Operational Lead

Overview

Are you an experienced Adult Social Care leader who thrives on improving practice, driving performance and making a real difference to people’s lives?

We’re looking for an Operational Lead to join our Adults and Health Directorate, playing a pivotal role in shaping and delivering high‑quality, person‑centred Adult Social Care services across Buckinghamshire. This is an exciting opportunity to work alongside Team Managers and senior leaders to provide operational oversight, lead service improvement and ensure residents receive timely, effective and strengths‑based support.

You’ll bring strong leadership, analytical thinking and operational expertise to a role that blends strategic insight with hands‑on problem solving within a large and fast‑changing service environment.

About us

Buckinghamshire Council is a relatively new organisation that combines the strengths and expertise of the previous five councils in the county to create positive change for local people, communities, and businesses. We are firmly focused on the future and have made a clear commitment to serve residents better and to provide stronger representation for Buckinghamshire, both locally and nationally.  

About the role

As an Operational Lead, you’ll provide day‑to‑day business management and strategic operational oversight across multiple Adult Social Care teams and service areas. Working closely with Team Managers, Heads of Service and partners, you’ll ensure performance, quality and statutory compliance are consistently achieved.

Key aspects of the role include:

• Leading operational planning, performance monitoring and quality assurance across services such as Safeguarding, Hospital Discharge, Home Independence and Occupational Therapy.
• Driving continuous improvement initiatives that enhance outcomes, value for money and resident experience.
• Translating strategic priorities, legislation and policy into effective operational delivery.
• Providing expert advice on complex, high‑risk or politically sensitive operational matters.
• Developing and embedding policies, frameworks and tools that promote consistent, strengths‑based practice.
• Managing and analysing operational data to inform decision‑making and service development.
• Supporting budget management and ensuring responsible use of public resources.
• Building strong partnerships with health, community and voluntary sector organisations.
• Directly managing a small number of frontline staff while supporting Team Managers to lead and develop their teams.
• Deputising for Heads of Service when required, contributing to leadership across Adult Social Care operations.

Any-Desk:
As an ‘any-desk’ worker, you’ll need to be connected to our network to access digital folders and resources, but this can either be from home or an office location when required. You will be required to work from the office a couple of times a week, depending on your role and team requirements.

About you

You will be an experienced and credible Adult Social Care leader with a strong track record of operational delivery, safeguarding and service improvement within complex, multi‑disciplinary environments. Confident working with legislation such as the Care Act and Mental Capacity Act, you’ll bring excellent performance management, analytical and problem‑solving skills, using data to drive improvement and inform decision‑making. You’ll be an effective collaborator and communicator, able to build trusted relationships with colleagues, partners and stakeholders at all levels. With a commitment to strengths‑based practice, equality and continuous development, you’ll hold a relevant professional qualification, be registered with Social Work England, and be motivated by improving outcomes for residents while ensuring quality, compliance and value for money.

Please refer to the job summary attached for further information about the role.

Other information

If you would like to hear more about this exciting role, please contact Adam Payne at [email protected]

Interview dates: 22nd April-24th April 2026

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

• All unspent convictions and conditional cautions
• All spent convictions and adult cautions that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020 and 2023).

For further information on filtering please refer to Nacro guidance and the guidance published by the Ministry of Justice (see, in particular, the section titled ‘Exceptions Order’).

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.

We understand that candidates may use AI tools to assist with their applications. While we welcome innovation, we expect all submissions to reflect your own experience, skills, and achievements accurately. Please ensure your application is truthful and demonstrates your personal capabilities, as this will be assessed during the selection process.

Buckinghamshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk.

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 us, 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

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 Service Area

Buckinghamshire Council is committed to ensuring that our residents stay as independent as they can, for as long as possible. Everyone has the right to live a fulfilling and nourishing life, and for many people, social care plays a key role in achieving that.

We are looking for dynamic Social Workers who are passionate about enabling clients to fulfil their potential, whilst promoting self-determination, and who are passionate, supportive, motivated, and confident when supporting and communicating with people - either on the telephone or face to face.

Your work will include carrying out needs assessments, creating person-centred and strengths-based care plans, ensuring delivery of services, and reviewing outcomes with the individual, their personal networks, and support providers.

You will work in partnership with other professionals and organisations to support our residents effectively and holistically. Our Social Workers will endorse and act by the principles of personalisation, ensuring that care and support plans are person-centred, and as far as is safely possible, you will put the people with whom you work in control of their lives.

You will also demonstrate emotional resilience and intelligence - which is the ability to maintain focus and to ‘keep going’ despite setbacks and stressful situations, a real desire to enable clients to achieve or maintain their goals of living independently and enjoy working in a fast-paced environment.

 So, if you are looking for a new challenge, want to become part of a team that places a premium on listening and learning, and which is determined to make a difference – we want to hear from you!

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/