Best Start in Life Delivery Adviser

The postholder will work within the Early Years Quality Improvement and Safeguarding Service, (EYQIS) a specialist team with a city‑wide statutory remit to improve the quality, safety and impact of early years provision across Coventry.

This team uses data and intelligence to identify need, target support and drive improvements in outcomes for children from birth to five. Workforce development is a key element of the team's remit including the delivery of training, coaching, and mentoring to practitioners and leaders.

The team also holds a safeguarding remit to ensure that early years providers understand and apply safeguarding and child protection requirements effectively.

This team will play a central role in delivering Coventry’s Best Start in Life programme, with a strong focus on strengthening the Home Learning Environment (HLE), improving Communication and Language, and raising Good Level of Development (GLD) outcomes.

We value diverse perspectives and experiences and are striving to create a workplace culture that is inclusive, is accepting of all and is free from discrimination and bias.

In line with our One Coventry Values, we want to ensure that our communities are represented across our workforce. A vital part of this is ensuring we are a truly inclusive organisation that encourages diversity in all respects, including diversity of thinking. We particularly welcome applicants from minority ethnic, LGBT+, disabled and neurodiverse communities to make a real difference to our residents so that equity and respect remains at the heart of everything we do.

Our Values are:

• Open and fair: We are fair, open, and transparent.
• Nurture and develop: We help and encourage everyone to be their best and do their best.
• Engage and empower: We talk and listen to others, working together as one.
• Create and innovate: We embrace new ways of working to continuously improve.
• Own and be accountable: We work together to deliver the best services for our residents.
• Value and respect: We put diversity and inclusion at the heart of all we do.

Join Us – Be Part of a Truly Inclusive Team and Organisation

Coventry City Council is seeking an experienced, highly motivated professional to join our Best Start in Life (BSiL) team as a Best Start in Life Delivery Adviser.

This is a fixed-term contract, available from June 2026 to March 2029.

This is a pivotal role with responsibility for coordinating and driving the delivery of Coventry’s Best Start in Life Strategy and Local Area Plan. Ensuring that children from conception to age five have the strongest possible foundations for health, learning and wellbeing.

As a member of the Best Start in Life leadership team, the postholder will play a central role in turning strategic priorities into high‑quality, measurable delivery across the city.

Working closely with partners across Family Hubs, Early Years, Health, SEND, Public Health, Social Care and the voluntary community and faith sector, you will direct and coordinate activity that improves school readiness, narrows inequalities and strengthens family resilience

What You Will Do

As Best Start in Life Delivery Adviser, you will:

• Work under the direction of senior leaders, with responsibility for programme management of the Best Start in Life: Local Area Delivery Plan.
• Ensure actions are coordinated, monitored and delivered at pace, so outcomes and impact measures are achieved.
• Provide high‑quality reporting for senior leaders, governance boards and national partners (DfE / DHSC), including project management updates, performance against the Local Area Plan, finance and impact measures.
• Use data and insight to target resources, monitor impact, and drive continuous improvement, including improvements in Good Level of Development (GLD) and school readiness.
• Manage and develop the citywide Home Learning Environment (HLE), communication and language, and evidence‑based parenting programme offers delivered through Family Hubs and community settings.
• Aid colleagues' delivery of the Best Start Family Hubs and Healthy Babies Programme, ensuring alignment with national expectations and local priorities.
• Direct and manage a team of staff (HLE, Communication and Language and Relationships), building professional development, performance and collaborative working across services.
• Build strong partnerships across statutory, voluntary and community organisations to ensure a joined‑up, equitable offer for families.

All candidates must have the Right to Work in the UK. We are currently not offering sponsorship for this role.

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

This role offers a rare opportunity to influence early years outcomes at a citywide, system‑leadership level. We are looking for a positive and experienced professional who brings:

• Strong knowledge of early years childhood development, The EYFS statutory Framework, The SEND code of practice, school readiness and family support, including the factors that influence a Good Level of Development.
• Proven leadership experience in early years, education, Family Hubs or family support, with the ability to manage teams and complex programmes of work.
• Proven management of project-based delivery across multiple partners
• Experience of delivering improvement through partnership working, data‑led planning and quality assurance.
• The knowledge, communication skills and confidence to deliver training to a wide audience, offer coaching and mentoring to practitioners, and the ability to build leadership capacity across the sector.
• A commitment to equity, inclusion and tackling inequalities, with the confidence to provide challenge and support in equal measure.
• Excellent oral, written and digital communication skills, including the ability to work with a wide range of partners and present complex information clearly.

Every day is different, requiring a positive and flexible approach. The successful candidate will be motivated by the opportunity to make a difference at scale, with the resilience, curiosity and flexibility required for a fast‑moving and collaborative role

Candidates must meet the qualifications criteria to progress past the initial application stage

For key educational requirements necessary to apply for this position, please also refer to the job description in your application.

If you're committed to making a difference in the lives of young children and families and have the skills to drive improvement across the early years sector, we’d love to hear from you

Interview details

1. An assessment centre event will be held at One Friargate on Wednesday, 13th May 2026: 14:00 - 15:30

Candidates who meet all of the qualifications criteria will be invited to attend this session, where a facilitated round table discussion will take place. This will be assessed by members of the interview panel. Shortlisting will take place based on performance at this event.

2. Interviews will take place on Wednesday, 20th May 2026. Interviews will be held at One Friargate

If you need help or support to complete your application, please visit our accessibility page to see how we can assist you.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme - As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role and identify with one of the below criteria:

• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care or have previously been in care
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition

For full details on the application process please read the attached document on our jobs page labelled 'Coventry City Council Application Process'. If there is any evidence of a candidate using AI to complete their application, then the application will be rejected unless the candidate can provide a justification which the Council considers to be reasonable.

Coventry has a proud, innovative and creative spirit that throughout its history has seen communities come together to tackle problems and bring about real social change.

We are cutting-edge, challenging, youthful, vibrant and diverse.

At Coventry we are committed to excellence in everything we do. With around 5100 staff from a range of different backgrounds, our aim is to recruit and develop talented people who will focus on our customers, take responsibility, work together and find better ways of doing things.

To deliver the best services to our residents, we need the best people working for us to make a difference to our communities.

If you join us, we will provide a fantastic rewards and benefits package - to find out more please visit https://www.coventry.gov.uk/council-vacancies