Organisation - Bradford Care Association (BCA) & City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council (BMDC)Post Title - Strategic Workforce Lead for Adult Social CareLocation(s) - Home based, remote working or can be office based. Must be able to travel easily throughout Yorkshire and Humber for in person meetings and workshops.Full/Part time - Honorary contract with LA hosted by the BCA - full-time temporary contract (secondment opportunity available) until end of December 2027Salary – £55,000 - £60,000 dependent on experienceRole is Line Managed by: Louise Bestwick, CEO (BCA) & Jane Wood, Assistant Director (People Commissioning & Business Support, BDMC)Reports to - BCA Board, BDMC DMT (Leadership team), BD&C Health and Care People Committee_________________________________________________________________________To apply, please send your CV and a cover letter to , outlining how you meet the role’s requirements and responsibilities.Application deadline: 06/08/25 at 6pm. Interviews will be held via MS Teams on: 15/08/25 (AM) 19/08/25 (PM) _________________________________________________________________________This information is provided to help prospective applicants understand the role and its responsibilities. The duties listed are indicative and may change over time. Post-holders may be asked to undertake other relevant tasks, and the job grade reflects this flexibility.Applicants should use the application form to demonstrate how they meet the essential knowledge, experience, and qualifications required. Candidates with disabilities only need to meet the essential criteria marked with a cross.‘Employee competencies’ reflect the minimum behavioural standards expected, while ‘management competencies’ apply to roles at this level. These will be assessed at interview but not during shortlisting.ABOUT THE ROLE…Key Purpose of Post:The Adult Social Care (ASC) sector in Bradford District includes the entire workforce across the independent sector, Local Authority ASC Directorate, and other services such as the voluntary sector. It covers staff in both CQC-registered and non-registered services, including Registered Managers, Social Workers, care/support staff, business support, and ancillary roles.The focus is on providing strategic leadership and delivering the Bradford ASC Workforce Strategy (2022–2027), ensuring high-quality care through strong workforce support and access to learning and development. It also involves identifying workforce needs using data, promoting sustainable staffing, and improving the Bradford District development offer.Leadership is aligned with Bradford and West Yorkshire ICB NHS People Plans, supporting transformation across the Health and Care Partnership. The role also includes representing the ASC sector to influence stakeholders locally, regionally, and nationally—addressing pay disparities, improving workforce recognition, and expanding access to health, wellbeing, and development opportunities to support recruitment, retention, and staff wellbeing.Main Responsibilities of Post:1.To have overall responsibility for leadership for the strategic Adult Social Care sector development plan and workforce strategy for Bradford District. This shall include the ASC workforce of circa 14,000 people.2.Ensure that strategic workforce planning is undertaken consistently across the ASC sector using standard tools and processes; but identifying improvements to the process and feeding that back to relevant colleagues within ASC and the Health & Care Partnership. Specifically ensuring that workforce planning happens in alignment with ASC, Health and Care Partnership and ICS planning processes and timescales with a view to developing a 5-year plan that ensures that the ASC sector:a) has a workforce of the right sizeb) has the right values, behaviours, knowledge, skills and inclusivity and diversityc) is organised in the right wayd) is within allocated budgetse) can deliver the services we need to provide safe, effective, and high-quality care and support, andf) can fulfil the workforce requirement as part of a wider H&C Partnership.3.Provide specialist advice and guidance on workforce planning and associated analysis, in support of workforce resourcing and engage and lead on strategic, operations and business planning.4.Act as a support and an objective ‘critical friend’ to senior leaders and key stakeholders to ensure maximum workforce capacity is realised through delivery.5.Provide input and direction to senior leaders by analysing, interpreting, and translating complex workforce data and trends, anticipate changes, to support better planning and forecast of workforce requirements.6.Co-design and co-develop workforce interventions needed to support strategic workforce plans with colleagues across ASC sector and the HSC Partnership to meet outcomes and deliver priorities; ensuring that timescales are identified, budget identified and allocated, and liaison occurs regularly to ensure progress