Director of Learning, Inclusion and Skills

An outstanding lifelong learning offer is at the heart of our vision for a high-skilled, prosperous Derby. You’ll provide city-wide leadership across the board, working closely with schools and system leaders at local and national level, employers and residents. Candidates must have a deep and nuanced understanding of how to work with individual schools and communities to bring about enduring change and improvement, as well as experience of the full range of inclusion strategies. You must understand school leadership from the inside, and are also likely to have held a senior system or regulatory role. Outstanding interpersonal skills will help you gain and sustain trusted, credible relationships with stakeholders across the city and beyond.

About the Role

Our new Director of Learning, Inclusion and Skills will:

• be accountable, for all aspects of service design and performance management, for the allocated group of services, commissioned services and strategic priorities, through clearly defined outcomes and key objectives. This will include setting short, medium and long term performance and quality targets for:-
  • asset and resource management - accountable for all financial outcomes of the allocated group of services and other assets
  • people – to add value to the talent of the organisation through workforce development and performance management
  • risk - to ensure the effective development and management of risk and business continuity strategies within the allocated services and strategic priorities
• develop and build an excellent reputation for Derby and the City Council by:
  • acting corporately; ensuring that all action within the allocated group of services and strategy accords with Council policies, strategic priorities and relevant statutory and governance requirements
  • demonstrating strategic leadership through partnership building
  • supporting the Council’s emergency planning, critical incident and service response arrangements through participation in out of hours call out and management cover.

Service Responsibilities

1. The postholder will work as a system leader engaging and working with stakeholders, education leaders and inclusion services across Derby to develop a holistic approach, developing sustainable relationships with schools and multi-academy trusts including coordination between schools to deliver better outcomes for everyone, irrespective of their background.
2. Lead strategic and operational responsibility for all services with the Education and Skills service area. This includes:
   1. Governor Services
   2. Early Years
   3. E4E
3. Strategic lead and champion across a range of blended educational support services across educational psychology and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) casework. This includes the strategic and operational leadership of the Council’s statutory responsibilities in relation to SEND, including the service responsible for Education Health and Care Plans. It will be vital to operate as a system leader for SEND across the local area and champion co-production in service design and developments.
4. Strategic and operational responsibility for the Derby Adult Learning Service as well asthe wider skills agenda across the Council and wider strategic partnership in Derby.
5. Lead and responsibility for Transition 2 (T2) - supporting young adults aged 18-25 with learning disabilities, severe learning difficulties and/or autism as they move onto meaningful and sustainable opportunities in adulthood.
6. Lead in the strategic commissioning and development of Derby’s Pupil Referral Unit, work to reduce exclusions and in the development and support of Derby’s behaviour support strategy.
7. Working in partnership with the Director of Commissioning and Delivery to ensure data and insight leads to the informed strategic commissioning decisions so that there is both sufficient and the right provision for children and young people with SEND/AP needs.
8. Maintain robust budgetary monitoring controls ensuring effective budgetary management is exercised by Heads of Service and that all resources are managed efficiently and effectively within finite resources and ensuring delivery of a balanced budget. Maximise the availability of external partnership funding and resources to enhance service delivery.

About you

You will be able to demonstrate the leadership behaviours and possess the experience, skills and qualifications outlined in the Person Specification (page 7 of the Candidate Pack).  You will understand the benefits of diversity and be able to demonstrate how to promote equality of opportunity.

If you believe you're the right person to help us "shape Derby's tomorrow, today" - we would welcome your application.

Indicative Timetable

Closing date for applications: Thursday 6 July 2023
Shortlist meeting: w/c 10 July 2023
Assessment Centre & Final Interviews: 20/21 July 2023

Dawn Faulkner
Email: dfaulkner@faerfield.co.uk
Phone: 0121 312 3755

Sarah Longbottom
Email: slongbottom@faerfield.co.uk
Phone: 0121 312 3755