Health and Care Integration Lead

ROYAL BOROUGH OF KINGSTON UPON THAMES; Manor Park; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Flexible working arrangements

Learning & development portal

Pension scheme

Staff discounts

Job summary

ROYAL BOROUGH OF KINGSTON UPON THAMES is seeking a Health and Care Integration Lead to drive the local implementation of the Integrated Neighbourhood Health and Care model. You will work across adult social care, children's services, housing, public health, the NHS, and the voluntary sector to align partners around a shared residents' ambition.

Reporting to the Director of People Commissioning, you will operate at senior levels, providing strategic leadership, stakeholder engagement, and

Qualifications

• Expertise in health & social care systems, policy, and transformation in complex public sector environments.
• Proven ability to engage diverse stakeholders and navigate political/operational landscapes.
• Creative problem-solving mindset and willingness to champion resident-led service design.
• Commitment to embedding diversity, inclusion, and equity into strategic planning.

Responsibilities

• Lead the local implementation of the Neighbourhood Health and Care model across council and health partners.
• Drive strategic delivery with senior leaders, ensuring alignment across services and NHS.
• Focus on prevention, wider determinants of health, and integrated care delivery.
• Provide matrix leadership to cross-functional project teams across local authority and health boundaries.

Skills

Health & Social Care

Stakeholder engagement

Agility & innovation

Equity & inclusion

Job description

Found in zone 6 with good transport links in and out of London, Kingston is a vibrant and diverse university town which creates the rich sense of community shared across the borough and its Residents. Kingston boasts an idyllic riverside location, good shopping and great restaurants, as well as a mix of modern and historic town centre. Kingston has lots of open parklands and cycle routes that help connect the district town centres into an enjoyable place to live and work.

We are passionate about working closely with our residents and vulnerable groups to help them maintain their independence and create a balance between support and independent living.

About the Service and Team

The role sits within the Adult Social Care directorate, reporting directly to the Director of People Commissioning. Our team is focused on delivering better, person-centred outcomes for local residents and ensuring high-quality, cost-effective services across the borough. We're not here to tick administrative boxes, we exist to transform how our community lives, stays independent, and thrives.

We operate within an agile, networked, and collaborative framework, bringing together partners from across the council, NHS South West London Integrated Care Board (ICB), and the Kingston and Richmond Place partnership. As a dynamic and supportive service, we embrace flexible working, test innovative approaches, and value fresh ideas that drive meaningful systemic change.

About the Role and Our Ideal Candidate

Are you ready to lead at the frontier of health and social care integration?

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of real change, embedding a government flagship policy in Neighbourhood Health and Care.

As the Health and Care Integration Lead, you will play a central role in driving forward the local delivery of the Integrated Neighbourhood Health and Care model. Working across adult social care, children's services, housing, public health, the NHS, and the voluntary sector, you will be the strategic bridge uniting system partners around a single, shared ambition for our residents.

Reporting directly to the Director of People Commissioning, you will operate within the highest levels of system leadership, collaborating directly with Executive Directors, NHS Place Leaders, and senior partnership boards., Strategic Leadership & Delivery: Lead the local implementation of the Neighbourhood Health and Care model, ensuring alignment across Adult Social Care, Children's Services, Housing, Public Health, and the NHS.

Prevention & Outcomes: Focus on preventative approaches and the wider determinants of health, ensuring the 'care' element is fully integrated into local health models.

Innovation: You will be given the professional authority to tackle complex, system-wide challenges where no organisational precedent exists

Resource & Budget Oversight: Hold formal accountability for the strategic co-design, resource allocation, and value-for-money oversight of substantial joint funding streams and partnership commissioning budgets.

Matrix Management: Provide senior matrix leadership and operational direction to cross-functional, multi-disciplinary project teams across local authority and health boundaries., We understand and recognise the benefits of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workplace and are embracing AI where appropriate, to boost our productivity and streamline how we deliver our Council services efficiently; to provide the best possible outcomes for our residents and communities.

However, we reserve the right to reject applications where it is apparent that AI-generated content has been used in isolation and without personalised responses. At Kingston we value authenticity and are looking for individuals who can clearly demonstrate their own skills, experience and motivation for the role that they are applying for and embrace and demonstrate our STAR values.

Here at Kingston we have core values of Transparency and this is to be demonstrated during the application process and completion of the supporting statement and will be further tested at interview and selection stage for those who progress forward.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

As part of our award winning Diversity Programme we anonymise all applications received to reduce conscious and unconscious bias enabling every application to be reviewed on the knowledge, skills and experience shown in your application. We encourage our interview panels to be as diverse as possible (age, cultural, neurodiverse etc.) to reduce bias where possible. We are fully committed to removing barriers and enhancing the diversity of our workforce.

Additional Information

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough and we strive to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and instil a sense of belonging in our staff. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce, therefore we welcome applications from under represented groups.

To support our workers and their families 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 also proud to be a disability confident employer and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role. As an accredited London Living Wage Employer all our employees are guaranteed the London Living Wage regardless of their length or type of contract.

The UK has a 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. Sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.

The role is looking for someone pro-active and ambitious about how we can improve health and care support in Kingston.

Key is an ability to effectively engage and influence a range of stakeholders, understand different contexts and help deliver a shared approach.

To be successful in this role, you will bring:

• Expertise in Health & Social Care: A thorough knowledge of health and social care systems, current national policy, and experience delivering transformation in complex public sector environments.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Proven ability to navigate complex political and operational landscapes, working directly with Executive-level leads and diverse partnership networks.
• Agility & Innovation: A creative, problem-solving mindset with the courage to challenge traditional ways of working and champion resident-led service design.
• Commitment to Equity: Dedication to embedding diversity, inclusion, and equity into strategic planning and service delivery

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.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits to enable staff to achieve a work life balance, some of which include:

• A generous annual leave entitlement of 25-32 days, plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply) depending on service and grade.
• Enhanced Maternity, Paternity, shared parental, adoption and dependents leave
• Three volunteering days per year in Kingston
• Hybrid working (dependent on the role)
• Flexible and agile working arrangements using Google Chromebooks
• Learning and development portal offering a range of courses
• 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
• Electric vehicle leasing scheme
• Confidential health & wellbeing and counselling support