Director of Services
Salary: Circa £100,000 with generous benefits
Bishopbriggs, with Hybrid working
Striving to make a difference for the lives of young people, St Mary’s Kenmure, with a committed and dedicated team of around 130 staff, is a secure facility that offers a controlled, safe and secure environment for the care and education of young people referred from the Courts and Children’s Hearing. Young people come to St Mary’s Kenmure from all over Scotland. Currently going through growth, St Mary’s Kenmure is extending their care and education services beyond Scotland, with their services also benefitting and reaching young people from England.
The role
St Mary’s Kenmure and Dochas House, leaders in providing residential secure care to vulnerable young people and their families, are seeking an experienced and visionary Director of Service to join and head up their dedicated and passionate team, In this pivotal role, you'll oversee strategic, operational, administrative, and financial functions, not only for St Mary’s Kenmure but also for Dochas House—a therapeutic space being designed for those young people who need it most.
Role responsibilities include:
- To implement best practice in standards of care for children and young people in terms of policy and legislation relevant to secure care including but not limited to those espoused in the The Promise, the Secure Care Standards and Pathways, The Care and Justice Bill, Getting it Right for Every Child, the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act, 2014, The Education (Scotland) Act, 2014, etc.
- To manage the budget and financial performance and spend in accordance with all relevant tendering, contract monitoring and other financial regulations.
- To take the lead role in budget setting, contract negotiation, tendering and contract management.
- To identify and exploit business opportunities to ensure sustainability of the organisation.
- Identifying talent, engage in people development, coaching and mentoring ensuring a fully engaged workforce and an accountable delivery focused culture.
- To ensure the organisations implements and adheres to best practice in terms of physical, procedural and relational security practices relevant to the service.
- To review and report on critical risk areas such as Safeguarding and Child Protection, Health and Safety and wider compliance issues arising from the provision of regulated services.
- To ensure all policies are contemporaneous, implemented, audited and governed.
- To engage proactively with all relevant sector agencies (Social Work, Justice, Health, Education, Prisons, Care Inspectorate, Health Care Professions Council, RMN), networks and experts (CYCJ, CELCIS, IRISS, CYCPCS) to support the design and delivery of a programme of coproduction and improvement work aimed at delivery excellence in service provision.
- To represent the organisation with stakeholders, government entities, official visitors and the public and ensuring confidence in the provision.
The successful candidate will have:
- Significant experience working in complex systems at a senior level with significant managerial experience in a promoted role working with children and young people (in residential, secure, social care, health or justice settings).
- Significant demonstrable experience of developing and implementing operational and strategic performance reporting processes and system to deliver key business objectives.
- Evidence of successful strategic and operational resource management in complex settings.
- Relevant record in building capacity, developing and leading high performing multidisciplinary teams.
- Evidence of exposure to risk management and corporate governance processes at senior manager or board level.
- Track record of implementing programmes of continuous improvement and leading change across an organisation.
- In-depth knowledge and understanding of the policy and legislative requirements relevant to residential and secure children’s services.
- Strong interpersonal skills including motivation, negotiation, influencing.
- Excellent communication skills (orally and written).
- Strategic and effective leadership skills, with an ability to inspire and motivate staff to provide a rights based, child centre approach
If you are a strategic leader passionate about improving the lives of young people, eager to drive positive change, and envision a brighter future for St Mary’s Kenmure, we want to hear from you.
For a confidential discussion, please contact Lauryn Pringle or Debbie Shields at Aspen People on 0141 212 7571. Further information on St Mary's Kenmure and the role is available at https://aspenpeople.co.uk/smk
Closing date for applications: Monday 19th February 2024
To apply, please submit your CV and cover letter (as one document) via the apply button.