Centre for Effective Services Project Support (Belfast Based) Information Pack

Transcription

1 Centre for Effective Services Project Support (Belfast Based) Information Pack

2 Part 1: Introduction to the Centre for Effective Services (CES) CES is a not for profit, intermediary organisation with offices in Dublin and Belfast. CES connects policy, practice and research, helping to ensure the implementation of effective services, to improve the lives of people living across the island of Ireland. CES is a company limited by guarantee and has charity status, and is funded through philanthropy and government. CES has a staff complement of 32 multi-disciplinary professionals drawn from various specialist areas, including community development, research, psychology, social work, youth work, public health, organisation development and knowledge and communications. We also run a Graduate Internship Programme to develop capacity and expertise within the sector and have 7 participating graduates in 2015/16. CES develops and maintains a network of Associates to complement the organisation s knowledge and experience. This allows CES to expand and contract its staffing capacity in relation to the volume of work that the organisation has secured. CES has developed national and international networks to support its work, in fields such as implementation science, early intervention and research networks. To learn more about CES, please visit our website at The Centre for Effective Services is a company limited by guarantee, established without share capital, Company Registration Number in Ireland Company Registration Number in Northern Ireland FC We are committed to being an equal opportunities employer

3 Part 2: CES Project Support Role Profile (fixed term contract) Context Centre for Effective Services (CES) CES is a not for profit, intermediary organisation with offices in Dublin and Belfast. We connect policy, practice and research, helping to ensure the implementation of effective services, to improve the lives of people living across the island of Ireland. CES has a staff complement of 32 multi-disciplinary professionals drawn from various specialist areas, including community development, research, psychology, social work, youth work, public health, organisation development and knowledge and communications. We also run a Graduate Internship Programme to develop capacity and expertise within the sector and have 7 participating graduates in 2015/16. For more information, visit Key Objective CES carries out its work on a project basis. At any time CES could have up to 30 active projects. CES s work involves the delivery of high quality and timely evidence informed projects relating to research, policy, systems and practice, which promote better outcomes for people living across the island of Ireland. The key objective of this role is to provide a range of supports to project teams (each managed by a project lead ) to enable the delivery of CES s work. Reporting to CES Belfast senior manager, with responsibility for a range of projects. Contract Term Full time fixed term contract for period to 31 December Location This position is based in CES s offices in Belfast. There may be a requirement to travel from time to time including to CES s office in Dublin or to other locations in Ireland. Responsibilities These include: 1. Project Support 1.1 Providing support to Project Leads through: Supporting the development of project task plans and follow-up activities Monitoring and administration of project budgets to ensure costs are managed Compliance with all necessary internal financial reporting requirements and procurement protocols Preparation of presentations and reports Liaising with external project associates, drafting contracts, etc

4 Events management, including scheduling of meetings, venues and processing bookings Work closely with other project support staff to ensure a supportive team approach and a seamless service Support data gathering and processing to inform the measurement of CES s key performance indicators Maintaining and filing various documentation. 1.2 Arranging meetings, booking facilities and servicing of meetings (visitors, catering etc.) 1.3 Organising travel and accommodation arrangements for team members and associated personnel. 2. General 2.1 General administration and secretarial duties including filing, typing and minute taking 2.2 Providing appropriate services (including first point of contact) to clients and staff 2.3 Controlling of petty cash in line with finance procedures 2.4 Point of contact for facilities management and liaising with external contractors. This list is not exhaustive and is likely to change over the lifetime of the contract. Salary The salary will be commensurate with the skills and experience of the successful candidate but within the salary band of 20,200 to 24,240. Hours of Work The hours of work will be full time, 37.5 hours per week Monday to Friday. Person Specification Candidates must demonstrate how they meet these essential skills and experience criteria: Essential Skills / Experience Minimum of two years experience of working in a responsible support role within a busy office environment Highly developed interpersonal skills with an ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders High level of proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite in particular Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook Experience of working in client focused, service oriented organisations Self- motivated, effective team member with the ability to work on his/her own initiative Knowledge of financial and budgetary procedures Ability to prioritise work and meeting deadlines, while producing work to a high standard An all-rounder with a hands-on attitude, with a flexible and adaptable approach Ability to represent the organisation appropriately.

