Childrens Transformation Manager

Surrey County Council; Woking; Hybrid; GBP 59,000 - 66,000; Full time

Job summary

Surrey County Council seeks transformation professionals for three Transformation Manager roles aimed at improving services within the Children's Services. The positions, offered as 12-month fixed term contracts, involve leading significant change initiatives and collaborating with various stakeholders to enhance service delivery and efficiency. A hybrid work model is in place, requiring at least two days each week on-site in Surrey. The ideal candidates will possess strong consultancy skills and a robust understanding of financial management, driving impactful change through innovative solutions.

Benefits

26 days' holiday, rising to 30 days with service

Buy up to 10 additional days of leave

Employee Assistance Programme

Local government pension scheme

Lifestyle discounts

Paid volunteering days

Learning and development opportunities

Paternity and adoption leave

Qualifications

• Demonstrated knowledge and practical application of change management.
• Previous consultancy experience in Children's Services or Local Government.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to leverage financial data.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with stakeholders to identify root problems and solutions.
• Lead the redesign of services in response to operational changes.
• Utilize tools for data visualization and business case development.

Skills

Change Management

Project Management

Consultancy Skills

Financial Management

Data Analysis

Education

Degree or equivalent experience at management level

Job description

• Category: Transformation and Change Management
• Contract type: Fixed term
• Working hours: 36 hours per week
• Posted on: 13 June 2025
• Closing date: 29 June 2025
• Location: Woking, Surrey

Description

This salary range for this role is £59,868 to £65,755 per annum, based on a 36 hour working week.

We have3 Transformation Manager roles available which are offered as 12 month fixed term contracts to support our Childrens, Families and Lifelong Learning Directorate with focused programmes of work.

This role offers hybrid working with an expectation that at least two days per week will be spent in locations across Surrey. This includes one day a week with the team in who are based in our Woking office, with another spent in Surrey dependent on business requirements.

Rewards and Benefits:

• 26 days' holiday (prorated for part time staff), rising to 28 days after 2 years' service and 30 days after 5 years' service.
• Buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
• Up to 5 days of carer's leave per year
• An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) supporting health and wellbeing
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
• 2 paid volunteering days per year
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources
• Paternity, adoption and dependents leave

About Us:

Our guiding principle,'No One Left Behind', is at the heart of everything we do in Surrey. It shapes our priority objectives and the way we deliver services. The Children, Families and Lifelong Learning (CFLL) Directorate is committed to investing in internal transformation teams. These teams are crucial in driving high-impact changes inChildren's Social Care (CSC)andAdditional Needs and Disabilities (AND). They will also spearhead various projects aimed at improving service delivery and efficiency, ensuring we stay true to our guiding principle.

The transformation teams are dedicated to shaping, driving, and facilitating sustainable change and improvement for children in Surrey. By partnering with, challenging, and supporting our stakeholders, we strive to achieve better outcomes for children and young people, against a challenging financial context.

We are looking for transformation professionals who are 'hands on doers' and will work in collaboration with business and operational teams to help them design future services. You will drive significant change through business, digital transformation and operational restructuring on a large scale. You will have experience and understanding of financial management, service design and structure and consultancy tools and techniques in a Local Government setting with either direct or transferable experience in Children's Social Care and Special Educational Needs.

The Transformation Manager is a new role and has been developed so that we can directly utilise consultancy skills and expertise within our existing teams of programme and project management professionals. This inclusion enables us to have a blended skill set in our service and work with operational and front line teams directly with best effect.

OurChildren's Social Care programmewill support the Corporate Parenting and Family Resilience and Safeguarding teams to deliver interventions at the earliest opportunity, working with our partners to ensure that we support families to prevent the escalation of need. For children that do come into our care, our focus is for children to be placed within 20 miles of Surrey to increase their opportunities for improved outcomes through building our own in house residential and fostering provision.

