ABOUT THE BOROUGH

The Royal Borough of Kingston and The London Borough of Sutton operate a shared Highways and Transport service and this role covers delivery across both boroughs.
Located in South West London 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 the district town centres have something unique to offer. In Sutton looking ahead, there are plans for the delivery of new homes and new schools and the London Cancer Hub is being developed. Both councils are seen as a driving force within the South London Partnership of five outer south west London boroughs focused on strategic growth, regeneration and investment.
Both councils are ambitious for their future and it is an exciting time to join our Highways and Transport team as we lead the way in South-west London in delivering sustainable transport infrastructure, regeneration and rise to the net zero challenge.

ABOUT THE SERVICE AND TEAM

The service has a vision to be an exemplar shared service locally and nationally, striving for excellence in delivering the corporate aims of both Sutton and Kingston, tackling the climate emergency and ensuring a high quality environment for our residents.
We have ambitious plans and are looking for ambitious people to embody our high performing inclusive organisational culture, where everyone can thrive and be their authentic self whilst making a real difference to our local communities. We want to nurture all our people in their professional development and we will empower everyone to work in a distributed leadership model giving individuals ownership, responsibility and accountability.

OUR IDEAL CANDIDATE

The ideal candidate will have a strong background in Highways or Transport and, although not necessarily professionally qualified, will have relevant technical knowledge and a track record of effective leadership, strategic thinking and change management. Political understanding and nous are important but the candidate could come from public or private sectors. Excellence in programme management is seen as key, and driving the operational service with inspirational leadership.

To be successful in this role, essential skills, knowledge and competencies include:

• Degree in Highways, Transport, Engineering or other relevant discipline, or equivalent experience
• Leadership experience which promotes distributed leadership,empowering others to take ownership and accountability of outcomes
• Is competent with IT and Digital processes, seeking to drive digitisation
• Ability to analyse data and intelligence to drive improvements and collaborate with partners and communities
• Excellent in project and programme management
• Excellent knowledge of the latest thinking in the field of H&T
• Experience of driving a service to deliver the net zero agenda
• Clear and thorough understanding of legal framework the service is operating in
• Creates a learning environment where innovation and creativity is celebrated and risks are managed
• Works collaboratively with others, leading by example

ABOUT THE ROLE

The role is the operational lead for the Highways and Transport Shared Service between The Royal Borough of Kingston and The London Borough of Sutton, The post holder will be the interface with senior leaders and councillors in both boroughs and the service. The role combines change management, and the need to embed change, with ensuring effective capital programme delivery and developing excellence in asset management and operations, and inspirational people leadership
The team provides the full range of Highways and Transport functions across both boroughs. The post holder will be managing around 90 staff, with 5 direct reports; 4 Team Managers and a Programme Manager.
The postholder will have to attend the office ‘as required’ - the current expectation is around 2-3 days a week across both boroughs
If you wish to have an informal discussion about this role, please contact:
Matthew Hill, Director of Highways, Transportation, and Regulatory Services - matthew.hill.@kingston.gov.uk
Sarah Rye, Director of Highways, Transportation and Regulatory Services - sarah.rye@sutton.gov.uk

To be successful in this role, essential skills, knowledge and competencies include:

• Degree in Highways, Transport, Engineering or other relevant discipline, or equivalent experience
• Leadership experience which promotes distributed leadership,empowering others to take ownership and accountability of outcomes
• Is competent with IT and Digital processes, seeking to drive digitisation
• Ability to analyse data and intelligence to drive improvements and collaborate with partners and communities
• Excellent in project and programme management
• Excellent knowledge of the latest thinking in the field of H&T
• Experience of driving a service to deliver the net zero agenda
• Clear and thorough understanding of legal framework the service is operating in
• Creates a learning environment where innovation and creativity is celebrated and risks are managed
• Works collaboratively with others, leading by exampl