Executive Director of Place

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Job Description and Person Specification

Executive Director – Place

OFFICIAL

Job Title: Executive Director – Place

Reference: CE107B

Service: Place

Grade: CX

Reports to: Chief Executive

Location: Delamere House

DBS: Yes - Basic

Your job As a member of the Executive Leadership Team, to provide collective leadership for the council, working collaboratively with Members, services across the council, partners and stakeholders to deliver the council’s objectives and priorities.

Lead by example in modelling and embedding the council’s core values and behaviours to help build a sustainable, highly effective organisation and develop our reputation as a successful council. Providing real and lasting value to residents, businesses and communities. Act as a champion for the needs of local people, create an environment to foster organisational agility, creativity and teamwork, where boundaries are pushed on how the Council and associated services operate.

Provide outstanding leadership and direction to a portfolio of services, driving service transformation and ensuring excellent joint working with Members and other stakeholders.

Our shared values Here at Cheshire East Council, we have a clear set of values:

• Drive: striving for innovation, excellence and high performance. • Integrity: acting ethically, being accountable and fostering trust. • Respect: demonstrating empathy and appreciation for others, being inclusive. • Collaboration: working and learning together with a focus on outcomes.

Co-produced with our staff, these value are critical to us achieving our vision as set out in the Cheshire East Plan. It is important you take some time to understand our values and how you can bring these to life in your day-to-day work.

Further information on the values can also be found via the link Our values.

In this job you will • Lead the development and implementation of a new spatial framework that covers

planning, regeneration, investment, infrastructure, housing, and transport, to maximise opportunities to achieve sustainable growth and supporting infrastructure for successful new and existing communities.

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• Drive the delivery of the council’s economic development and growth strategies to secure greater revenue returns to support the council’s core activities.

• Lead engagement with developers and partners, including business sectors, to facilitate achievement of strategic objectives.

• Ensure robust arrangements are in place so that the council meets its statutory duties in respect of housing, homelessness and planning that the Arms Length Management Organisation is held to account for delivering high quality housing to residents and planning decisions maintain a proper balance between protecting the living heritage, maintaining a safe, clean and green environment and supporting the amenity services necessary to improve the quality of life of our residents

• Strategy development As a member of the Corporate Leadership Team and reporting to the Chief Executive, shape the direction of the council to drive forward the public service reform agenda and ensure delivery of its priorities and value to residents. Provide a strategic vision for the future development of services to enable the council to meet its future challenges, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

• Corporate leadership

As a senior leader working as part of the distributed leadership network of the council, work together to drive forward and accept collective responsibility for a range of departmental and cross-cutting initiatives which are required to ensure changes are embedded in a sustainable way throughout the organisation. Role model positive leadership behaviours, empowering, engaging and encouraging your teams to live the council values, to facilitate achievement of the corporate vision.

• Directorate leadership and management

Lead the integrated delivery, improvement, management and performance of a portfolio of council services, commissioning and directing activity within the council and externally as required, and ensuring overall objectives are translated into effective plans and that public services are effective, efficient, and locally responsive. Provide inspirational and professional leadership to staff, strengthening skills and competence and fostering a strong culture of standards, performance and accountability.

• Resources / Financial management

Ensure tight budgetary control and prioritise use of resources and assets to support the delivery of the council’s vision and outcomes and help ensure that the council receives value for money from its expenditure. Drive and/or support the

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development of outcome-based commissioning models to better ensure strong price competition and transfer of risks through contracts with third parties. Champion and drive the development of commercial opportunities.

• Partners and stakeholders

Provide a clear professional lead to and work collaboratively with all partners, securing the agreement, commitment and participation of all relevant agencies, partners and other stakeholders. Foster the bringing together of local services and decisions across agencies to reduce demand and help communities more independently support themselves.

• Business change

Drive business change to build a highly effective organisation, promoting accountability in line with future business needs. Assist the Chief Executive in developing a single council-wide corporate culture to engender a strong and shared approach to delivering services and to provide better support for staff to deliver savings.

• Compliance

Ensure that all activities within the directorate comply with the council’s constitution, Standing Orders, financial regulations, health and safety and safeguarding responsibilities and that effective systems operate within the directorate to manage performance and risk.

• Equality and diversity

Uphold and promote the aims of the council’s equality and diversity policies to ensure non-discriminatory practices in all aspects of work, and that diversity is embedded in everything, from workforce planning and policy development to planning service delivery.

• Notwithstanding the detail in this job description, in accordance with the council's flexibility policy the job holder will undertake such work as may be determined by the Chief Executive from time to time, up to or at a level consistent with the principal responsibilities of the job and in any location within the area of Cheshire East Council.

From time to time you may be asked to undertake work as may be determined by the Chief Executive and/or an Executive Director. This will be up to or at a level consistent with your job role. This supports our commitment to being an effective and enabling council.

Artificial Intelligence (Al) We embrace Al to enhance our operations and to innovate our services. However, we value human talent and are looking for passionate individuals to join our organisation. Please ensure you personally complete your application and read all the instructions carefully to maximise your chances of success. Applications that rely too heavily on Al may be rejected during shortlisting, however we understand that Al may be used as a reasonable adjustment, if using Al to support your application, please give a brief explanation why to help ensure fair selection process.

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In this job you will need

You must be able to demonstrate the following essential requirements:

• Relevant professional qualification (Postgraduate or relevant equivalent knowledge and experience).

• Evidence of continued professional, managerial and personal development.

• Substantial experience, evidenced by a track record of success, leading and developing significant organisational functions or services in a large multi- disciplined organisation with comparable scope, budgets and resources.

• Demonstrable experience of establishing and building partnerships and productive working relationships within a complex policy and service environment with senior managers and councillors, and a wide range of other bodies, such as partner organisations, communities, public agencies and statutory bodies, (including Government).

• Evidence of successful resources management in a multi-disciplinary environment, as well as a successful track record in managing large budgets, business planning, quality and performance management.

• Extensive knowledge of the issues facing local government and those relevant to service/functional responsibilities, together with the legal, financial and political context of public sector management and the statutory responsibilities of this post.

• Able to provide leadership and delivery of change with the passion and drive to take services to the next level.

• Ability to balance strategic leadership and direction with effective operational management.

• Excellent inter-personal skills with highly developed networking, partnership, advocacy negotiating and presentation skills that are persuasive and influential with others.

• Ability to provide visible and supportive leadership, empowering, enabling, motivating and developing the workforce and fostering a positive organisational culture.

Artificial Intelligence (Al) We embrace Al to enhance our operations and to innovate our services. However, we value human talent and are looking for passionate individuals to join our organisation. Please ensure you personally complete your application and read all the instructions carefully to maximise your chances of success. Applications that rely too heavily on Al may be rejected during shortlisting, however we understand that Al may be used as a reasonable adjustment, if using Al to support your application, please give a brief explanation why to help ensure fair selection process.

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• Advanced commercial skills with extensive experience of identifying new commercial opportunities and driving growth as well as delivering savings and value for money.

• A commitment to equality and diversity, both as a leader and a service deliverer, with an ability to demonstrate personal leadership on the importance of diversity.