OurAdditional Needs and DisabilitiesTransformation Teamwork directly with service leads and operational teams both within Surrey County Council Education and Lifelong Learning but also across our partners including health commissioners and providers, education settings and the voluntary and community sector. The AND Transformation Programme works to deliver the full programme of improvements outlined in our AND Partnership Improvement Plan following our Ofsted inspection in 2023, and those objectives set out in our AND Partnership Strategy, as well as the conditions of our Safety Valve agreement.

To support you in your overall insight into our Transformation Manager roles with Surrey please see below some helpful links for further reading and context:

As a Transformation Manager for CFLL you will work collaboratively with the service as a consultant to identify the root causes to problems, identify and evaluate solutions and recommend the implementation approach for the preferred options using a range of consultancy tools and techniques. This may include delivering workshops, data analysis, best practice research, shadowing, workstream meetings and steering groups.

You will be skilled in business case development, financial and benefit management and data interpretation, analysis and visualisation. Ensuring that the service, including partners where relevant, feel ownership of your deliverables and are invested in the changes you are proposing.

As a consultant you may lead the redesign of whole services in response to changes in demand and finances or from statutory change, using methodologies such as Target Operating Models and Service Blueprints. You would also be responsible for designing the change management approach including communication and engagement.

We are looking for motivated individuals who can bring their consultancy and transformation expertise in leading large scale and complex change for the Children's Social Care and Additional Needs and Disabilities programmes to deliver efficiency targets across the Directorate. You will apply consultancy tools and techniques to support Surrey's Childrens Services to grip challenges and tackle these head on so that we deliver positive sustained change that our children and families can benefit from.

Shortlisting Criteria:

To be considered for shortlisting for this position, your application will clearly evidence the following:

• Degree or equivalent experience at management level, demonstrating both knowledge and practical application of change management, project management and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Previous consultancy skills and experience, typically from a Children's Services, Education or Health environment or transferable from the broader public or local government sector.
• Ability to communicate effectively across all mediums with internal and external stakeholders at senior levels in a complex political environment to establish service requirements and priorities.
• Ability to lead and coach staff and to develop broader internal consultancy experience.
• Strong analytical and business intelligence skills understanding financial data and leveraging analytics to make informed solutions.

To apply you will need to upload your CV and respond to our application questions, you will not be required to submit a personal statement.

Contact Us:

Please contact us for any questions relating to role requirements, flexible working requests, transferable skills or barriers to employment.

The job advert closes at 23:59 on Sunday the 29th of June 2025.

An enhanced DBS 'Disclosure and Barring Service' check for regulated activity (formerly known as CRB) and the Children's and Adults' Barred List checks will be required for this role.

Surrey has both urban and rural areas. You will be expected to have a valid driving licence to drive in the UK and access to a vehicle and be willing to travel across a wide geographical area to attend stakeholder meetings as required. Reasonable adjustments where needed will be made for successful applicants who have a disability or long-term health condition to enable them to fulfill the requirements of the job.

Local Government Reorgnisation (LGR):

Surrey County Council is preparing for Local Government Reorganisation which will allow us to implement the Government led policy of devolution, which is all about giving more powers to local areas.

Currently, Surrey has a two-tier council system, with 11 district and borough councils and a county council, all responsible for different services. All these councils will be reorganised into a smaller number of new unitary councils which will come into effect in April 2027. At this point, this role will be transferred, with all existing terms and conditions intact into one of the new unitary councils.

Join our dynamic team and shape the future of local government. Make a lasting impact with innovative solutions and improved services for our community. Help us build a brighter future for our residents!

Our values are as important as our abilities and shape who we are as an organisation. Discover more about ourvalues .

Before submitting your application, we recommend you read the job description. Our Life at Surrey handbook provides insights of the culture at Surrey and how as a valued employee, you can help shape our Council.

Our Commitment:

Surrey County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. A guaranteed interview will be offered to all disabled applicants where:

• The candidate has evidenced the minimum criteria for the role through their application
• The candidate has chosen to share that they have a disability on the application form

Our application form and onboarding process will provide an opportunity to request any reasonable adjustments for the interview and/or the role. We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all underrepresented groups.