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Director of Highways, Transportation and Waste Southend-on-Sea City Council

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Welcome Section

Welcome

Dear Colleague

Welcome to Southend

What a time for you to come to Southend-on-Sea. As the Council’s Leader, allow me to welcome you to our city. We have lots to do together.

We have had a tough ride in the last few years, as have many authorities, but we are in a strong position, still winning awards and achieving amazing things, working together for the common good. We have made great changes, with new policies and ways of working that encourage collaboration, both internally and externally. There is a lot going on in Southend and a lot more to come.

Director of Highways, Transportation and Waste

Our Southend 2050 Ambition provides our long-term vision; as a Director and Chief Officer in the City Council, you will lead and shape the development and delivery of our highways, transportation and waste management, ensuring we have the services and infrastructure in place so that our residents, businesses and visitors appreciate a connected and enjoyable experience on a safe and sustainable network.  This is a critical portfolio, with Highways services and waste management two of the council’s most utilised and visible services.  You will also lead on transport strategy and public transport, representing Southend regionally and overseeing passenger transport services.  

Leading this portfolio of services in a coastal city with a unique natural environment will provide you with an amazing opportunity to help us realise our commitment to delivering our 2030 net zero target for the city.  This is a role for an experienced highways leader, keen to progress their career to the next level in a broader senior leadership role.

Much has already been done but there is so much more for you to do. We are creating a modern Council culture, more agile, more efficient, more entrepreneurial and more engaged. More down to earth and down to business. As a Director of the Council, you would work collegiately to help drive this direction of travel with pace and purpose, delivering brilliant outcomes for our residents of all ages and cultures in a prosperous, confident and well-connected city.

If you are interested, ambitious, clear thinking and excellence driven, find out more by contacting Simon Winspear at HAYS Executive.  If you want to move forward with Southend, and feel you can contribute to the future of Southend and to the health, wellbeing and future of our city community, then please get in touch.

Yours faithfully

Cllr Stephen George

Leader, Southend-on-Sea City Council

Stephen George

About Section

About us

Southend-on-Sea City Council – working to make lives better.

Southend-on-Sea City Council employs around 1,800 staff, who work together to deliver a wide range of services that meet the needs of those who live, work and visit Southend-on-Sea.

The Council provides a range of vital services at the heart of the community, as well as investing in exciting and ambitious projects that keep Southend-on-Sea firmly on the map.

The Council is ambitious for the future of Southend-on-Sea. It is working with local partners and local communities to ensure we deliver our exciting ambition for 2050. Find out more about our 2050 vision.

2050 Vision Section

2050 Vision

Our resident and stakeholder-led 2050 ambition:

During 2018 an important conversation happened across Southend-on-Sea called ‘Southend 2050’.

Southend 2050, has been an opportunity to explore what kind of place we all want Southend-on-Sea to become and to understand what we all need to do to create it.

Thousands of people have participated across the city, through numerous events, workshops, forums and surveys.

The feedback from Southend 2050 has shown some clear messages about the kind of city we all want, and this has been used to develop a long term ambition for Southend-on-Sea.

The year is 2050. How does our city, Southend-on-Sea, look and feel?

Inevitably the place has changed a lot since the early years of the century, but we’ve always kept sight of what makes Southend-on-Sea special. Prosperous and connected, but with a quality of life to match, Southend-on-Sea has led the way in how to grow a sustainable, inclusive city that has made the most of the life enhancing benefits of new technologies.

It all starts here – where we are known for our creativity, our cheek, our just-get-on with-it independence and our welcoming sense of community. And so, whilst the growth of London and its transport network has made the capital feel closer than ever, we cherish our estuary identity – with a seafront that still entertains and a coastline, from Shoebury garrison to the fishing village of Old Leigh, which always inspires. We believe it’s our contrasts that give us our strength and ensures that Southend has a vibrant character of its own.

People are proud of where they live – the historic buildings and well-designed new developments, the seafront and the open spaces. The city centre has generated jobs, homes and leisure opportunities, whilst the city’s focal centres all offer something different and distinctive. With its reputation for creativity and culture, as well as the draw of the seaside, Southend-on-Sea is a place that residents and visitors can enjoy in all seasons. Above all we continue to cherish our coastline as a place to come together, be well and enjoy life.

Public services, voluntary groups, strong community networks and smart technology combine to help people live long and healthy lives. Carefully planned homes and new developments have been designed to support mixed communities and personal independence, whilst access to the great outdoors keeps Southenders physically and mentally well. Effective, joined up enforcement ensures that people feel safe when they’re out and high quality care is there for people when they need it.

Southend-on-Sea has grown, but our sense of togetherness has grown with it. That means there’s a culture of serving the community, getting involved and making a difference, whether you’re a native or a newcomer, young or old. This is a place where people know and support their neighbours, and where we all share responsibility for where we live. Southend in 2050 is a place that we’re all building together – and that’s what makes it work for everyone.

