Assistant Director of Services

Southern Region - Cork, hybrid with regional and national travel

General Information

Why work at Barnardos?

At Barnardos we seek to ensure that we have the best people working with us to support our work with children and families. The benefits of working with Barnardos are designed to promote continual professional development and a work-life balance for the most rewarding working experience.

• Barnardos offers a competitive salary – recognising the experience you bring to the role
• Generous annual leave entitlements
• Positive working environment with family friendly ethos and work – life balance policy
• Tax saver travel and bike to work schemes in operation
• Employee Pension scheme with employer contribution
• Training and Development
• Health and Wellbeing initiatives including Employee Assistance programme

Barnardos is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all.

Established in 1962, Barnardos is Ireland’s leading children’s charity. Barnardos provides services for over 20,000 vulnerable children and families across Ireland annually.

Barnardos mission is to transform the lives of vulnerable children and those affected by adverse childhood experiences.

Barnardos’ trauma informed approach underpins Barnardos’ service provision. This means understanding that the impact of adverse experiences in childhood can last a lifetime, appropriate supports and services being put in place are key to mitigating against this.

Barnardos is committed to being cutting-edge and innovative, with capacity to identify and respond to new and emerging needs. Our service provision is informed by the latest research and evidence.

Barnardos is committed to highlighting and representing the needs of vulnerable children and families in the media and political space. We always comment from the viewpoint of having direct experience of working with vulnerable families. This continues to be a key focus of Barnardos strategy.

Barnardos has a mixed funding model with includes statutory and fundraising income streams.

Barnardos Southern region covers the geographical area of Cork City and County, Kerry, Limerick City and County, and Clare. Barnardos regional office for the South is based in Meade Street, Cork City.

The Assistant Director has operational responsibility for the regional office and projects within the Southern region as follows:

South Regional Office, Cork Central administrative hub for the Southern region, which hosts a range of Barnardos services.

Family Support & Early Years Limerick & Clare services – Limerick North, Limerick South and Homemaker Service, TLC Kidz Limerick & Clare. Cork services – North Cork City/Knocknaheeny, South Cork City/Mahon, Youghal, and TLC Kidz Cork.

Job Description

Post: Assistant Director of Children’s Services

Location: Southern Region

Responsible to: Director of Children’s Services

Works with: Senior Management, Management Team, internal employees and external contacts in your area of responsibility.

Job Purpose

To manage the work of Barnardos within your area of responsibility and to assist in strategic initiatives aimed at growing and developing the organisation, in line with its vision of being a trauma specialist organisation as outlined in our strategic plan.

Core Job Requirements

Strategic

• Responsible for the strategic management and development of Barnardos work with children and families within your area of responsibility.
• To proactively seek and realise opportunities for Barnardos to provide services to children and families within your area of responsibility.
• To work as a committed member of Barnardos’ Management Team and other relevant working groups to contribute to the strategic corporate thinking and management of the organisation.
• To ensure internal communication with staff is effectively managed in your area of responsibility, paying particular attention to staff morale.
• To take responsibility as required for services at a national level, or other national functions that may be assigned.

Organisational

• To contribute to the development of models, strategies, practice and procedures in Barnardos work with children and families.
• To work in a respectful, co-ordinated and integrated way with other statutory and voluntary agencies, and with communities, creating and maintaining positive relationships in order to meet the needs of children and families.
• To contribute to an organisational culture where all services and functions are integrated, valued and respected.
• To proactively seek and realise opportunities for Barnardos to provide services to children and families within your area of responsibility.
• To actively contribute to Barnardos’ work with other agencies within your area of responsibility
• To contribute to internal and external research and policy, working with Best Practice Team, Research Manager, Policy Manager, CEO and Director of Children’s Services.
• To actively contribute to Barnardos’ public relations both locally and nationally, having regard to Barnardos’ principles and policies, and to act as spokesperson as required.
• To lead and support internal and external evaluation processes.
• To manage in a manner which is cohesive and integrated with the rest of the organisation, ensuring clear and effective internal communications, and to promote and support opportunities for linkages within the organisation.
• To contribute to the long-term financial planning of the Organisation. To contribute to and participate in the development of National Funding strategies.

