Responsible Individual
Details
- Reference: SCC/TP/287911/1544
- Positions: 1
- Salary: £68,774- £75,583 per annum
- Category: Care - Residential
- Contract type: Permanent
- Working hours: 36 hours per week
- Posted on: 24 July 2024
- Closing date: 14 August 2024
- Directorate: Children, Families & Lifelong Learning
- Location: Reigate or Woking
Description
The salary range for this role is £68,774- £75,583per annum based on a 36-hour working week.
This role has the flexibility to be based in Reigate or Woking as the contractual base, however travel around the county as needed is a requirement.
We have a brand-new opportunity to join our leadership team as a Responsible Individual (RI) for our Children's Residential Services, supporting our expanding portfolio of homes!
Surrey is currently the 7th largest Local Authority (LA) provider of in-house children's homes in the UK but we're not stopping there! We are set to become the largest LA residential provider of homes over the next 12- 24 months if we deliver against our ambitious sufficiency plans. It's an exciting time to be joining us as we grow and increase our strategic leadership capacity across the service, which includes a £30 million capital investment expansion.
As a provider, we pride ourselves in the investment and development of our workforce; we have a proven track record of recruiting and retaining the very best managers in the sector as evidenced by the fact that our homes are rated Good and Outstanding. You will be part of a stable, fully-staffed and permanent leadership team reporting into a newly created Head of Residential Services position and working alongside two other RI's / Service Managers overseeing our existing portfolio of homes.
Rewards and Benefits
- 26 days' holiday rising to 28 days after 2 years' service and 30 days after 5 years' service
- Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
- An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
- Up to 5 days of carer's leave per year
- Paternity, adoption and dependants leave
- A generous local government salary related pension
- Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
- 2 paid volunteering days plus 1 team volunteering day per year
- Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources
A relocation bonus of up to £8,000 is available to access for anyone considering relocating to Surrey. We're eager to chat with anyone interested in a move, to discuss how we can support you along the way.
About Us:
'Surrey Homes for Surrey Children'
In Surrey we take our Corporate Parenting responsibilities seriously and placement sufficiency across our residential provision is a key part of that. Our commitment is to provide the right care in the right place at the right time, to help our children in care achieve the best outcomes. Wherever possible we want our looked after children to live in Surrey in line with our Surrey Homes for Surrey Children ambition.
To support this ambition, we are developing and expanding our varied portfolio of Ofsted registered children's homes, providing time limited, outcome focused therapeutic interventions for children with the highest needs, enabling them to remain rooted in their communities and supported by the local specialist services they need. As a committed and ambitious Corporate Parent, we want the best for our children and young people and are looking for a Responsible Individual (RI) who shares our commitment as we move forwards with bringing two new Children's homes online over the next 12 months.
About the Role:
As a RI for our Residential Community Homes you will operate as part of the wider children's resources leadership team, headed up by our well-established Assistant Director of Resources, Jo Rabbitte.
This role has a statutory function as the lead and Responsible Individual for children's homes across Surrey and will be pivotal in quality assuring practice so that we maximise opportunities for our children and young people to reach their potential.
Additionally, it aims to make the best use of our homes by carefully matching placements to meet the needs of each child, ensuring that every child finds the right home for them via robust matching processes.
There is a unique opportunity for our new RI to work in collaboration with colleagues from our Capital Development Program to set-up, register and roll out new homes in line with residential regulatory requirements, helping us to increase our capacity and collaboratively develop new and existing services. This will also involve working together with colleagues from across the service to do this safely and effectively providing homes our children and young people can be proud of.
You will be required to work collaboratively with a variety of colleagues from across the organisation including our Gateway Team who support with referrals and placements to colleagues in HR who are dedicated to supporting you with advice on policy and people procedures, ensuring we deliver consistently high standards of practice that support our children and young people to access opportunities and achieve their full potential.
About You:
We are looking for a confident, patient and resilient RI with strong leadership abilities, who holds the relevant professional knowledge and practical experience of Social Care, Health and Education, including guidance and legislation within a children's residential setting. You will lead and inspire good quality social care that is committed to delivering child focused services which improve outcomes.
You will need a recognised accredited qualification in health, social care or education and be able to use your experience of having managed residential teams or working as a Registered Manager within a children's residential provision. Well-developed knowledge of Children's homes regulations (and legislation) including quality standards and having contributed to Ofsted inspections will be essential as you support with Ofsted registration and compliance activity for our new homes.
To be shortlisted for this role some of the key skills and experience we are looking for include:
- Excellent communication skills
- Strong leadership capabilities and willingness to work as part of the social care system to find solutions
- Commitment to working together with other residential leaders as part of a whole service approach.
- Ability to work across a complex social care landscape
- Ability to engage, develop and consult with a range of colleagues, partners, and agencies to build and maintain positive and purposeful relationships
- Experience of managing a residential team or working as a Registered Manager with skills in risk management and crisis response
- A recognised qualification in health, social care or education
We believe that Surrey County Council is a place where you can make a personal impact on the lives of the children and young people in our care, whilst having a fulfilling career with real purpose. If you are as passionate and committed as we are as a Corporate Parent, then we would love to hear from you!
At Surrey, our values and behaviours are just as important as our skills and abilities. They shape who we are as an organisation. Find out more about the values we follow.
For more information, please find the full job description below and refer to this before submitting your application. We also invite you to read our Life at Surrey handbook to see insights of the culture at Surrey and how as a valued employee, you can help shape our Council
Contact us
Please contact us for any questions relating to the role. This could be to discuss flexible working requests, transferable skills or any barriers to employment.
For an informal discussion please contact Jo Rabbitte via e-mail joanne.rabbitte@surreycc.gov.uk
The job advert closes at 23:59 on Sunday the 18th of August. A date for interviews is TBC.
An enhanced DBS 'Disclosure and Barring Service' check for regulated activity (formerly known as CRB) and the Children's and Adults' Barred List checks will be required for this role.
Surrey has both urban and rural areas therefore you will be expected to have a valid driving licence to drive in the UK and access to a vehicle. You must be willing to travel across a wide geographical area including working from different sites, and potentially work some evenings and weekends in line with service needs.
Reasonable adjustments where needed will be made for successful applicants who have a disability or long term health condition to enable them to fulfil the requirements of the job.
We look forward to receiving your application, please click on the apply online button below to submit.
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