Person specification

Job title: Service Manager Early Learning and Childcare   

Attributes

Experience

Essential:

• Experience of managing and delivering scrutiny and assurance activity.
• Experience of managing scrutiny and assurance teams operationally.
• Direct experience of supporting improvement and building capacity through self-evaluation. 
• Highly skilled and experienced in the ‘art of inspection’.
• Experience of planning scrutiny and assurance programmes, including those delivered in partnership with others.
• Significant experience in social work/social care in children’s services.
• Experience of stakeholder engagement at both a strategic and operational level, particularly during the inspection process, delivering feedback and dealing with challenges to the inspection processes and findings.
• Experience in quality assurance, self-evaluation, performance management and the recruitment, training, development and support of staff.
• Significant experience operational scrutiny activity and professional regulatory practice within the health and social care, or other relevant sectors.
• Demonstrable evidence of embedding sustainable transformational change.

Desirable:

• Direct experience of developing and applying quality frameworks to support self-evaluation, scrutiny and improvement.

Education, qualifications and training

Essential:

• Educated to degree level or equivalent.
• Appropriate professional qualification.
• Commitment to own CPD.
• A qualification in quality management/ scrutiny and improvement such as EFQM and PSIF.

Skills and knowledge

Essential:

• The ability to provide leadership and direction to a diverse, multi-disciplinary team of professional staff.
• Demonstrate significant knowledge and direct first hand experience of inspection/regulation of care in a children’s setting.
• Demonstrate significant skills and knowledge of quality assuring inspection processes and reports.
• Demonstrate commitment to the principles of the Public Service Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 and the principles of better regulation.
• Be adept at challenging traditional thinking in a positive and constructive way.
• Excellent communicator, both verbally and in written form.
• Politically astute.
• Ability to translate plans into action.
• Excellent negotiation and influencing skills.
• Demonstrate broad knowledge of working with inspection/regulation of care.
• Knowledge of trends and changes within social work and social care with an understanding of Equality and Diversity issues.
• IT literate, using the most effective methods to communicate and manage information.

Desirable:

• Knowledge and understanding of health/social care practice, theory, policy and research.
• Demonstrate understanding of corporate social responsibility, whereby social and environmental concerns are voluntarily integrated to business operations and stakeholder interaction.
• Understanding of, and ability to demonstrate, the management of complex projects.

Key performance outcomes

Leading others

Essential:

• Ability to provide credible and authentic professional leadership, with a clear sense of purpose and direction to effectively lead a key professional function within the Care Inspectorate.
• Ability to effectively deploy staff and other resources to achieve performance objectives.
• Ensure that staff working in inspection in respect of children’s services conduct themselves in accordance with the highest standards of integrity, probity and openness through the implementation of robust corporate governance.
• Demonstrate ability to provide leadership and strategic management direction for multi disciplinary, professional teams and bring together groups from different disciplines/bodies.

Management of resources

Essential:

• Ability to bring together the overall work of a multi-disciplinary team of staff.
• Ability to manage resources in achievement of the Care Inspectorate’s objectives.
• Ability to bring together the overall work of a team of staff, determining the “tone” for a significant area of the organisation’s work and promoting a corporate vision.
• Ability to manage resources in achievement of the Care Inspectorate’s objectives.

Desirable:

• Ability to drive continuous improvement and manage business planning and performance processes.

Effective communication

Essential:

•  Articulate and positive communicator both in verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to engage, influence and lead the development of a wide range of key stakeholder relationships, both internally and externally.

Desirable:

• The ability to build and guide key stakeholder strategies and manage relationships to secure or improve delivery of key programme or service outputs.

Impact and influence

Essential:

• Evidence of building positive relationships, engaging and collaborating effectively with others internally and externally.
• Demonstrate personal resilience, being able to work flexibly under to deliver tangible results.
• Demonstrates ability to influence at all levels.
• Ability to promote, lead and implement strategies and change programmes to improve the development and quality of services.
• Evidence of building positive relationships, engaging and collaborating effectively with others internally and externally.
• Demonstrates personal resilience, being able to work flexibly under pressure with stamina and tenacity to deliver results.

