Assistant Director, Culture, Customer and Residents

About the Borough

This special place in South West London between the capital and the country has been a Royal borough longer than anywhere else - it is where the first kings of England were crowned.

Today it is a vibrant and diverse borough, with a long history and strong cultural and community heritage. Kingston's riverside location, fantastic retail offer, historic market place and church, parks and gardens all make Kingston town centre the vibrant space it is, and each of our district town centres (Surbiton, New Malden, Tolworth and Chessington) have something unique to offer.

Situated in Zone 6, Kingston is among the best-connected town centres in London - with direct train links from Kingston and Surbiton stations to Clapham Junction and London Waterloo, as well as Wimbledon for an interchange with the London Underground and Tramlink.

Kingston's people are innovative and entrepreneurial, and have a strong sense of community pride. The borough has been home to great industry and creativity for many years, reflected in assets such as the Rose Theatre, the International Youth Arts Festival and Kingston University, which boasts more new graduate business start-ups than any other.

We have seen tremendous generosity and compassion within our communities, particularly in response to COVID-19, which is a demonstration of Kingston's key strength. The council offers a strong level of support to vulnerable groups and those who need additional support, which has also increased significantly as a result of the pandemic. Like most places, the average age of our population is rising as more people are living longer, so we are working closely with residents to help them maintain their independence and further improve the cost effectiveness of our service to meet the ongoing rise in demand.

Kingston is home to people from diverse and interesting cultures and backgrounds, which helps to create the rich sense of community shared across the borough. In particular, Kingston has a large Sri Lankan Tamil community and is home to more people from Korea than any other part of the UK.

About the Role and our Ideal Candidate

Are you ready to lead a transformative agenda in one of London's most vibrant and dynamic boroughs? The Royal Borough of Kingston is looking for an innovative and forward-thinking Assistant Director to champion culture, community safety, and customer experience.

Reporting to the Executive Director of Residents and Communities, you will be instrumental in driving the council's vision for an inclusive and culturally rich environment. You will work collaboratively with Members, Executive Directors, and community partners to tackle local challenges and enhance the lives of our diverse communities.

You will oversee key services including Culture and Heritage and Community Involvement as well as spearhead initiatives that promote equity and celebrate Kingston's unique cultural heritage, all while ensuring we meet our statutory obligations.

To thrive in this role, you should possess a strong background in strategic leadership and a flair for innovation. Your experience in managing diverse teams and developing impactful community programs will be essential in fostering collaboration and driving change.

If you are passionate and ambitious about shaping the future of Kingston and enhancing community well-being, then we would love to hear from you.

Please note that the recently agreed pay award will apply to this role and the salary range is therefore: £105,622 - £118,566 per annum

About Us

We are an open, honest and transparent authority. We want to continue to build on our local relationships and work alongside and enable our communities to continue to support a resilient and thriving borough. This requires keeping the deep respect and cooperation between elected members and council officers to put ourselves in the strongest position to assist them.

At Kingston Council, we are passionate about empowering staff to become the best that they can be and the right person for this role will ensure their teams are well-equipped and motivated to continue to provide quality services for our residents, businesses, partners, voluntary and community sector and other stakeholders. We are immensely proud of our borough, and we care deeply about our responsibilities.

Our Offer To You

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we're committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We're constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

In addition we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff supported by our IT infrastructure, Google Chromebooks and Google Apps, which have acted as a key enabler for collaborative and streamlined working. We operate hybrid working, a flexible working model which allows staff to work from a variety of locations and staff are not required to work within the office 5 days a week. It enables staff to achieve a work life balance whilst still meeting the needs of the organisation.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)
• Three volunteering days per year in Kingston
• Flexible and agile working arrangements
• Comprehensive learning and development programme
• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Zip car scheme
• Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
• Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
• Subsidised gym membership

Application Process

Please visit www.leadingkingston.com to apply.

Or, for a confidential discussion, please contact our recruitment partners, Tile Hill; Helen Alwell (07931 543313) or Anita Denton (07725 554802).

Additional Information

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough. Our aim is to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and staff feel a sense of belonging. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, particularly Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, and disabled candidates, as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce.

As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to thinking differently about disability and taking action to improve how we recruit, retain and develop disabled people. We guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role.

We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are an accredited London Living Wage Employer and this means that everyone working at the Royal Borough of Kingston, regardless of whether they are permanent employees or third-party contractors and suppliers receive the London Living Wage. The real Living Wage is higher than the government's minimum, or National Living Wage, and is an independently calculated hourly rate of pay that is based on the actual cost of living.

The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.

Important Information - Political Restrictions
This post has been deemed as politically restricted / sensitive and therefore applicants will be required to declare any interests that may be deemed political as part of their application.
Job Profile
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