Director of Services

Job title: Director of Services

Employer: Roscommon County Council

Location: Roscommon

Closing Date: 3pm, Thursday 25th April 2024

Salary: €105,215

About the Employer:

County Roscommon is centrally located in the heart of Ireland with a total population of 69,995 (Census 2022) and a wider population of over 300,000 within a 60km radius. Roscommon is bordered by 7 other counties and has a total land area of 2547 km². Roscommon is located two hours from Dublin and Shannon Airports and adjacent to Ireland West Airport, Knock. The local government structure in Roscommon comprises Roscommon County Council and the Municipal Districts of Roscommon, Athlone and Boyle. The county has its administrative headquarters in Roscommon town. The elected Council currently consists of 18 members who are democratically elected for a period of 5 years. The Council’s Revenue Budget for 2024 is €75.4 million. The Council is mandated to deliver a diverse range of functions and services, which can be broadly described under the headings of economic development, community development and the provision of physical and social infrastructure, recreation and amenity services and the enforcement of the planning and environmental regulatory framework.

About the Role:

The Director of Service is responsible for ensuring the delivery of quality services across the key services areas within the Local Authorities such as:

* Economic Development and Enterprise
* Transportation, Community and Rural Development
* Corporate Services and Capital Project Management Delivery
* Climate Action, Environmental and Water Services
* Finance, Housing and Culture

Directors of Service are members of the senior management team of Local Authorities and report directly to the Chief Executive. Each Director of Service is typically responsible for a number of functional areas and may also be responsible for a Municipal District within the County. Directors of Service support the Chief Executive in advancing the physical, economic, social and cultural life of Roscommon and in developing and overseeing the organisational structures and resources needed to deliver an extensive range of services to the public, in a cost effective and efficient manner.

Directors of Service generally manage large multidisciplinary teams and budgets, both capital and operational. They are required to manage and lead their functional areas in a strategic manner, and implement substantial change programmes, for example, the ongoing programme of Local Government Reform. Innovation and continuous improvement are significant priorities.

Directors of Service play a key role in supporting the Council members in fulfilling their statutory and representational functions in accordance with the principles of good Governance. This includes working effectively with the Council Members providing policy support, keeping Councillors informed and developing proposals for agreement by the Members prior to implementation within their area of responsibility.

External relationships are important to the effective delivery of services by the Local Authority and Directors of Service play a vital role in networking and engaging with a broad range of stakeholders including representatives of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and other Government Departments, State Agencies, business owners, community and voluntary groups, the general public etc.

About You:

The ideal candidate will:

* Understand the workings of local government and its role as the second tier of government within the county;
* Contribute, as a member of the senior management team to the development and delivery of long-term vision for the county that promotes the physical, social, cultural and economic environment in an integrated way;
* Lead, manage and motivate a team to deliver on the particular functional areas and programmes within their remit, ensuring a strong focus on delivery of results;
* Initiate, develop and drive appropriate change programmes that can enhance the range and quality of services;
* Work with the Elected Council, its Strategic Policy Committees, the Local Community Development Committee, in developing policy and strategic plans for their areas of responsibility that are in line with overall national priorities and aim to deliver services in the most efficient manner possible, to meet the specific needs of the local community;
* Contribute to and implement the corporate plan, and deliver national and local programmes in a resource efficient manner;
* Develop and support their staff to ensure optimum service delivery including full utilisation of the PMDS system;
* Manage significant change programmes, in line with national and local priorities;
* Network effectively with internal and external stakeholders including representatives of Government departments, state agencies, business and community representatives and other bodies to deliver priority programmes and projects;
* Critically analyse and manage the deployment of resources (including human and financial resources), within their areas of responsibility to ensure the delivery of optimal results with the available resources;
* Promote the role of the Council and ensure a strong customer focus amongst their teams, reflecting the requirements for balanced and fair decision making and equity of treatment;
* Operate and continually review effective risk management systems for their area of responsibility;
* Keep abreast of relevant external developments, trends and opportunities which may be beneficial to their functional area, including external funding opportunities.

Candidates must also:

* Have the knowledge and ability to discharge the duties of the post concerned;
* Be suitable on the grounds of character;
* Be suitable in all other relevant respects for appointment to the post concerned;

Candidates, if successful, will not be appointed to the post unless they:

* Agree to undertake the duties attached to the post and accept the conditions under which the duties are, or may be required to be, performed;
* Are fully competent and available to undertake, and fully capable of undertaking, the duties attached to the position.

Each candidate must, on the latest date for receipt of completed application forms, meet the above essential criteria.

Full details on the role including eligibility requirements are available on www.publicjobs.ie

Closing date: 3pm on Thursday, 25th April 2024.

We are committed to a policy of equal opportunity and encourage applications under all nine grounds of the Employment Equality Act.