The roles

Salary: Up to £55,323 (Pay award pending)

Reports to: Assistant Chief Excecutive

Role Purpose and Role Dimensions:

The postholder is responsible for ensuring that the Council’s learning and organisation development (L&OD) function, strategies and activities, enhances the capability of the workforce in line with meeting the needs of residents, visitors, local businesses, students and other key external partners.

They will lead the development of a corporate L&OD strategy for the council and the translation of this strategy into annual L&OD plans for the Council’s directorates to drive organisational transformation through workforce development, organisational culture improvement and change management in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders

Commitment to Diversity

The council has a strong commitment to achieving equality of opportunity in its services to the community and in the employment of people. It expects all employees to understand, comply with and promote its policies in their own work, undertake any appropriate training to help them to challenge prejudice or discrimination.

Key External Contacts

• External partners operating with the council
• LGA,
• External contractors and providers of OD and learning consultancy
• Suppliers, professional bodies

Key Internal Contacts

• HR Leadership team
• All divisional heads of service
• Chief Executive and Executive Leadership Team
• Corporate leadership team
• Head of transformation and business analysts

Financial Dimensions

• The post holder will have oversight of the Corporate OD budget

Key Areas for Decision Making

• To continuously build and reform Croydon’s Learning and Organisational Development strategy in conjunction with the Head of Workforce Strategy.
• To enable Croydon’s people to perform in their roles effectively and provide them with access to inspiring learning content whenever and wherever it’s needed.
• To embed an enhanced learning culture by encouraging a view of learning that encompasses more than formal training; promoting a blended approach to learning including on-line materials; digital content; experiential learning, coaching and mentoring; face to face training and vocational learning.
• To ensure all L&OD spend aligns to the L&D strategy and that the organisation achieves maximum value from investment.
• To have the right people with the right skills in the right jobs
• Working with the organisation ensure the right cultural levers are enabled to support an inclusive workforce

Other Considerations

• The post holder is required to represent the Head Workforce Strategy when required

Key Accountabilities

• To develop and deliver a corporate L&OD strategy ensuring innovation and continuous improvement. Lead the whole cycle in terms of research, diagnosis, delivery, and evaluation.
• Designing the corporate L&OD strategy and plan, translating these into learning solutions (tailored to each of the council’s directorates) that meet the tactical and strategic goals of the council and ensuring alignment to the People and Cultural Transformation Strategy.
• Designing and implementing interventions and strategies to ensure the Council effectively learns from and engages with Croydon’s diverse workforce and communities.
• Leading the conduct of Council wide L&OD needs assessments to identify L&OD interventions required for organisational transformation in the council.
• Routinely reviewing the council’s L&OD strategy to ensure ‘fit for purpose’ and alignment with the organisation’s vision.
• Developing high-level reports on the progress and impact of L&OD interventions across the Council
• Regularly researching best practices in L&OD including benchmarking with other comparable organisations in order to ensure the Council’s L&OD interventions are innovative and in line with best practices
• Acting as a change-agent and promoting the relevance and importance of L&OD activity and improved service delivery outcomes across the Council, ensuring the council’s leadership understands, prioritises and places high value on L&OD activity.
• Ensuring appropriate and consistent record-keeping in respect of all L&OD activity within the council for audit and assurance purposes, in line with best practice, GDPR and organisational requirements.

To provide adequate team leadership to the L&OD team ensuring team members have the skills and motivation to deliver on the L&OD mandate

• Providing oversight and guidance to the L&OD commissioners ensuring quality outputs in the delivery of L&OD interventions across the Directorates and in the council as a whole
• Providing adequate capacity building and team leadership for the L&OD team ensuring all team members have the required skills and are motivated to execute their key responsibilities

To co-ordinate the corporate L&OD budgets ensuring value for money on all products and services