Operational

• To ensure all Barnardos staff reporting to you receive appropriate management, supervision and support in close consultation with the appropriate support services.
• To ensure Barnardos services are developed and delivered in a manner appropriate to the needs of the community and ensure quality and best practice informs all work.
• To ensure that all work carried out in the region is underpinned by adequate funding and contractual agreements.
• Ensure that all Barnardos policies and practice approaches are fully operational throughout your area of responsibility.
• To lead an effective management team within your area of responsibility
• To attract funds from statutory and other sources to ensure that Barnardos work can be appropriately resourced and developed.
• To have budgetary responsibility for the areas under your control and to assure the efficient management of all financial and administrative matters according to the Barnardos systems and procedures and in consultation with the Finance Manager.
• To ensure that Barnardos’ Human Resource policies are adhered to in the recruitment, induction, and management of Barnardos personnel employed within the area, and in relation to Health and Safety Matters, in consultation with the People and Culture department.
• To manage and facilitate training needs of staff in line with national training in consultation with the People and Culture department and the Director of Services, contributing to creating a learning culture
• To ensure that all records and files are maintained appropriately are accessible, and that service users’ access is promoted as appropriate.
• To ensure adherence to relevant childcare and other legislation and to related national statutory guidelines.
• To facilitate and support consultation with service users and to ensure that they have ongoing opportunities to offer feedback in relation to our work with them.
• To manage property, IT, and administration within your area of responsibility in consultation with the Director of Finance and the Finance Manager.

Requirements of all Barnardos staff

• Commitment to the purpose of Barnardos and to work within the values, policies and procedures of the organisation and in the context of current legislation and regulations
• To participate in regular supervision with your line manager
• To actively participate in team and staff meetings and service reviews/ evaluations and to contribute to the development of policy and practice with your area of work and within Barnardos as a whole
• To report any area of concern to your line manager in a timely manner
• To show reasonable flexibility in relation to hours of attendance to meet the needs of the work. Work during unsocial hours may be required.
• Have a flexible approach to the work in response to organisational change, development and review of best practice.
• Participate in and engage with a performance management programme.
• Identify training needs with your line manager and participate in training opportunities appropriate to the role
• To be vigilant to any Health, Safety and Welfare risks in the workplace and bring any concerns to the attention of your line manager or Health & Safety Representative
• To participate in the efficient flow of information within the organisation by sharing and seeking information as appropriate
• To undertake other duties as may be requested by the line manager from time to time
• To undertake your work in a manner that is friendly, flexible and informal.

Note: this Job Description will be reviewed and updated in line with the needs of the work.

Geographical, service and functional boundaries may need to be reviewed from time to time in response to changing service and / or organisational needs.

Person Specification

Personal Attributes

• Passionate commitment to meeting the needs of vulnerable children and their parents
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to work in collaboration with others
• Ability to work on own initiative, work under pressure and meet deadlines
• Ability to think strategically and respond to development opportunities
• Ability to prioritise competing demands
• Ability to think imaginatively and creatively
• Ability to embrace and manage change, flexibility and adaptability is essential

Qualification

A relevant professional qualification in an appropriate discipline (e.g. Social Work, Social Care, Psychology) and an understanding of the health and social services sector in general, children’s services in particular, are essential.

Experience

• Experience of planning, developing and managing children’s services within an agreed budget.
• Proven management ability, particularly with regard to people and service management.
• Experience of working effectively with statutory and non-statutory organisations.

Skills and Abilities

• Knowledge of, and commitment to, best practice and to service development, research and evaluation in that context.
• Understanding of the interdependency of the different functions across the organisation and the necessity to contribute to functions outside your primary area of responsibility.
• A clear understanding of current national chid focused policies and provision and of related issues and concerns.
• An awareness of the public policy arena, and how it can be influenced.
• Capacity to focus strategically in identifying and responding to relevant opportunities.
• Ability to think corporately and contribute to organisational strategic planning.
• Understanding of public relations.
• Ability to integrate fundraising and national services into a cohesive framework within the areas of Responsibility.
• Ability to influence others at senior level, manage difference and negotiate effectively.

A full driving licence and access to a suitably insured vehicle is essential for this role.

Application Procedure

Download your application form

Shortlisting will apply (please note, CVs are not accepted on their own, candidates must complete and submit our application form through Barnardos website).

Candidates who are moved to the 2nd stage of our Recruitment process are required to complete a medical questionnaire and the E-Vetting process. References will also be taken up at this stage.

Upload your application form - CVs alone will not be accepted
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LOCATION

Southern Region - Cork, hybrid with regional and national travel

Employment Type

Permanent and Full-time - 37 hours per week

Contact Person

Barnardos (Republic of Ireland) is a company limited by guarantee. Company registration number: 141526. Registered charity number: 20010027. CHY: 6015.