Welcome

 

Thank you for taking the time to visit this website and find out more about this exciting leadership role here at Reading Borough Council.


Reading is a great place to live and work - a culturally rich and diverse place, that presents fantastic scope for professional development. And set against a backdrop of deep-rooted social and economic inequality, it is also a place with high levels of need – presenting all the challenges you would expect in a city setting.

This role is fundamental to my service and is all about setting high expectations and working with others to live up to them. I am ambitious for our Residents and our Staff and this role is an opportunity for a highly capable and experienced social work professional to work alongside me and play a key part in building on this momentum and setting the bar even higher.

You’ll be a committed advocate for the highest standards in safeguarding and quality assurance and have a clear sense of the practical tools and systems that need to be in place to realise these. The right blend of professional development and support alongside clarity on outcomes and measurement of progress against these will all be essential elements to ensure success in this role.

I’m looking to this person to champion and embed quality practice across the services, inspiring and motivating staff whilst setting ambitious but attainable goals to work towards, and to work with our directorate leadership team to shape a progressive, joined-up service. With a wide-ranging remit, it’s a genuine Deputy role – I expect to work very closely with the appointed individual and will place real value on their expertise and counsel.

Reading’s financial resilience is enabling us to invest in the borough. Along with stability of leadership and strong, consistent political support for our Adult Social Care & Health services, this creates a fantastic platform on which to build for the future. We are striving to excel in what we do, and while we are not immune to the financial constraints that all local authorities must manage, we continue to invest in our people and our services.

I see this role as an ideal platform on which to consolidate your career experience to date: you’ll need to fully utilise your professional social work expertise, your people and resource management skills, and your capacity for innovation in service design. 

It all adds up to a great career move.


The Council has engaged Solace in Business to support this important appointment. You are encouraged to contact them on 020 7976 3311 to discuss the role in more detail.


Melissa Wise
I look forward to receiving your application – good luck.
Melissa Wise
Executive Director - Communities & Adult Social Care