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.

This is a fixed term contract with the possibility of extension. The postholder will work to support the improvement of community safety and social outcomes in Kingston, including the progression and development of a systematic and sustainable approach to tackling community safety issues, ensuring an effective community safety approach operates across the partnership.
The postholder will work to support the VAWG Manager and Safer Kingston Partnership across key strategic partnerships so that policy-makers and decision-takers make community safety a priority.
The post holder will develop and maintain key working relationships and partnerships with various stakeholders, including Councillors, colleagues and partners across Kingston, particularly the responsible authorities under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, primary and secondary care, clinical networks, Local Government Association, ADPH (London), Kingston Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), commissioners, providers, academic partners, the voluntary sector and the wider community. The postholder will contribute to the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 requirement for ‘Responsible Authorities’ to work together in partnership to produce a Strategy for the reduction of Crime, Disorder, Substance Misuse and Re-offending in the Borough.

In order to successfully deliver the responsibilities of the role, you will need to:

• Have a relevant degree or be able to demonstrate equivalent knowledge and skills through training in a relevant area
• Knowledge of working within the VAWG and or Community Safety setting
• Experience of delivering training
• Proven experience of working in and leading a multi-agency setting
• Experienced of the VAWG (specifically domestic abuse) agenda and the roles and responsibilities of various agencies involved within it.
• Have good working knowledge of Domestic Abuse and Housing duties.
• Proven ability of developing successful partnerships, engaging key partners
• Have strong communication and engagement skills, being able to interest and motivate people about population safety and health
• Willingness to work flexibly and respond to the needs of the business and to work evenings and weekends when required.
• Evidence of continuing professional development Question and challenge ways of working, with an understanding of the bigger picture in terms of the corporate context and external environment
• Demonstrate agility and adaptability in mindset and ways of working
• Work successfully with key stakeholders within and outside of the Council
• Demonstrate commitment to own personal and professional development to meet the changing demands of the role
• Demonstrate innovation and creativity
• Actively engage in positive cross organisational communications and team working
• Communicate clearly, confidently and appropriately with colleagues using the best methods of communication for the task.