Southend-on-Sea and its residents benefit from being close to London, but with so many options to build a career or grow a business locally, we’re much more than a commuting city. Affordability and accessibility have made Southend-on-Sea popular with start-ups, giving us the edge in developing our tech and creative sectors, whilst helping to keep large, established employers investing in the city. People here feel valued, nurtured and invested in. This means that they have a love of learning, a sense of curiosity and are ready for school, employment and the bright and varied life opportunities ahead of them.

Southend-on-Sea is a leading digital city and an accessible place. It is easy to get to and get around, with easy parking for residents, visitors and businesses. Everyone can get out to enjoy the city’s thriving city centre, its neighbourhoods and its open spaces. Older people can be independent for longer. It is also easy to get further afield with quick journey times into the capital and elsewhere. Our airport has continued to thrive, opening up new business and leisure opportunities overseas – but it has done so in balance with the local environment.

Southend-on-Sea – it all starts here.

5 year road map

The Opportunity Section

The opportunity

Director of Highways, Transportation and Waste

Southend-on-Sea City Council

Attractive salary and benefits, £94,544 (potential market supplement up to £106,000)

Southend-on-Sea is a place like no other. And what a place to live, work and play. A vibrant, entrepreneurial place, with a burgeoning cultural scene, we are a place of escapism and fun, where the underground meets the mainstream.  Our vision, impact and potential are limitless.  Forget the norm.  Forget expectations.  Forget the beaten path.  Southend is the alternative seaside experience.

Highways services and waste management are two of the councils most utilised and visible services. With high degree of councillor and public interest this challenging role is one that can make a significant difference to the lives of Southend’s residents, businesses and visitors, whilst striving to protect our environment and climate.

As Director of Highways, Transportation and Waste, you will be the lead for the service, working with our staff and supply chain to deliver high quality, value for money services. You will be the senior officer responsible for leading the procurement of the new waste management contract. This is one of the largest contracts that the council places and is vitally important not only to the city’s residents but also to the environment. You will provide strategic leadership for transport policy, public and school transport as well as the city’s parking services and highways operations, including a significant capital improvement programme. Developing an environmentally sustainable service/network is one of the council’s key priorities, this role is key in spearheading this. All of this whilst set against a national back drop of increasing customer expectations with constrained resources and the pressures of climate change.  

Delivering best value from our in-house teams and contracted arrangements, through effective relationship and performance management will be a critical part of your work.  You will ensure that the customer is placed at the centre of everything we do, driving service improvement, speed of response and resident and business engagement. You will be a member of the departmental management team and will deputise for the Executive Director of Place when appropriate.

Your leadership will ensure that our infrastructure and operations helps support our Southend 2050 Ambition and the council’s pledge to be carbon neutral by 2030. Ensuring the city is a place of pride and joy where residents are both physically and mentally well.

You will contribute to our Green City agenda, working closely with our environment and sustainability team and national partners such as the Department for Transport, Natural England and the Environment Agency.  Together you will identify climate positive approaches to the management of our highways and traffic (including developing our EV charging infrastructure) and ensure the implementation of a clear waste management hierarchy.  You will also lead on projects to develop sea defences for our seven miles of coastline.  Community safety is a key priority for our administration; you will work collaboratively with our public protection teams to ensure your services help keep residents and visitors safe.

We are looking for a values-based leader with extensive experience of delivering a modern client focused service. You will have a significant track record of service delivery and contract management in a complex environment.  Your background could be in public sector highways and/or waste services, or with private sector partners.  You will be able to demonstrate strong leadership, a passion for collaborative working and a commitment to putting the resident first.

To support our workforce and promote responsive and efficient ways of working we have adopted a Work Smart approach that incorporates a hybrid working model.

Succeed in this role and you will have delivered our capital programme on time and to budget to meet our 2050 Ambition of Connected and Smart, making a massive contribution to the city; thanks to you and your teams, Southenders, our businesses and our visitors will benefit from a safer, more sustainable and more resilient highways network, coupled with improved access to public transport and fantastic green infrastructure to enjoy.

How to apply

We want to make the process of applying as straightforward as possible. To this end, we ask that your application consists of the following:

  • A covering letter, no more than four pages in length, which addresses and provides evidence against the criteria, set out in the Person Specification. The covering letter provides you with the opportunity to explain your motivation for applying, as well as highlighting how your experience and achievements fit with the requirements of the role. As such, it is an important part of the application process.
  • A copy of your most recent and up to date curriculum vitae.
  • Please also provide details on two employer referees, which should include your current or most recent employer. Please note that references will not be taken without your permission.

Once you have completed your application, please click on the relevant Apply link to upload your Curriculum Vitae and Covering Letter. All applications will be acknowledged.

Recruitment timetable

Closing date: Monday 6th March

Preliminary Interviews (via MS Teams): w/c 13th March

Officer and Stakeholder Panels: w/c 27th March

Final Member Panel: w/c 17th April

Further information

For an informal conversation about Southend-on-Sea, please contact Simon Winspear of Hays Executive on 07525 466 357 or email simon.winspear@hays.com

Apply

Key Documents Section