Desirable:

• A proven track record of promoting, leading and implementing strategies and change programmes to improve the development and quality of services
• Ability to take account of wider political and organisational sensitivities to deliver strategic objectives.

Objective decision making

Essential:

• The ability to assist the Chief Inspector Early Learning and Childcare  Services   to set, in consultation with others, the overall agenda, long term objectives and performance standards for the Directorate.
• Demonstrate analytical and systematic approach to problem solving.
• Ability to make appropriate and realistic judgments, based on relevant, up to date and verifiable information.
• The ability to take responsibility for difficult decisions and to remain resilient against possible criticism.

Please note – these are key performance outcomes to be used to recruit into the role.  Successful applicants will be assessed against all the performance indicators used in the Performance Development Review System once established in the role.

Job profile

Job title: Service Manager Early Learning and Childcare (ELC)

Responsible to: Chief Inspector Early Learning and Childcare Services

Responsible for: Team Managers

Principal working contacts

• Executive Director of Scrutiny & Assurance
• Chief Inspectors
• Executive Team
• Senior Management Team
• Team Managers
• Strategic Inspectors
• Regulated Care Inspectors
• Care Inspectorate colleagues
• Scottish Government Officials
• Integrated Joint Boards, Local Authorities, Agencies and Other Scrutiny Bodies
• Community Planning Partnerships
• External Stakeholders
• Sponsor Department
• Chief Social Work Officers
• Police
• NHS

Job purpose

Support the Chief Inspector ELC to manage the day to day delivery of inspection activity for regulated care services for children to ensure that the Care Inspectorate performs effectively and efficiently as an independent scrutiny body.

Support the Chief Inspector ELC in ensuring that the Care Inspectorate meets its responsibilities as defined by the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 and other relevant legislation, to inspect and improve the quality of care and social work services in Scotland in a collaborative way.

Support the Chief Inspector ELC in developing, implementing and monitoring approaches to quality assurance, performance management, recruitment, training, development and support of staff .

Work with the Chief Executive, Executive Directors and Senior Management Team to support significant cultural change; consolidate excellence in the Care Inspectorate’s activities and; continue to invest in our competent, confident workforce in a way that puts collaboration at the core of our work. 

Key responsibilities

Strategic management:

• Support the Chief Inspector ELC to develop, deliver, monitor and review the regulatory practices, processes and procedures in children’s services to deliver robust, outcome focussed scrutiny and assurance and other activities which support continuous improvement in care and social work services.
• Support the Chief Inspector ELC with developing, implementing and monitoring an integrated approach to quality assurance, self-evaluation, best value and consolidating excellence.
• Support the Chief Inspector ELC with developing implementing and monitoring an integrated approach to performance management.
• Support the Chief Inspector ELC with the recruitment, training, development and support of staff in inspection to support their continuous professional development and increase staff confidence and competence.
• Coordinate the work of contact managers, expert groups and quality circles.
• Coordinate formal and informal consultations.
• Support the Chief Inspector ELC , working with the Registration Manager to ensure that the scrutiny and registration functions work efficiently and effectively.
• In conjunction with the Chief Inspector ELC support the implementation of the day to day delivery of regulated care service scrutiny and assurance activity for the Care Inspectorate and contribute to its direction, ensuring that all legislative requirements are met.
• In conjunction with the Chief Inspector ELC support the planning of regulated care service scrutiny and assurance for children’s services.
• Support the Chief Inspector ELCto formulate objectives, strategies, action plans and targets for all regulated inspection activity in respect of children’s services, and ensure that these are achieved.
• Support the Chief Inspector ELCto help build the diverse strands of strategic and regulated care service scrutiny and assurance activity into a cohesive, integrated and productive approach, aligned to the achievement of the Care Inspectorate’s corporate aims and objectives, focusing on consolidating excellence in all aspects of the Care Inspectorate’s work.

