Operational Hub Lead

What will you be doing?

Working as part of the Careers Hub Team, you will have a fast pace and varied role by:

• Driving sustainable system change in careers provision within the hub and as part of the national network of Careers Hubs across England by ensuring the hub is at the centre of local careers provision and policy making decisions.
• Leading and managing a high-performing team of Enterprise Coordinators, focusing on professional growth and alignment with strategic goals.
• Leading and driving cross sector engagement and collaboration to ensure all young people can access high quality careers and enterprise education that aligns with the local Employment and Skills Strategy and Local Authorities economic and skills priorities, ensures improved career outcomes and achieves sustainable change in careers provision at a local and national level.
• Leading, managing and developing a team of delivery professionals and volunteers to provide high quality careers provision following the best practice outlined in Gatsby Benchmarks, the Government’s Careers Strategy and the Grant Funding Agreement with the Careers and Enterprise Company.

About you

You will have excellent communication skills and experience of working with partner organisations to develop strong links with internal colleagues and external partners.

Be able to demonstrate specialist knowledge of a subject relevant to the role, such as a strong understanding of local and national policy relating to skills and economic development, issues and barriers to employment faced by young people, and understanding of post-16 landscape.

You’ll use your professional expertise and knowledge to support the delivery of the Careers Hub programme so that it is efficient and suitable to meet the needs of schools, partners, businesses and providers in line with the funding agreement requirements and strong project management skills.

You will need to have a solutions driven and adaptable approach to working, thrive in a busy environment and have a positive approach to challenges.

You will be able to smoothly manage processes whilst being able use your own initiative to 'think outside of the box’ whilst having strong leadership and line management skills to lead the team with a full complex workload.

Our benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits to our employees, these include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement starting at 28 days annual leave per year, 29 days for senior managers (pro rata, depending on how many hours per week you work), plus bank holidays. An additional 5 days, linked to continuous service, and ability to purchase up to 6 weeks additional leave per year.
• Cycle to Work scheme. 
• Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health protection.
• Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out plus lots more.
• Car Lease scheme via Tusker.
• Payment of professional subscription / membership - If your job description requires that you are registered with or are a member of a professional body, WNC will pay for your professional subscription or membership fees.
• Employee Assistance Programme - We have an employee support programme run by Health Assured, an independent, external organisation. Health Assured is available for you and your immediate family members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and includes telephone counselling, legal advice, bereavement support and medical information.
• Commsave- Free membership to Commsave Credit Union who provide a variety of savings accounts, loans, a monthly lottery draw and more!
• Ongoing training and development opportunities.
• A variety of flexible working options to support your work/life balance, including full or part time, term time, 9-day fortnight, etc. (subject to business needs).
• Our West Ways of Working – We want our workforce to thrive, and we equip our employees with the right technology to support hybrid and collaborative working, on or off site, depending on the role.
• Making a difference - If you want to use your skills and experience with an organisation that are genuinely invested in making a difference, are committed to improving people's lives, and whose success has a direct impact on the wellbeing of your family, friends and people in your local area, then West Northamptonshire Council is the place for you.

About us

At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.

Our vision is ‘to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive’. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services. 

Hear more from our Chief Executive, Anna Earnshaw, about what it's like to work at West Northants Council https://youtu.be/lV0EfeUF4aU  

We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential.  We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner

The following film was created by us to communicate our intentions - watch WNC colleagues explain what DEI means to us.

If you need additional support or reasonable adjustments during the application process, including needing the job description in another format or language, please email careers@westnorthants.gov.uk for support.

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.