Citizens Advice Wandsworth (CAW) Is a Thriving Advice Organisation That Provides Information

BACKGROUND

Citizens Advice Wandsworth (CAW) is a thriving advice organisation that provides information, advice and casework support to local residents. In the last 12 months we have helped about 13,000 people. Roughly 45% of our funding comes from Wandsworth Council. The remaining income comes from a variety of sources that include trusts, foundations, the local Clinical Commissioning Group and Housing Associations. Our core Council funding underpins all that we do and allows us to deliver our mainstream, open access advice services which we deliver via our telephone adviceline, our two main centres (in Battersea and Roehampton) and outreaches. To find out about the range of help we provide, including our projects, please visit our website

To date we have employed a Head of Services and Development (HSD) who has overseen the delivery and development of both our core services and our projects. In June, following the departure of our current Chief Executive (CE) our current HSD is moving to become interim CE (an open CE recruitment exercise will take place in autumn 2018). In light of this change, and of the continued growth of CAW, it is proposed to restructure the organisation’s senior management, creating new Head of Projects and Head of Services posts. The Head of Projects postis likely to be filled by internal redeployment. The Head of Services will work closely with the Head of Projects and the Chief Executive to lead the organisation.

The postholder will be joining us at an exciting time; in April we will be embarking on a new four year funding arrangement with the Council and will be delivering services using a new advice model; for the first time using our telephone advice line as the main access route and significantly increasing the number of available appointments. Additionally, the post holder will oversee the Wandsworth Council (WBC)funded EU advice service and establish a new service commissioned by WBC to help them meet their Homelessness Reduction Act duties.

JOB PURPOSE:

• To take responsibility for Citizens Advice Wandsworth’s Core service provision; ensuring the delivery of an effective and efficient public advice service.
• To lead a team of service managers, advisers and volunteers.
• To be accountable for the quality of our Core client services. Ensuring they are of a good quality, meet clients’ needs,help them to resolve their problems, and adhere to the Citizens Advice Quality Criteria.
• To develop a responsive and respectful relationship with key local partners including commissioning officers, local councillors and sector colleagues.
• To draft quarterly and annual reports on all service activity, ensuring that these monitoring reports are accurate and delivered on time.
• To use service data, client and team feedback, and observation to monitor, evaluate and reflect on CAW’s service provision to ensure continual improvement of existing services and development of new services.
• To work with the Chief Executive and other members of the senior management team in order to develop and implement organisational strategic and business plans.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Service Delivery & Development

• Assist the Chief Executive in identifying strategic and operational priorities for the service.
• Draft plans and objectives that relate to core service delivery.
• Implement, manage and monitor plans for service delivery.
• Produce monthly internal management reports and quarterly update reports for the Trustee Board on the volume and standard of service being provided, plus timely funder reports as required.
• Ensure that advice staff and volunteers have access to, and knowledge of, adequate information sources on an ongoing basis.
• Develop and promote common and consistently implemented policies, procedures and practices across CAWs advice operations, ensuring that case recording is undertaken consistently in order to accurately report both activity and impact.
• Ensure that the use of technology is most efficiently utilised across the service in order to maximise efficiency and take full advantage of available technology.
• Ensure that any client complaints are recorded, monitored and investigated in line with Citizens Advice requirements.
• Promote the service as necessary.
• Annually review CAW’s Service and Quality manual to ensure the document is valuable and complaint.

Funding and Development

• Work with the Chief Executive to identify unmet needs and opportunities for CAW, and develop new areas of advice provision.
• Play an active role as a member of the Senior Management Team.
• Maintain an ongoing overview of funder and commissioner priorities and opportunities for CAW; contribute to and develop proposals for external funding and contracting opportunities.
• Actively network, develop and maintain operational partnerships and relationships with other LCAs, statutory bodies, other voluntary and community organizations, funders and commissioners.

Research and Campaigns

• Oversee the development of research and campaigns, andensure that CAW’s data and experience feeds into social policy initiatives at national, regional and local levels.
• Instigate systems and procedures to collate evidence and information and raise team awareness.
• Regularly examine service data, client evidence, and listen to staff and volunteer feedback in order to identify issues and notice trends and raise and act on these research and campaigning issues.
• Contribute to research and campaigns work by providing evidence and information about clients and writing reports on findings.

Staff and Volunteer Development and Management

• To line manage the core service management team, and other staff when necessary.
• To work with integrity in order to get the best possible performance from your team; motivating and supporting them to fulfil their potential.This will include initiating, where necessary, capability and disciplinary proceedings and/or investigations into staff grievances,.
• To ensure that all staff have clear personal objectives and that their performance against these are regularly appraised.
• To lead and motivate CAW’s Core advice team; modelling CAW’s cultural values of generosity, creativity, quality and accountability and nurturing these behaviours in others.
• To promote good communications across the organisation including the organisation of, and participation in, staff meetings
• To be responsible for organising all aspects of staff recruitment and selection for posts line managed and ensure that new recruits are successfully inducted and receive appropriate training.
• With senior management colleagues, keep abreast of changing legislation and ensure that the requisite staff and volunteer policies and procedures are in place and implemented.

Financial and Risk Management

• Maintain financial control of service and projects budgets, ensuring proper controls are in place and that all financial and reporting obligations and procedures are met.
• Ensure effective risk management for any new projects or strategic development
• Advise the Chief Executive and Finance Manager on budget development and resource allocation.

Other duties and responsibilities

• Promote the aims, policies, membership requirements and equal opportunities and diversity policies of the CA service.
• Abide by health and safety guidelines and share responsibility for own safety and that of colleagues.
• Carry out any other related tasks as required by the Chief Executive.
• Attend Trustee Board and sub committee meetings as required.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential Criteria:

1.A minimum of two year’s experience of planning, managing and developing advice service delivery and contracts in a results-driven, client focused and partnership environment

2.Ability to lead and build diverse teams of staff and volunteers, including experience of recruitment, training, and significant experience of line management including objective-setting and performance management.

3.Ability to contribute to a Senior Management Team, including the ability think strategically, work collaboratively, delegate effectively, and work well under pressure

4.Good professional knowledge of the operating environment, including the legislative and policy issues affecting our areas of advice.

5.Ability to identify potential funding opportunities and draft successful contract bids and funding applications.

6.Experience of reporting to funders and developing monitoring and evaluation frameworks, including knowledge of data collection and analysis.

7.Proven ability to review, plan and develop services, policies, procedures and methods and implement organisational change to achieve better client services.

8.Well-developed communication skills to represent, negotiate, motivate and lead; both internally and externally.

9.Ability to negotiate, lead and deliver complex projects, services and contracts.

10.Numeracy skills for monitoring and analysis of statistics and budgets.

11.Ability to plan and manage own workload in a pressurised, fast-changing environment.

12.Experience of developing, implementing and monitoring quality assurance systems.

Desirable Criteria:

13.Previous experience of working within a local Citizens Advice service.

14.Experience of successful fundraising and proposal development.