is being made.7.Build and sustain effective working partnerships across Adult Social Care sector and Bradford Health &Care Partnership, and with WY ICB and DHSC to promote joined up, and effective responses and service provision for adults with care and support needs.8.Lead on workforce planning for the ASC sector in relation to recruitment, selection and retention of the workforce required to ensure that safe and appropriate people processes are followed.9.Provide strong leadership to the ASC sector, working alongside care providers and colleagues to develop effective communication and to ensure continued quality service development and embed audit processes.10.Lead on HR and OD improvements / developments on behalf of ASC care providers / commissioned services.11.Support the Yorkshire and Humber ADASS & Home Office collaborative approach to International Recruitment.12.Ensure that ASC workforce initiatives / activities are subject to effective financial management and work to the allocated budget and policy direction, and report into BDMC’s DMT / H&C Partnership People Committee and BCA Board. 13.Acts as lead commissioner for learning and development needs for the ASC sector.14.Ensure that the requirements of GDPR and Freedom of Information Act are met.REQUIREMENTS…Special Knowledge Requirements:Applicants with disabilities are only required to meet the essential special knowledge requirements shown by a cross Experience of leading on issues of organisational change and development (x)An understanding at a national, regional, ICS and local level of the remit and challenges of Adult Social Care within the integrated system (x)Can critically evaluate the learning and development needs of the workforce (x)Ability to plan, prioritise and manage a heavy workload from a variety of sources while maintaining a high standard of quality and working under time constraints (x)Able to manage successful project delivery in complex partnerships and an ability to build and manage relationships effectively and to bring people together to optimize partnership working (x)Experience of successfully managing multi-disciplinary teams and able to work effectively with different stakeholders in Partnerships (x)Able to work on own initiative and manage the competing demands by effective self-management, motivation, and prioritisation (x)Can identify risks in ensuring the delivery of statutory outcomes and local / national priorities and can establish and deliver appropriate strategies to counter them (x)Carry out analysis of and report information and data from a range of sources, to identify financial and other issues, resolve problems and ensure compliance with financial procedures and requirements (x)Has excellent written and verbal communication skills, and the ability to present information in a clear, concise way for the relevant audience using a range of methods / media (x)Relevant experience requirement:Must have significant experience of management across social care and/or health settings and/or across workforce developmentBe able to demonstrate great interpersonal skills combined with excellent leadership and management capacity, with a passion to improve the lives of adults with care and support needs through supporting the delivery of high-quality workforce developmentRelevant professional qualifications requirement:Degree or equivalent level qualification in HR, social work, management, education, psychology or a similar health and social care related fieldCOMPETENCIES…Core Employee Competencies:Performance ManagementDemonstrates the ability to manage workload and complete tasks accurately and to a high standard.Effective CommunicationUses spoken and written communication to exchange information, build relationships, provide advice and guidance, negotiate, and handle sensitive or confidential matters.Decision MakingTakes initiative and makes independent decisions, plans and organises work, ensures quality, and demonstrates self-reliance.Problem SolvingGathers and analyses information to resolve issues using creative and critical thinking, while managing interpersonal relationships.Dignity and RespectTreats everyone with fairness, respect, maintains impartiality, and is mindful of the barriers individuals may face.Management Competencies:Strategic AwarenessAligns work with H&C Partnership and priorities, ensuring transparency and accountability with key stakeholders.LeadershipInspires and motivates teams to exceed expectations, acting in the best interests of the ASC sector and H&C Partnership.Performance DeliveryMonitors and celebrates performance, promotes shared values, and drives achievement of agreed outcomes.Project ManagementDelivers objectives within set timescales, makes effective use of resources, and plans for contingencies.Team DevelopmentCoaches individuals and teams to reach their potential, supports continuous improvement, and champions organisational values.
Job Title
Strategic Workforce Lead for Adult Social Care