Performance Manager

Job Title: Performance Manager
Starting Salary: £46,731 progressing to £51,802 per annum (pro rata for part time) – pay award pending
Hours: 37 hours per week
Location: Team office base; Farnham House, Stevenage with travel required in and around Hertfordshire.
Contract Type: Fixed Term/Secondment for 12 months (until August/Sept 2026) potential to extend - funding dependent.
Directorate: Childrens Services

About the team

Hertfordshire County Council has a strong performance culture with an Outstanding Ofsted rating for Children’s Social Care.

The team has led on benchmarking and analysis for the East of England for over 10 years and are now expanding this to cover data relating to children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND).

We are an experienced and supportive team who are committed to continuous improvement and development.

About the role

The role will focus on supporting the implementation and delivery of a regional performance framework for SEND & Alternative Provision (AP) and also ensuring the region is represented at a national level.

This role will see you:

• Develop data collection expertise and experience within the region. Use this expertise to identify issues in the collection of SEND and AP data including the sharing of SEND and AP data across different agencies and institutions in the region. Work towards resolving those issues where possible.
• Develop analytical expertise and experience within the region. Use this expertise to identify trends, outliers and policy issues both quantitatively and qualitatively within local and regional SEND and AP data.
• Directly support senior regional leaders to drive improvement and work collaboratively with the Children’s Improvement Board (CIB) to improve oversight of the regions SEND system.
• Collaborate with the Department for Education to support the development and improvement of SEND data. Highlight any issues that are identified in collecting, reporting and analysis of SEND and AP data in the region.
• Deliver regular data presentations and analysis to strategic leaders across the region.
• Monitor action plans relating to performance across the region.
• Attend and key national meetings relating to SEND data development.
• Support the wider regional benchmarking programme within Hertfordshire.

About you

Essential:

• Experience of undertaking complex data analysis and presenting results to a range of audiences including senior managers.
• Knowledge of local government, in particular knowledge of the legislative and policy drivers behind the work of Children’s Services.
• In depth knowledge of key performance indicators and frameworks used within Children’s Services including SEND.
• Experience of meeting and workshop management e.g. planning the agenda and process, facilitation.
• Experience of influencing senior managers and managing change.
• Excellent interpersonal skills; ability to recognise and respond appropriately to situations requiring tactful or diplomatic handling at all levels of the organisation.
• Team development; support and motivate colleagues to drive forward improvement in the team.
• Business focus; ability to operate in sensitive political environments.
• Analytical skills; ability to interpret, summarise and draw conclusions from complex data. Knowledge of key analytical techniques.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills.
• Evidence of personal impact and professional competence

We welcome applications from candidates who currently reside in the UK with established proof of right to work documentation. We are not able to offer sponsorship at this time for this role.

This job role is within the Corporate Services, level CORP12 job profile. Please locate this via: Job profiles - Corporate services

This role will be an excellent opportunity to raise your profile delivering on projects of national importance and to gain experience working with senior management both locally and regionally. The legacy of this work will be felt for years to come and will further help establish Hertfordshire as a centre for excellence in developing and improving Children’s Services.

To hear more about this opportunity please contact:

David Butcher (up until 7th July); david.butcher@hertfordshire.gov.uk

Paul Dryden (from 7th July); paul.dryden@hertfordshire.gov.uk

Interview Date: 23rd - 25th July - TBC

Benefits of working for us

How to apply

As part of your application, please upload your most recent CV. Ensure your CV is up to date with your employment history (including any employment gaps), and including any training/qualifications. We encourage you to include examples of where you have demonstrated the requirements/criteria in the advert / job profile to allow the panel to fully recognise your skills and abilities. You will have the opportunity to include a short covering paragraph within your application to give us a little more information about your skills, knowledge, and experiences.

Secondment
This position is open to secondments. If you work for HCC or any other Local Authority and would like to be considered as a Secondment contract, please ensure you complete the Secondment Form as part of your application. If you do not, your application will be considered as a Fixed Term Contract only.

Additional information

Disability Confident
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

Safeguarding
This role has been identified as requiring a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check.

Driving required
You’ll need to have the ability to drive and/or travel around Hertfordshire, either using your own mode of transport or a company car to travel to other locations.

English Fluency
The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required). Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.