ABOUT THE BOROUGH

This special place in South West London between the capital and the country has been a Royal borough longer than anywhere else - it is where the first kings of England were crowned.
Today it is a vibrant and diverse borough, with a long history and strong cultural and community heritage. Kingston’s riverside location, fantastic retail offer, historic market place and church, parks and gardens all make Kingston town centre the vibrant space it is, and each of our district town centres (Surbiton, New Malden, Tolworth and Chessington) have something unique to offer.
Situated in Zone 6, Kingston is among the best-connected town centres in London – with direct train links from Kingston and Surbiton stations to Clapham Junction and London Waterloo, as well as Wimbledon for an interchange with the London Underground and Tramlink.
Kingston’s people are innovative and entrepreneurial, and have a strong sense of community pride. The borough has been home to great industry and creativity for many years, reflected in assets such as the Rose Theatre, the International Youth Arts Festival and Kingston University, which boasts more new graduate business start-ups than any other.
We have seen tremendous generosity and compassion within our communities, particularly in response to COVID-19, which is a demonstration of Kingston’s key strength. The council offers a strong level of support to vulnerable groups and those who need additional support, which has also increased significantly as a result of the pandemic. Like most places, the average age of our population is rising as more people are living longer, so we are working closely with residents to help them maintain their independence and further improve the cost effectiveness of our service to meet the ongoing rise in demand.
Kingston is home to people from diverse and interesting cultures and backgrounds, which helps to create the rich sense of community shared across the borough. In particular, Kingston has a large Sri Lankan Tamil community and is home to more people from Korea than any other part of the UK.

As a Corporate Head of Service, you will be key to achieving our ambitions. This role requires you to thrive in a networked organisation, providing strong operational leadership within a strategic context. Reporting to the Director for ASC Operations, you will be directly responsible for Mental Health, DoLS, and Learning Disabilities services.

The role has two main areas of focus:

• Corporate leadership, contributing to the council’s transformation.
• Functional leadership for services, resources, and people.

Key Responsibilities:

You will provide inspirational and constructive leadership to the service, ensuring high performance and facilitating change. This includes:

• Overseeing statutory responsibilities for the Mental Health Act, including the AMHP service.
• Delivery of key duties under the Care Act 2014 and Mental Capacity Act 2005.
• Influencing commissioning for best outcomes and value for money.
• Managing service performance and ensuring the best use of financial resources.
• Building strong partnerships across sectors.
• Championing modern working practices and digital processes.
• Transforming culture to support asset strength-based conversations that promote wellbeing and independence.
• Transforming the relationship with residents to focus on resilience.
• Driving innovative demand management programmes, especially stepping down from residential to community provision.
• Leading and developing operational services for high-quality practice standards.
• Developing integrated approaches with partners.
• Managing and accurately projecting budgetary commitments.
• Championing prevention, early intervention, and independence.
• Effective strategic leadership.

You will need to:

• Adapt to the Council’s transformational and leadership approach.
• Possess exceptional leadership skills.
• Question conventional thinking and keep an eye on the bigger picture.
• Display commercial confidence and strong financial management skills
• Be politically astute with the ability to build credibility and impact quickly
• Role model agility and adaptability.
• Have significant experience and a proven track record in leading Adult Social Care services in mental health and learning disability.
• Hold a professional social work qualification with at least 5 years of post-qualification experience.
• Demonstrate commitment to personal and professional development
• Exhibit a high level of innovation and creativity.