Head of Service Design & Participation - Southwark Council : Job Details

Southwark Council are now looking for a Head of Service Design & Community Participation to join our Strategy & Communities team and help lead the transformation of how we work with residents, staff, partners, and communities. This is your opportunity to be a key player in delivering Southwark’s 2030 vision of a fair, green, and safe borough where everyone thrives.In this highly visible role, you will be at the forefront of designing innovative, resident-led services that tackle structural inequalities and empower our communities. You’ll be crafting new ways for our residents to have a stronger voice in the decisions that shape their lives and the places they call home. Your work will drive our mission to focus resources on early intervention and preventative measures, ensuring that every person in Southwark has the opportunity to live a healthy, empowered, and meaningful life.The Role:As our Head of Service Design & Community Participation, you will lead on developing creative, participatory approaches to service design, working closely with residents and colleagues across the council, bringing to life our vision of creating "good lives" for all within our Southwark community. You will also…

• Lead the Way: You will lead on developing innovative participatory approaches to designing services, working with residents and wider colleagues across the council that address structural inequalities and empower our communities.
• Amplify Voices: Create new ways for residents to have a meaningful say in the decisions that shape their lives and neighbourhood’s.
• Focus on Prevention: Drive our mission to invest in early intervention and preventative measures, ensuring every resident has the chance to live a healthy, empowered, and fulfilling life.
• Champion Change: Promote fresh, bold ideas for service design that reflect the diverse needs and aspirations of our community.
• Foster Collaboration: Work closely with residents, colleagues, and partners to embed a culture of resident-led service design across the council.

How will you make an impact as Head of Service Design & Community Participation? We’re looking for someone with a passion for people and a positive, can-do attitude to help us deliver our strategic priorities, an expert with deep knowledge of service design and community participation.

• People-Centric: You have a passion for people and a positive, can-do attitude to help us achieve our strategic goals.
• Proven Leader: You bring experience in leadership and management, with a focus on Service Design and Community Participation.
• Public Sector Experience: Ideally, you have a background in local government or the public sector, with a track record of delivering innovative, people-centred design approaches.
• Driven by Impact: You are excited about creating lasting impact and fostering a culture where everyone feels empowered to participate.
• Flexible working: This role offers flexible home working blended with travel into our London Bridge HQ

About Southwark Council

Southwark Council is the largest local authority social landlord in London, managing 55,000 homes lived in by 40% of Southwark’s residents. We are home to over 18,300 businesses including iconic London venues such as The Shard, The Tate Modern and Borough Market along with many social enterprises and we have a young, diverse, and growing population.

At Southwark we are committed to making our borough just and fair and are taking positive action to tackle inequalities.?Our residents and communities are our greatest asset and the passion we have for Southwark is shared by millions of Londoners who enjoy our outstanding cultural offer, use our hospitals, and attend our universities. Our refreshed borough plan and focus on Southwark Stands Together, (which is our work with Southwark’s communities and the council’s staff to tackle racism, injustice and inequality) underpins all that we do.Benefits and more information:

https://jobs.southwark.gov.uk/why-us/

Recruitment timetable:

Application Closing Date: 11.59pm on 30th September 2024

Interview Date:W/C the 7th of October 2024

We are an organisation who is passionate about our people and understands that richness of diversity is a requirement to provide the best possible services to our communities. This is demonstrated through our council-wide ambitious commitment to tackle racial inequality in our communities and workforce through our Southwark Stands Together initiative. We particularly welcome applications from members of the black, Asian, and ethnic minority communities to increase representation at senior management level in the Council.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme:

As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role, and identify with one of the below criteria:

• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care or have previously been in care.
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition.