Area Supervisor - Hazlemere

Overview

Buckinghamshire Libraries are looking for an Area Supervisor to join our friendly team in Hazlemere Library as part of the High Wycombe Area. We are seeking people who share our focus on customer service and who would enjoy engaging people with services that can enrich their lives.

The salary advertised is the grade level for the role, the salary for this role will be pro-rata to 23.25 hours hours per week.

About us

Buckinghamshire Libraries are responsible for delivering a modern library service through 29 libraries to communities throughout the county, using a mixed model of staffed, volunteer-supported and volunteer-led community libraries.

We are currently in the process of launching Library Flex, an enhanced out-of-hours service which will allow library users self-service access to facilities in 8 of our county libraries in addition to a regular staffed service.

About the role

This is a customer-facing role which will require you to be present at a specific site location each day.

This is a part-time role of 23.25 hours per week. The working pattern is as follows:

Mondays: 9.00am – 5.00pm

Tuesdays: 9.30am – 5.00pm

Wednesdays: X

Thursdays: 9.30am – 1.00pm

Fridays: 12.30 – 5.00pm

Alternate Saturdays: 9.30am – 1.00pm

Sundays: X

Saturdays will be worked on an alternating basis (one week on, one week off) with a consistent pattern.

This is a team lead position with responsibility for overseeing the daily running of a library alongside a highly-engaged team of staff and volunteers committed to supporting local residents with a high-quality professional library service.

This role also includes supervisory duties to support other libraries across a local area, located in High Wycombe, Hazlemere, Princes Risborough, and Micklefield. There is an additional Area Supervisor based in High Wycombe and Princes Risborough and an Area Manager who will share in these duties.

You will be responsible for line-managing staff in your local branch with support from the Area Manager.

You will be vital in ensuring the success of the Library Flex project, acting as a champion for the new model and promoting it to library users while monitoring and feeding back about its local implementation.

This role will sometimes require you to work across multiple sites in collaboration with the Area Manager to develop a team of staff and volunteers to co-ordinate a range of library, council and partner services across our libraries.

You will help to develop our libraries as community hubs by promoting health and wellbeing initiatives, cultural participation, digital inclusion and supporting residents with access to council services as part of the Council Access Point network.

Fixed

As a ‘fixed’ worker, you’ll spend most of your time in the same location, which will likely be a fixed office or location where your role is performed. Typically, you’ll be based in the same location as the rest of your team, because you provide a particular service from that fixed location or need access to information there.

About you

We are looking for somebody passionate about libraries and the role they can play in transforming the lives of children, young people and families, and who is keen to promote wellbeing in the community by combating loneliness and social exclusion.

You will have some experience of line managing and developing staff and volunteers, especially in a customer service environment, and be confident supporting colleagues to deliver professional customer service to residents and visitors.

You should have some experience of supervising a physical site, including ownership of responsibilities such as maintenance, keyholding, and health and safety checks.

You will also be confident and motivated in reaching out to local partners, working collaboratively with other organisations in the community to promote the library and support activities that enhance the lives of local residents.

Other information

Please see the attached job summary for further information on this role and person specification.

Number of positions available: 1

Interview-type: In person

If you would like to have an informal conversation with the recruiting manager, please contact Peter Anstiss: [email protected]

This post is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent cautions and/or unspent convictions

For further information on how long it takes for cautions and convictions cautions to become spent, please refer to our guide on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (updated 2023) | Nacro

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

Our values and culture

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

• a fair and inclusive culture
• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

At Buckinghamshire Council, we know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation.

From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments.

We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

About the Business Unit

Our Communities directorate works across the county to deliver a number of the key customer-facing services that our residents, businesses and visitors rely on every day. 

This directorate includes a wide range of services, including:

• collecting and disposing of waste and recycling
• maintaining our roads and Rights of Way network and parking
• ensuring the delivery of school transport, and supporting sustainable travel including public bus services and School Crossing Patrollers
• managing Country Parks
• leisure facilities, museums, theatres and libraries, as well as developing our Cultural Strategy
• Licensing, Environmental Health and Trading Standards
• Cemeteries and Crematoria

The customer is central to how we develop and deliver all of these services, which help promote our rich and vibrant culture and special environment. 

We are looking for enthusiastic, ambitious and committed individuals to join our team and help us to continue to make Buckinghamshire a great place to live, work and visit. This is an exciting time for us as we bring together the services previously run by five separate councils before Buckinghamshire Council was created. Whilst making major changes to contracts affecting residents across Bucks, we continue to focus on delivering great customer service. You will join us on our journey of continuous improvement - whether that’s through developing strategies and ways of working or delivering services on the ground, every person in Communities is a valued member of the team.

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. In addition to the opportunity to gain membership to Costco, we have discounted gym memberships, travel discounts with Arriva and much more.

https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/