• Managing and tracking the Council’s L&OD and leadership budgets with a focus on value for money and to ensure that L&OD spending priorities ultimately provides positive benefits for the local community
• Monitoring and evaluating the effect of L&OD interventions across the council and generate useful insights to secure required annual corporate funding for learning and organisational development activities
• Overseeing initiation of L&OD contracts between the Council and external consultants/ suppliers ensuring compliance with the council’s policies and achievement of best value for money in delivering L&OD outcomes

Confidentiality

• Treating all information acquired through employment, both formally and informally, in confidence. There are strict rules and protocols defining employee access to and use of the council’s databases.  Any breach of these rules and protocols will be subject to disciplinary investigation.  There are internal procedures in place for employees to raise matters of concern regarding such issues as bad practice or mismanagement.

Data Protection

• Being aware of the council’s legal obligations under the Data Protection Act 2018 (the “2018 Act”) and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) for the security, accuracy and relevance of personal data held, ensuring that all administrative and financial processes also comply.
• Maintaining customer records and archive systems in accordance with directorate procedures and policies as well as statutory requirements.
• Treating all information acquired through employment, both formally and informally, in accordance with the Workforce Data Protection Policy. 
• There are strict rules and protocols defining employee access to and use of the council’s databases.  Any breach of these rules and protocols will be subject to disciplinary investigation.  There are internal procedures in place for employees to raise matters of concern regarding such issues as bad practice or mismanagement.

To contribute as an effective and collaborative team member

This will involve:

• Participating in training to demonstrate competence.
• Undertaking training as required for the role.
• Participating in the development, implementation and monitoring of service plans.
• Championing the professional integrity of the service.

Equalities and Diversity

• The council has a strong commitment to achieving equality of opportunity in its services to the community and in the employment of people. It expects all employees to understand, comply with and promote its policies in their own work, undertake any appropriate training to help them to challenge prejudice or discrimination.

Health and Safety

• Being responsible for own Health & Safety, as well as that of colleagues, service users and the public.
• Employees should co-operate with management, follow established systems of work, use protective equipment and report defects and hazards to management.
• Managers should carry out, monitor and review risk assessments, providing robust induction and training packages for new and transferring staff, to ensure they receive relevant H&S training, including refresher training, report all accidents in a timely manner on council accident forms, ensure H&S is a standing item in team meetings, liaise with trade union safety representatives about local safety matters and induct and monitor any visiting contractors etc, as appropriate.

Essential knowledge / qualification

• CIPD Qualification or demonstrable equivalent experience
• Enhanced knowledge of L&OD Interventions and strategies and the connectivity to organisational transformation.
• Knowledge of the key principles and practice of commissioning/procuring services and overseeing contracts for services with external suppliers.
• Knowledge of effective strategies and best practices in organisational development and their application.
• Understanding of principles relating to strategic budget management and evaluating competing budgetary priorities with tight financial limits

Essential skills and abilities

• Strong communication skills (verbal and written)
• Demonstrable ability to influence and negotiate at all levels
• Ability to produce high quality strategic reports
• Budgetary management skills, commercial acumen with a proven ability to drive efficiency, performance and deliver results
• Ability to lead collaborations with effective consensus building skills in a large, complex and politically sensitive organisation.
• Ability to deal tactfully and sensitively with a range of stakeholders whilst demonstrating the skill to challenge, influence and persuade in a confident and professional manner
• Demonstrable skills in planning and organisation, with the ability to manage a range of priorities and issues.
• Highly competent and comfortable using a range of learning technology and systems, including the Microsoft Office suite

Essential experience

• Experience of developing and implementing policies and strategies relating to organisational transformation and change
• Experience of leading and influencing policy and organisational change at a senior level
• Successful record of strategic leadership of a significant programme or activity
• Demonstrable experience of developing proposals, tenders and complex reports in an organisational transformation setting
• Demonstrable experience of designing learning and development interventions for workforce management
• Experience of applying current legislation, policy and guidance through commissioning and contracts

Special conditions

This post holder may be required to work outside of core hours, to travel between sites using a vehicle or the public transport as they deem appropriate