Salary and grade: £54,064 – 59,415 per year, Grade 8
Duration of role: Permanent
Hours per week: 37
Location: The designated office base is Abbey House, Abingdon. The councils operate in a truly flexible, and hybrid way where the focus is on outcomes not where you work.

Closing date 12 June 2024

About the role and what we’re looking for

We’re looking for a dynamic, innovative, solution-focussed team leader with experience of developing policies and strategies. Leading our Insight and Policy Team you will provide senior leaders with data and insight to shape decision-making, lead on preparing the Corporate Plans, and provide a hub of expert advice to those writing policies across all our council services. If you are committed to high quality work and are ready for an exciting new challenge, this could be the role for you.

The successful applicant for this role will join the councils at an exciting time. You will lead on the development of new Corporate Plans for South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Council. The team is growing. You will have the opportunity to offer new insight and discovery, making the Councils ever more effective and successful. We are looking for someone to bring horizon scanning, research skills, business intelligence and digital tools to policy making.

The Insight & Policy Team leads on:

• Corporate policy development including the Corporate Plans
• Spotting external funding opportunities and making bids that mesh with our priorities and values
• Providing insight, statistics and data to other Council Services in engaging formats
• Coordinating responses to government and other consultations
• Lobbying government and external agencies

To give just some examples of the team’s recent work, we have secured multi-million-pound government funding to decarbonise our leisure centres, forecast potential housing need arising from the Homes for Ukraine programme, and used Census 2021 and other data to update understanding of community needs for the new Community Wellbeing Strategy.

Main duties and responsibilities

• co-ordinating, advising on, and where relevant leading, production of new policies and strategies for the councils
• overseeing external funding bids to secure maximum success and alignment with the corporate priorities, particularly our climate targets
• networking, horizon-scanning and overseeing the gathering, analysis and interpreting of data to assist with evidence-based decision-making
• pro-actively managing complex studies and projects
• writing briefs, appointing consultants and managing contracts for specialist work and projects, ensuring they are cost effective and of an agreed quality
• working closely with other services, stakeholders, local councillors and other organisations to develop and consult on new policies, providing timely information in a format appropriate to the audience
• attending and contributing to public meetings, exhibitions, workshops, and training (including evening meetings when requested), ensuring a customer focused approach
• ensuring high quality standards and consistency in the provision of professional advice and training on policy matters to the public, councillors and other officers
• both informing and writing papers for cabinet, council, committees etc.
• promoting a positive image of both councils
• ensuring strong and robust line management of the team
• leading by example in modelling the conduct, behaviour and values expected of the councils’ employees and establish a working environment within your team in which individuals can excel
• taking initiative for solving issues and problems

Your essential skills, knowledge, and experience

• significant experience of working in the policy arena developing policies and/or strategies (essential)

Your essential qualifications

• a degree or diploma or equivalent level of experience (essential)

If you have the following experience or qualifications – it’s a bonus

• proven successful line management experience
• experience of working in local government
• successful project management experience
• understanding of local council corporate priorities and regional and national direction
• experience of successfully delivering complex and challenging programmes of work through effective partnership working in a political environment

The benefits we offer

• A basic 25-day annual leave per annum, rising to 30 days after five years. You also have all the bank holidays to look forward to and time off between Christmas and New Year.
• Flexible working and annualised hours – a flexible approach to work that our employees love!
• Salary pays awards – most jobs give scope for a pay increase after six months or the following April (depending on your start date) and we also review salaries each April.
• A generous career average pension scheme which includes life insurance of three times your salary
• The opportunity to purchase a bike through Cyclescheme (cheaper than directly through a store) so that you can cycle to work!
• Various schemes to keep you healthy (reduced gym membership, free swims, free eye tests for DSE users and more)
• We give you two days per year to volunteer within the local community.
• A range of resources, support, and activities to help you maintain your wellbeing including a monthly wellbeing hour in addition to annualised hours (the ability to work flexibly as long as, over the course of the year, you complete your contracted hours) and annual leave.

You may have experience in the following: Insight and Policy Team Leader, Policy Development Manager, Strategy and Policy Lead, Policy and Strategy Manager, Insight Manager, Policy Development Team Leader, Strategy and Insight Coordinator, Policy Manager, Policy Officer, Strategy Lead, Public Affairs Officer, Public Relations Officer, Communications Officer

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