-empt future changes)
• Influence (engage with others, communicating with impact) 
• Offer political astuteness (understanding the political context locally and nationally) 
• Show self-awareness and resilience (manage personal impact)