Question 1

BENEFITS

Accepted Answer

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PERSONAL GROWTH
Access learning and development opportunities

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WORKING REWARDS
Discounts in shops, hotel, restaurants, motoring and health

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FAMILY FRIENDLY LEAVE
Flexitime, volunteering and family friendly leave

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FLEXIBLE WORKING
Flexible working arrangements ensure you can achieve a healthy work life balance

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GENEROUS ANNUAL LEAVE 
26 days annual leave increasing to 31 days, opportunity to earn additional days' leave

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PENSIONS 
Access to the generous benefits the Local Gov Pension scheme offers, including life cover

Question 2

RESPONSIBILITIES the Assistant Director of Children Social Care...

Accepted Answer

• ensure the safe and effective delivery of services to children and families including Children in need of help and protection, (Section 47) Children in Need (Section 17), Children with a disability, Children in Care and care leavers

• lead and manage the Placement Service including foster care and adoption and residential provision for the children and young people of Cheshire West and Chester to ensure that national minimum standards are met and that their life opportunities are maximised

• manage the development of appropriate and cost effective pathways for young people to bring about seamless transition to adulthood and where necessary, access to Adult Services

• fully align the work of Children's Social Care with those provided through Early Help and Prevention. This to ensure absolute continuity of service for children between the levels of need operating in CWAC: i.e. the step-up and step-down of cases

• co-ordinate and monitor local service delivery, on a multi-disciplinary basis to support the delivery of local working and report on performance in line with Directorate requirements so as to develop integrated working on a locality basis

• recruit, manage, motivate and develop employees in the service, ensuring their health, safety and wellbeing at work, in order to ensure all aspects of service delivery including continuous quality improvement are provided to the highest possible standard

• manage all service budgets so that targets for savings and income are met, resources are monitored and controlled and deployed to the best possible effect providing value for money, ensuring that the financial position is considered and understood by managers and staff and services are delivered within budget

• inform, support and advise Members of the Council so that they can perform their executive, scrutiny and representational responsibilities and ensure that decisions are appropriately informed and service delivered according to Council priorities

• provide support to the Executive Director of Children's Services, in the collective development of the Directorate strategies and operational management standards to ensure that Directorate initiatives and priorities are met

• support the Chief Executive in ensuring the effective corporate management of the Council and achieving the Council’s vision and strategies through partnership working and project management

• represent the Council at national, regional and European levels in dealings with government bodies, local authorities, agencies, the local community, the private sector, academic institutions and any other appropriate organisation in order to promote and protect the interests and priorities of the Council.

Question 3

ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Accepted Answer

• this role is classed as ‘agile’ which means that the post holder’s primary base will be to work from home, as well as at Council offices and across the borough, as required
 • this is a politically restricted post
 • the postholder will be required to work outside of normal office hours, where required
 • the role requires a willingness to travel across the borough and nationally
 • this role requires participation in an on-call Emergency Response rota
 • This role requires the postholder to undertake other duties, commensurate with the grade, as may reasonably be required and in line with organisational development and change.

Question 4

REQUIREMENTS the Assistant Director of Children Social Care...

Accepted Answer

• have a relevant professional degree level qualification or equivalent and a relevant social work professional qualification
 • be able to evidence continued professional, managerial and personal development
 • have a successful track record of providing professional, robust and resilient leadership, within this service area with high standards of conduct in a complex and diverse organisation ideally in the public sector
 • have the ability to establish high performance culture and track record of success in building effective teams, leading a diverse group of professional colleagues

• have a track record of giving advice to and building relationships at a senior level with elected Members and/or Board Members

• have proven experience of financial management including budget formulation, financial planning, monitoring and control, within tight financial limits in a large multi-disciplinary organisation

• experience, knowledge and understanding of safeguarding in its broadest multi-agency context

• have current and in-depth knowledge of national, regional and local government issues, developments, best practice and wider public sector agendas

• be able to work successfully in a high pressure, political environment and manage competing priorities

• understand and promote equality, diversity and inclusion at every level and positively challenge inclusion measures within the workforce and in the delivery of services

• demonstrate the ability to communicate, negotiate and influence at a strategic and political level

• have a demonstrable track record of leading, motivating and managing people teams to achieve significant, sustainable service improvements and outstanding results change, and negotiate and implement change successfully

• have a proven track record of working in and forging successful partnerships with a wide range of internal and external bodies to successfully deliver a holistic approach to service provision

• have a proven track record in managing in a complex multi-agency, multi professional setting and making sound professional judgments

• be committed to high quality, cost effective public services and local democracy which inspires colleagues and creates an environment of continuous improvement

• create a culture of innovation and creativity where colleagues feel able to question and challenge the status quo.

Question 5

OUR VALUES - the role will model core values through...

Accepted Answer

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Teamwork - Working flexibly, co-operatively, effectively, utilising resources, expertise and knowledge with others

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Honesty - Always acting in a caring, responsible and accountable manner which maintains the integrity of the council as a public service

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Respect - By valuing individual contributions and encouraging a culture of mutual respect

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Innovation - Being innovative in everything we do; applying creative ideas to improve services and meet the council’s outcomes

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Value for Money - Financial impact and value for money are considered in everything we do for the benefit of the Council and our residents

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Empowerment - Giving employees the responsibility to make decisions and striving to facilitate the contribution of others

Assistant Director, Children's Social Care