Associate Director Mental Health Learning Disabilities and Autism

Job responsibilities

Strategy, Planning and Organisation

Be responsible for leading the production and delivery of the MHLDA elements of the ICSs strategy and joint forward plan.

Working with borough teams and borough based partnerships, lead the planning and design of the strategy to meet the vision and strategic direction.

Manage the activities necessary to ensure delivery of a transformational strategy, acting as lead for a major change programme.

Chair or attend as appropriate, meetings with varied internal and external key stakeholders to facilitate the delivery of the strategic objectives.

Ensure the function/strategy is delivered to time, to quality standards and in a cost effective manner, adjusting plans and resources as required.

Ensure that the delivery of the function/strategy is to the appropriate levels of quality, on time and within budget, in accordance with the programme plan.

Provide strategic leadership across organisational and sector boundaries and pathways to facilitate transformational change for the ICS population, directly communicating highly complex, sensitive and contentious information especially where multiple stakeholders hold conflicting agendas.

Ensure that the MHLDA team influences and seeks input from the wider ICS system including provider collaboratives, public health, local government, local politicians, the voluntary and community sector, other partners and local people to make real transformational change for residents, co-producing solutions where possible.

Support the delivery of the NHSs commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2028 (emissions under NHS direct control), working with the responsible Director to deliver interventions which reduce consumable waste and ensure energy-efficient estate.

Ensure appropriate stakeholder engagement strategy is in place defining how the strategy will engage with all stakeholder groups and what information flows will be established and maintained.

Operate in a focused and concentrated manner against time pressures against a backdrop of frequent urgent and conflicting priorities.

Transformation and delivery

Provide effective leadership of the programme, ensuring transformation focuses on end to end care pathways, providing assurance that services are safe, high quality and efficient, and ensuring this is underpinned by effective commissioning.

Lead and actively drive forward the development of future integrated commissioning intentions, identifying gaps, mitigating uncertainty, offering solutions and working collaboratively with the provider market to ensure future proofing of service delivery.

Lead as the expert; integrating systems and managing effective working relationships with the appropriate stakeholders. Applying political astuteness to ICB, Place Based Partnership and ICS delivery.

Provide leadership and work strategically and collaboratively with all borough, programme and corporate teams in the ICB.

Ensure there is fully integrated working between colleagues and subject matter experts on the planning, scoping, design and delivery of the programme that impact across the wider health and social care system.

Provide leadership to support integration of the voluntary sector, the private sector and wider NHS and Local Authority systems to achieve commissioning intentions.

Provide direction to the programme and team through working flexibly to ensure that the delivery of projects and programme(s) are integrated and that there is sufficient subject matter expertise to provide advice and guidance on best practice and legal implications.

Drive change, apply a range of analytical techniques and challenge key working relationships to identify improvement opportunities and innovate to achieve agreed objectives, working in a matrix to deliver.

Lead the governance, ensure quality oversight and proactive risk management within programme and related services.

Work in partnership with programmes, Borough Based Partnerships and Provider Collaboratives to identify and address inter-dependencies and ensure alignment.

Ensure delivery of the ICBs objectives is at the core of all work and uphold organisational policies and principles on the promotion of equality.

Communication and engagement

Communicate, engage and build relationships with key decision makers to influence and align the development of strategy, transformation and the wider health and social care system; ensuring that these fully integrate with other areas of the NWL system.

Employ effective communication, negotiation and influencing skills to enable effective change management with stakeholders at all levels (including senior decision makers) who may hold differing and contentious views.

Provide and receive highly complex, highly sensitive and highly contentious information, including presenting information about projects and dependencies to a wide range of internal and external stakeholders in formal settings.

Deal with complex and conflicting subject matter problems in day to day workload in internal/ external meetings, one on one communications and other events, comprising various parts of the organisation and system.

Nurture key relationships with clinicians, senior decision makers and high profile individuals ensuring networks are built and maintained.

Represent the programme and/ or ICB at local, regional and national levels on relevant work areas.

Represent the ICB in sensitive and political situations, delivering difficult messages where required to senior stakeholders/ audiences.

Effectively manage stakeholders across different areas and at all levels, maintaining relationships with senior stakeholders, such as key strategic regional and national policy makers.

Ensure optimum engagement, securing appropriate buy in, support and understanding.

Work in partnership with other leaders/ teams to deliver and embed transformational change at scale that delivers successful outcomes.

Leadership and management

Provide effective leadership and line management for staff and act as a role model across the ICB.

Supporting the ICBs ways of working, model behaviours to deliver against the organisations values and champion the NHS Constitution.

