Head of Young Tower Hamlets

This is an incredibly exciting time to join Tower Hamlets Council. A key priority within the Tower Hamlets Council Strategic Plan 2022-2026 is to transform and improve services for young people in the borough. We are ambitious about ensuring that all young people in the borough have access to a diverse range of youth work opportunities and support through the delivery of a high-quality youth service, this includes:

Universal ‘safe spaces’ in every single ward throughout the borough where young people can stay safe, participate in positive activities and educational opportunities as well as access additional support from youth workers. This will be an increase from five commissioned universal services to at least one in every ward therefore providing accessible 'safe spaces’ for all young people.
Targeted whole family support for vulnerable young people and their families.
Integrated detached youth work team providing a preventative and responsive approach to harm outside the home.
Commissioning of specialist youth provision for specific groups of young people.

The Role

We have an exciting opportunity for a Head of Young Tower Hamlets to be at the forefront of transforming youth services for young people. This position will lead on establishing and developing the new Young Tower Hamlets youth service model and be responsible for the overall professional leadership and management of the Council’s year-round youth service delivery and outcomes. This includes a borough wide universal, sports, detached, targeted, youth participation and commissioned specialist offer for young people aged 11-to-19 years old (extending up to 25 years old for young people with special educational needs or disabilities).

We are looking for someone who has achieved significant career success to date in the transformation of services for young people specifically youth work and youth services. We are looking for someone who is capable of balancing strategic leadership with operational frontline management. You will be a great negotiator and influencer and committed to innovation and excellence in youth work.

Role Requirements

In this dynamic role the Head of Young Tower Hamlets will have:

A relevant degree or professional qualification in youth work, youth justice, probation or Social Work (SWE registered).
An in-depth knowledge of youth service delivery at strategic and operational levels.
Significant experience of leading and developing high performing teams in operational youth service delivery including safeguarding.
Experience of using quality assurance and performance information to inform day-to-day operations and strategic action.
Proven successful experience of leading substantial organisational and service change to timetable and budget and to deliver the directorate and council’s priorities.
Experience in building and sustaining productive working relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, influencing and negotiating to achieve common objectives.

Our offer

We are committed to developing excellent managers and practitioners and making Tower Hamlets an employer of choice. If you choose to work with us you will benefit from:

A competitive salary - £79,842 to £87,285
Up to 31 days annual leave rising to 32 days with 5 years continual service and 8 bank holidays
Learning and development opportunities via my annual review scheme and supervision
Enhanced sick pay scheme, maternity/adoption leave pay and maternity support leave
Opportunities for agile/flexible working
Cycle to work scheme/ Rent deposit scheme/Access to free eye tests
Discounted gym/Costco membership
You at Work discounts and many others

We have fantastic transport links –Tower Hamlets Town Hall is directly opposite Whitechapel Station, which is a minute away. Whitechapel is an interchange station which serves Hammersmith & City, District, Overground, with quick access to central line DLR and Jubilee lines. We also have the Crossrail Elizabeth line with links to Canary Wharf, Shenfield/Abbey Wood/Heathrow and Stratford, which is the best-connected hub in London.

Application Details

Closing date: 21st July 2024

Interviews to take place week commencing12th August 2024

All applications should be made via our online application system, no CV’s or alternative forms of applications are accepted.

For an informal conversation please contact Shafiur.Rahman@towerhamlets.gov.uk

Tower Hamlets vision for our borough is that: people are aspirational, independent and have equal access to opportunities; we are a borough that our residents are proud of and love to live in; and we are a dynamic, outcomes-based council using digital innovation and partnership working to respond to the changing needs of our borough. We want people who aspire to our TOWER values: Together; Open; Willing; Excellent; Respect.

Tower Hamlets has a zero-tolerance approach to, and works to eradicate, all forms of discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital status, status as a civil partner, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy and maternity and looks to employ a diverse workforce representative of those groups. We recognise that people can also be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class. We are a Disability Confident Employer, which means applicants who declare a disability and meet the essential criteria for the post are guaranteed an interview. Care experience has also been adopted by the Council as an additional protected characteristic.

We welcome applicants interested in flexible working arrangements and also applicants who live in the borough.