Head of Data and Performance
2 days ago
City of London
Background and vision for the organisation The SE RCC is an exciting new organisation aimed at bringing local authorities across the South East together to improve outcomes for looked after children in the region. The social enterprise, formed through a partnership of 18 local authorities, will bring sector learning together with an innovative approach to commissioning and managing high quality placements and services across the region. The RCC will address the fundamental issues in the children’s social care market with a focus on quality and consistency of provision together with value for money. Our vision (written to children) is: "By working together across the South East, we will provide the right care for you that is available locally and when needed. We will be loving, caring and consistent with high aspirations for you. We will listen to you, put your needs first and will not give up on you. By working together, your voice will be stronger and more influential." Partners across the South East recognise the importance of collaboration and working together in this new approach. It is expected the RCC will strengthen existing links and foster new ones across a variety of appropriate groups such as in health and the youth justice system. Working together, we can focus more clearly on looked after children and young people’s needs. The approach will be driven by evidence and data that the RCC will take responsibility for, developing a clear picture across the range of current provision based on need. Staff at the RCC will develop new approaches to commissioning and contracting with providers based on evidence of current need and future trends. The social enterprise will be accountable to a board of executive and non-executive directors, with delegated authority from all 18 local authorities. The Board will hold the RCC to account and continue to approve KPIs and operating targets with the RCC reporting back on progress on a regular basis. This is an exciting opportunity to promote strong working relationships across the sector in the South East and positively impact on a range of outcomes for children’s and young persons’ social care. Data is key to our approach. The organisation will ingest and analyse data around current and future need, and also use appropriate tools to baseline and then adjust support to individual children as need changes over time. The RCC will provide access and training to local authorities in using the data. The centralised data platform will enable integration of data flows from sources across the partnership with analysis and sufficiency information being available to local authorities and providers. Therefore, by intelligent use of this data across the region the RCC will be at the forefront of developing a regional sufficiency strategy. Another strand across the region, and also a strategic priority, is ensuring a workforce academy is in place to deliver on expectations for a SE model of practice. This will be informed by the data describing the issues faced by the sector locally and regionally. Purpose of the role Lead the RCC’s data, performance, and intelligence activities, supporting the organisation to deliver high quality regional services which help children thrive. Further details This is a key role in the functioning and effective operation of the RCC partnership. The Board are looking for an experienced data professional with the vision to develop new approaches to data integration from Local Authorities, partners and providers, and to define and deliver effective organisational performance management. You will work closely with colleagues in commissioning, contracting and partnership management. The partnership of stakeholders involved in the RCC will process data inflows to inform planning and commission services across the region. In phase one the role will focus on specifying functional requirements, procuring and implementing systems, and owning performance/benefits realisation work, including leading development of analysis outputs for the RCC’s data platform, delivering a live regional sufficiency strategy drawing from data infrastructure which is suitable for long-term data usage. Longer term, these systems will be responsive to changing need, and the role will be required to plan continuous improvement of data and performance functions and delivery. You will be accountable for a small team leading on integration of process flows to collect, store and analyse data regarding looked after children, providing reporting on the analysis to inform current and future commissioning of services, and playing a key part in contributing to a system wide sufficiency model for the region. You will work with the CEO, COO and Commissioning Lead to develop performance management and accountability mechanisms within the organisation, and will be responsible for using these to demonstrate the organisation’s effectiveness to internal and external stakeholders. Key Objectives • Direct the delivery of, and establish, the RCC’s data platform to allow for management of data flows from partner local authorities., • Work with partners and stakeholders to provide insights into data about looked after children, complex placements and collaborative work with health and the youth justice system., • Own and improve processes and practices for sharing insights and strategies with internal and external stakeholders, and for iterating on these products to refine the organisation’s strategy., • Support development of business case methodologies, and support delivery of these to help scope future RCC activity., • ·Direct the discovery and development of key data integrations to inform the strategic planning of the RCC., • Enable creation of an open-source sufficiency model accessible to all local authorities and providers., • Enable the management of a development backlog/prioritised work plan for iterative development of the RCC data platform and analysis outputs, including engaging partners and stakeholders to effectively deliver new capabilities., • Own and improve organisational processes and practices for performance management and benefits realisation., • Support, and challenge, the RCC executive team to deliver a high-performing, effective organisation., • Scrutinise performance of the RCC organisation, holding colleagues to account, and ensuring that the RCC meets stakeholders’ expectations by helping children thrive. Responsibilities • Accountable for all analytical qualitative and quantitative outputs about children and young people’s social care across the Regional Care Cooperative., • Responsible for the RCC’s Data and Performance function including management responsibility for employees., • Ensure work is prioritised in line with organisational priorities and delivered to time and quality expectations., • Provide input and evidence-based decision making for the selection and procurement of appropriate data systems., • Supervise collation, storage and analysis of key datasets from all local authorities in the region., • Provide expert input to support colleagues in best practice data design, integration, analysis, visualisation, and distribution, with regard to RCC datasets and objectives., • Lead delivery of a regional sufficiency strategy document and accompanying analytical tools., • Take the lead on working with other partners in the health service and youth justice system to tackle barriers between information sets from different data silos., • Design approaches to use cost data to provide benchmarking across the region to evidence affordability and value for money for different provider services, • Oversee data systems, ensuring GDPR compliance and supporting the RCC and partners with implementations and integrations., • Deliver dashboards to support decision-making and Partnership-wide reporting., • Analyse quality and value for money outputs from service providers., • Ensure secure and accurate reporting, and provide actionable insights on performance, staff, and operations., • Guide data integration projects and contribute to the overall digital strategy, staying updated on trends., • Ensure compliance with RCC policies and foster a collaborative, high-performance culture providing support to generating appropriate digital use policies and data security., • Build secure working relationships with providers, partners and other stakeholders across the region., • Contribute to awareness raising or training in building statistical and analytical skills of other staff and partners in the Cooperative., • Work with partners in local authorities in developing the analytical outputs the RCC will provide. Knowledge and applied skills Necessary: • Experienced at leading a performance management function in a relevant setting., • Experienced at leading technical teams to achieve strategic objectives., • Deep knowledge of data and performance contexts for services supporting children in care., • Skilled at analysing and interpreting a range of data sets to uncover significant insights and trends., • Knowledge of relevant information governance/data protection legislation and practice., • Skilled in problem solving and critical thinking., • Comfortable with delivery in a fast-changing environment., • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills., • Experience of social care., • Knowledge of safeguarding and implications for data management., • Experience of working in the South East region.