Background and Context of Role
The postholder will form part of a small ‘top team’ – Chief Executive, plus 2 Corporate Directors.
The broader Corporate Management Team consists of the Chief Executive, 2 Corporate Directors and10 Heads of Service together with the Head of Policy and Organisational Development and the Head of Administration.
The director role is a genuinely corporate one, with the postholder functioning more as a Deputy Chief Executive than a traditional departmental director.
The Principal Accountabilities are set out in the Job Description. The division of specific responsibilities between the two Director posts is not set in stone. The briefs, project and services for which each Director is responsible are influenced by the skills and experience of the postholders at any time. Presently, the vacant role is aligned with the following responsibilities:
Briefs
- Community Planning and the Local Strategic Partnership
- Equality and Diversity
- Sustainability and carbon management
- Corporate oversight of the Overview and Scrutiny function
- Seat on The Lights Theatre Board
For the last two years, the Directors have jointly run the Corporate Challenge process which has focussed upon the future shape and requirements of Services together with opportunities for achieving efficiencies.
Projects
- Hampshire Joint Waste Project
- New Forest/Test Valley Commercial Services partnership
- Office Accommodation Project
Managing the Heads of the following Services:
Environmental Service |
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Finance Service |
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Housing, Health and Communities Service |
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Leisure & Wellbeing Service |
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Planning and Building Service |
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Planning Policy & Transport Service |
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It is notable that the Corporate Director role is continually evolving. An obvious example of this has been the drift over the past couple of years to a slightly more hands-on approach to managing the performance of Heads of Service - albeit in a way which is consistent with their professional autonomy. It seems inevitable that the requirements of the role will, in the future, place greater emphasis on the need to anticipate, and respond creatively to, the new financial climate in which local authorities will be operating.
