Early Years Lead

Education and Learning Skills Job Description Job Title: Business and Workforce Development Manager

Grade: P05

Function: Education Learning and Skills

Reporting to: Early Years and /Out of School Quality Improvement Lead

Responsible for: Workforce Development Officer X 1
Senior Business Development Officer X 1
Business Development Officers x 2

Main Purpose To lead, provide expert advice and guidance on the delivery of a Workforce Development Plan, through an annual training programme of continuous professional development across the early years and childcare sector, ensuring the EYFS qualifications for staff are achieved enabling better outcomes for children.

To generate an agreed annual income target through the delivery of a traded service for training the early years sector, to include all private, voluntary and independent nurseries, childminders and schools with nursery provision.

To provide the strategic lead for the implementation and the delivery of the 2, 3 and 4 year old funded entitlement for early education childcare in the borough.

To implement and manage IT management systems required for the effective delivery of early years childcare in the borough.

To lead on the operational development and delivery across Lambeth of key governmental early years new initiatives.

To lead on collaborative working with key strategic stakeholders to ensure that the government directives regarding the Early Years Pupil Premium, Disability Access Fund and SEN Inclusion funding and other government initiatives including the 30 hours childcare delivery achieve the core purpose of improving the children's EYFSP targets.

To lead and co ordinate the implementation of the Early Years Capital funding for the early years and childcare sector.

To lead, manage and give expert advice for effective business development services to the childcare sector and children's centres ensuring their sustainability to enable sufficiency of childcare in the borough.

Principle Accountabilities Workforce Strategy Development

1. To develop initiatives to improve the qualifications and training of the early years and childcare workforce to meet the commitments as identified in Government policy guidance and initiatives.
2. To plan and develop an integrated training and professional development programme for all early years and childcare staff.
3. To develop a traded service for training and development, ensuring that an agreed amount of income is generated each year.
4. To undertake and maintain an audit of qualifications and training needs of staff within the early years and childcare sector ensuring that annual training programmes and packages are developed and delivered appropriately.
5. To commission internal and external training programmes to meet the needs of the workforce, based on audit information and consultation.
6. To monitor and evaluate the quality of the training provided and evaluate the impact on service delivery and quality improvement.
7. To influence and participate in cross borough and pan London initiatives, which promote and increase the quality and quantity of training offered.

Finance and Business Planning

1. To provide strategic advice and support to senior staff in respect of financial duties and responsibilities for childcare, children's centres and other initiatives.
2. To develop and maintain close working partnerships with schools finance to prepare budgets and financial planning for the school nurseries and early years providers who take up the funded early education places.
3. To give financial advice and support to the early years sector in setting up new funded places in accordance with government initiatives.
4. To provide business planning advice, support and training to help ensure the financial sustainability of the childcare sector.
5. To set policies and implement new funding streams including managing their dissemination to the early years sector.
6. To implement monitoring procedures that support the achievement of service targets and financial stability across the early years sector and develop a mechanism for early intervention by the LA in respect of providers having sufficiency and sustainability issues and where there are potential issues concerning the safety and welfare of children.
7. To contribute to the management for the administration and monitoring across the range of grant funding, monitoring expenditure and service delivery ensuring compliance, dissemination of good practice and best value.
8. To visit children's centres, and childcare settings across the borough and verify compliance with Ofsted the DfE and LA financial regulations and requirements.
9. To provide financial training and support for early years providers bringing in technical support as required.
10. To provide technical support to settings to function as a viable business by providing framework support and guidelines.
11. To be responsible for managing and monitoring the budget for early years 2, 3 and 4 years old funded entitlement and workforce development.
12. To be responsible for ensuring that spending from Government funded workforce and childcare initiatives meets the objectives and standards required.

Leadership and Management

1. To manage the team, providing clear strategic advice and regular supervision and performance management.
2. To manage and organise the workload of the Business Development and Workforce Officers.
3. To ensure that the team develops and maintains expert, up to date knowledge of changes across the sector and is able to offer this advice and support to providers.
4. To develop and implement innovative strategies to support schools and providers in improving their business to ensure sustainability and the delivery of the statutory funded childcare places for 2, 3, and 4 year olds.
5. To work closely with government departments and other national and local organisations providing monitoring and other data to demonstrate the effective delivery of programmes within agreed timescales.
6. To train the Business Development and Workforce team to support the delivery of childcare places in the borough ensuring that the mandatory requirement of providing sufficient places is accomplished.
7. To ensure that all officers responsible for service delivery are adequately trained and comply with safeguarding requirements.
8. To deputise for the Early Years Quality Improvement Lead as and when required and where appropriate.

Early Education Childcare for 2, 3 and 4 years olds

1. To establish and implement policies and guidelines for the early years sector in accordance with government directives for the establishment of funded early education places for 2,3 and 4 year olds in schools, private, voluntary and independent nurseries and childminders.
2. To establish an IT management system for the providers to be able to access the training portal and the funding tab.
3. To ensure that the statutory requirement of the collection of headcount data is managed and takes place at least three times a year across the early years sector.
4. To train all early years providers in the use of the required training portal.
5. To ensure that there are sufficient childcare places across the borough for parents to be able to take up their funded place with a provider of their choice.
6. To work with different partners including Families Information Service, SEN team, Schools Admissions and other cross departmental colleagues to ensure a fair and transparent delivery guideline for childcare places is established.
7. To maintain and further develop excellent working relationships with colleagues in both the maintained and non maintained sectors through providing the necessary partnership workings including setting up and delivery of Early Years Forums, Early Years Sub Group and other partnership meetings.
8. To develop strategies and policies to ensure government directives are implemented.
9. To develop in conjunction with the legal department the statutory contract between the local authority and schools and providers who provide the funded early year places.
10. To develop and set a rate through a single funding formula for the providers in the early years sector to enable parents to take up funded places for their children.
11. To plan, develop, organise and lead on the delivery of government's new 30 hour childcare places initiative, across the early years sector and maintain robust relationships with all providers including schools whilst ensuring sufficiency of places for parents is achieved.
12. To manage the capital budget for the early years sector, by preparing funding grants, and bids, setting up policies and framework for dissemination to providers and monitoring the grant funding.

Other duties

1. To be responsible for preparing reports, audits and briefing papers for the 2, 3 and 4 years old funded entitlement and workforce development services for the DfE and other appropriate agencies.
2. To manage conflicting work, establishing priorities and meeting deadlines.
3. To contribute through the above to key objectives in the Local Authority Community Plan and other relevant documents.
4. To attend conferences, seminars and both internal and external meetings to represent and promote the service.
5. To participate in the Council's Performance Management Processes ensuring that set objectives and targets are met within the agreed time scales.
6. To observe a high standard of confidentiality in all aspects of work. . click apply for full job details