5 Desirable Skills/Competencies Knowledge of public sector and voluntary services for children, young people, families and communities Knowledge of Sharepoint.

6 Part 3: Specific areas of CES work CES supporting government CES works with government departments and public bodies to help them to apply evidence of what works from research and practice so that they can develop better policies and strategies and better implementation plans. This helps to create systemic change in the sector. Examples of specific projects at government level: CES has assisted the Department of Children and Youth Affairs with the development and implementation of the Children and Young People s Services Committees, county based interagency committees which plan and coordinate services for children and young people in their area. is providing technical support across the three work streams of the Early Intervention Transformation Programme in Northern Ireland. This includes support to collate and translate evidence to inform the design of projects, as well as implementation support to a broad range of statutory and third sector service providers. is working with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and Atlantic Philanthropies to support and oversee the design, planning, evaluation and implementation of the Government initiative, the Area Based Childhood (ABC) Programme. has identified the key learning and overarching messages from prevention and early intervention programmes for children and young people and is disseminating the messages to policy makers. CES - supporting service providers CES helps service providers to make the right decisions because we provide them with evidence of what works in implementation, as well as in design of services. We work with service providers, as well as commissioners and planners, to advise them on how they can evaluate services, and to help them design and implement more effective services, using the evidence available from research and practice. Examples of specific projects: CES is working in partnership with the Health Services Executive, Mental Health Division to support the implementation of the government policy, A Vision for Change. CES has established a Programme Management Office with a small dedicated team of staff with strong technical programme management skills to support effective implementation. has developed the What Works Process; a tool designed to help an organisation, a programme or a service think through how it is linking evidence about what works to outcomes. is working with the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA) to support Big Lottery grantees to increase their knowledge; self-evaluate and disseminate the findings from their Impact of Alcohol Programme. CES work involves training and supporting services to build their capacity to undertake self-evaluation of the impact of their work. CES also

7 helps grantholders to use their findings to improve services and effectively disseminate their learning to policy makers, service commissioners and other service providers. CES supporting practitioners CES works with practitioners to improve outcomes for their clients by providing them with evidence informed tools and resources which have practical application. We work with practitioners to help them to use evidence from research and practice. Examples of specific projects: The Empowering Practitioners and Practice Initiative (EPPI) is a project being developed and implemented by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency with support from CES. It consists of two parts: a Professional Development Plan (Empowering Practitioners) and an evidence informed, outcomes focused therapeutic intervention toolkit (Empowering Practice). The first phase of EPPI is focusing on Social Work staff in Tusla. AcCESs Evidence will provide content and knowledge based tools and materials that are accessible, user friendly and relevant to the issues that practitioners come across regularly in their work. CES will work with practitioners to co-produce these resources in different formats. Topics will be wide ranging and may include short, accessible research summaries, videos or other media formats. CES is supporting the Youth Affairs Unit (YAU) in the Department for Children and Youth Affairs in implementing the National Quality Standards Framework for Youth Work (NQSF), which was introduced in January CES supporting researchers CES helps ensure that research will have an impact through the work we do with policy makers, service providers and practitioners. Examples of specific projects: CES is supporting the development of the Children s Research Network; an organisation set up to support the research community in Ireland and Northern Ireland to better understand and improve the lives of children and young people, by creating and maintaining an inclusive, independent, non-profit network through which information, knowledge, experience, learning and skills can be shared. CES is supporting the Research and Evaluation Unit in the Department of Children and Youth Affairs to develop a national set of indicators for 'Better Outcomes Brighter Futures: the National Policy Framework for Children and Young People '.

8 CES supports policymakers and practitioners through a range of tools and resources CES provides a range of online tools and resources on its website at: to support policy makers and practitioners concerned with improving services in communities for children, young people and families. The tools and resources section includes links to topics of relevance to both policy makers and practitioners, such as: CES Lecture Series - a compilation of online lectures from leading voices in evidenceinformed approaches to practice and policy in child, family and community services. Promoting Capacity Building focuses on the learning from specific interventions aimed at building capacity at organisation and sector level. Resources for Youth Work and Volunteer-led Groups including a route map which outlines the National Quality Standards Framework for Youth Work and National Quality Standards for Volunteer-led Youth Groups. A brief review of approaches to Oral Language development considers the best available evidence on how to organise and delivery services to achieve better language outcomes for children in areas of social disadvantage.