Set clear objectives, goals and monitor the teams performance against deliverables and agreed objectives.

Navigate and mitigate uncertainty through development of clear measurable long term strategic plans with clear supporting policies and delivery plans

Provide leadership and support in the development of team members to achieve their potential.

Actively support the development of individuals and teams through personal development planning, coaching and mentoring.

Develop and embed mechanisms to support the wellbeing of the team.

Create an inclusive working environment where diversity is valued, everyone can contribute, and everyday action ensures we meet our duty to uphold and promote equality.

Support the development of an open, supportive, can do culture and approach across the ICB, which challenges the status quo and delivers real improvements for residents.

Demonstrate credibility, knowledge and influence in the health and care system and be able to influence policy development.

Working with other members of leadership teams to deliver and embed transformation change at scale.

Financial management

Responsible for budget setting and managing related activity, liaising with Finance colleagues to ensure appropriate costings.

Responsible for leading the financial planning process in order to achieve compliance with the Mental Health Investment Standard.

Responsible for budget and contract management for all mental health, learning disabilities and autism services commissioned by the ICB, spanning NHS, non-NHS and voluntary sector providers. This responsibility covers any required procurements, quality management of contracts, invoice approval (working to the scheme of delegation) and delivery of relevant efficiency plans.

Provide guidance and management on the procurement of identified services and products from defining requirements, developing specifications, achieving stakeholder buy-in, sign off for documentation, overseeing bid evaluation, award recommendation and final sign off for services/ products as required, ensuring they meet the defined levels of quality and value for money. Placing orders and signing invoices, keeping mindful of budget limitations.

Act in a way that is compliant with Standing Orders and Standing Financial Instructions in the discharge of budget management responsibilities.

Constantly strive for value for money and greater efficiency in the use of budget(s) and ensure that they operate in recurrent financial balance year on year.

Make recommendations, providing advice and preparing strategic reports/ briefings as required.

Reducing Inequalities

Ensure services are developed and provided in a way that provides equal access and care for all our residents.

Promote approaches where residents views actively shape service and care provision, including through the use of co-production to drive measurable transformation for residents.

Use data and information to actively review and monitor the impact of services and decisions on our diverse population, taking action where necessary to ensure greater equality of impact.

Analytical

Essential

• Ability to analyse highly complex issues where material is conflicting and drawn from multiple sources
• Demonstrated capability to act upon incomplete information, using experience to make inferences and decision making
• Ability to analyse numerical and written data, assess options and draw appropriate initiatives

Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to masters level in relevant subject or equivalent level of experience of working at a similar level in specialist area

Experience

Essential

• Proven and significant leadership experience.
• Significant evidence of continued professional development
• Demonstrated expertise in a Healthcare environment
• Significant management experience at senior level in the NHS or other public healthcare related industry
• Proven Board level experience of leading and delivering complex change and strategy development programmes in a politically sensitive and complex environment
• Proven record in transferring processes and roles between locations.
• Commissioning expertise in healthcare environment
• Significant experience and understanding of proven implementation of project management methodologies
• Member of a relevant professional body

Desirable

• Education sector knowledge
• Experience and/or understanding of the London Health Economy
• Commercial expertise
• Awareness of relevant public and private sector business management best practice
• Experience of successfully operating in and delivering priorities in a partnership environment

Autonomy

Essential

• Demonstrated capabilities to manage own workload and make informed decisions in the absence of required information, working to tight and often changing timescales
• Ability to make decisions autonomously, when required, on difficult issues

Management Skills

Essential

• Experience in leading a major change initiative with entrepreneurialism in a challenging organisational environment
• Experience of creating a new team and motivating and inspiring staff to work together to achieve a common objective
• Ability to delegate effectively
• Ability to work effectively between strategic and operational activities where required

Planning Skills

Essential

• Leadership, vision, strategic thinking and planning with highly developed political skills
• Demonstrated capability to plan over short, medium and long-term timeframes and adjust plans and resource requirements accordingly
• Experience of managing and prioritising a large budget
• Ability to provide informative reporting on finances and impact to Board management

Desirable

• Experience of project and programme management techniques and tools such as Prince 2 or Managing Successful Projects

Communication Skills

Essential

• Dynamic personality and the ability to build trusted stakeholder relationships and wide support networks in a political context like the NHS in London
• Strong external communications skills in a politically sensitive environment and experience in handling media
• Ability to prepare and produce concise yet insightful communications for dissemination to senior stakeholders and a broad range of stakeholders as required
• Extensive experience of delivering presentations to large groups of stakeholders in often pressured and politically sensitive environments

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).