Operational management:

• Support the Chief Inspector ELC with day to day responsibility for the efficient and effective operational delivery of regulated care inspection activity for children’s services.
• Support the Chief Inspector ELC to develop innovative approaches to support the continuous improvement of the Care Inspectorate’s scrutiny and assurance work, including the development of quality systems, designed around creative problem-solving and bringing new thinking, delivery mechanisms and solutions to the Care Inspectorate.
• Help ensure operational activities are delivered efficiently and adhere to the principles of best value.
• Prepare and present reports to the Executive Team, Senior Management Team Board and Committees of the Care Inspectorate that are both timely, and informed.
• Deputise for the Chief Inspector ELCand undertake such other duties as may be required by the Chief Executive, Senior Management Team or Executive Directors.

People management:

• Guide, support and direct staff for Scrutiny & Assurance and ensure that their work is carried out in an effective, efficient and consistent manner and meets the standards, targets and requirements of the Care Inspectorate.
• Support, develop and mentor staff through regular supervision, performance development reviews and personal development plans to help build a competent and confident workforce where individuals are developed and supported to reach their potential.
• Promote consistent, high quality practice amongst staff encouraging them to give of their best and continually strive to improve performance and consolidate excellence. Manage the performance and monitor standards and consistency of practice of all staff of regulated care services.
• Support the recruitment and development of all employees, and the implementation of HR policies, within the function, ensuring that Care Inspectorate objectives are translated into meaningful and realistic personal objectives for staff and team plans.
• Promote the health, safety and welfare of employees, with responsibility for ensuring that Care Inspectorate health and safety policies, procedures and practice, and legislative requirements, are followed across all areas of service delivery.
• Promote diversity and equality of opportunity, ensuring that these principles are upheld across all areas of service delivery.
• Carry out your duties in accordance with our Health and Safety policies, procedures, guidance, practices and legislative requirements, taking  reasonable care for your safety and that of others who may be affected by what you do or fail to do while at work.

Relationship management:

• Ensure productive and smooth working arrangements and protocols between staff delivering all regulated care service scrutiny and assurance in respect of children’s services and all other Care Inspectorate employees.
• In conjunction with the Chief Inspector ELC help to facilitate and deliver business and cultural change with the Care Inspectorate.
• In conjunction with the Chief Inspector ELC help promote customer focus internally and externally, supporting staff to work collaboratively with colleagues across the Care Inspectorate, as well as with people who use services and their carers, the Partnership Forum, scrutiny partners, service providers, government, health and other bodies.
• Develop effective working relationships with the Senior Management Team to ensure effective collaborative working and strong customer focus.
• Promote the principles of partnership working throughout the organisation and in all working practices in accordance with the Care Inspectorate’s Partnership Agreement.
• Develop and maintain productive and effective working relationships with a range of appropriate external stakeholders and relevant key policy contacts within national bodies, Scottish Government, local authorities, integrated joint boards and health boards, together with relevant, designated regulatory and quality assurance bodies and other statutory agencies with responsibilities for service delivery and commissioning. Use these relationships to continually improve service delivery, strengthen collaborative working, and promote the work of the Care Inspectorate.
• Provide leadership, contribute to and promote, the continuous development of the Care Inspectorate, managing change effectively and creatively.
• Support the deployment of appropriate mechanisms to consult with all relevant stakeholders concerned in the delivery of inspection of care, ensuring we fulfill our duty of user focus and that this informs continuous improvement in our work.
• Support, promote and encourage public, care user and carer participation in, and consultation about, the work of the Care Inspectorate.

Other duties

This job requires some travel and may involve some overnight stays and unsocial hours.

This job description is a broad picture of the post at the date of preparation. It is not an exhaustive list of all possible duties and it is recognised that jobs change and evolve over time. Consequently the post holder will be required to carry out any other duties to the equivalent level that are necessary to fulfil the purpose of the job, and to respond positively to changing business needs.