Interim Careers Service Lead

Birmingham (Hybrid Working)
£500-£600 per day
3-6 month contract

The Opportunity

My client is seeking an experienced Interim Careers & Participation Service Lead to provide strategic leadership across its post-16, careers, and participation services within Children and Families. This is a high-impact role responsible for ensuring the Council meets its statutory duties, improves outcomes for young people, and drives forward service transformation, particularly in reducing NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) levels and enhancing participation across the city.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide strategic oversight of Careers & Participation services, ensuring delivery of statutory responsibilities and alignment with council priorities.
• Lead the development and implementation of a Post-16 Strategy, maximising participation and improving outcomes for young people.
• Drive service redesign, transformation, and continuous improvement, identifying opportunities to improve delivery, efficiency, and impact.
• Lead initiatives to reduce NEET levels, ensuring effective tracking, targeted interventions, and strong partnership working.
• Build and maintain effective partnerships with schools, colleges, training providers, and community organisations to support participation and progression.
• Provide leadership to multidisciplinary teams, fostering a high-performance and continuous improvement culture.
• Oversee performance management, business planning, and governance, ensuring clear outcomes and measurable impact.
• Manage budgets and resources effectively, ensuring compliance with financial regulations and delivering value for money.
• Act as a senior leader across Children and Families and wider directorates, supporting corporate priorities and cross-service collaboration.

About You

We are looking for a dynamic and experienced leader with:

• Significant experience in a senior leadership role within a local authority or public sector setting.
• Proven track record of delivering service redesign, transformation, and improvement programmes.
• Strong understanding of the careers, participation, and NEET agenda, including statutory responsibilities.
• Demonstrable success in reducing NEET and improving post-16 participation outcomes.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams, embedding a culture of continuous improvement and managing performance effectively.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence senior leaders and partners across education, skills, and employability sectors.
• Experience in budget management, governance, and strategic planning, with a focus on delivering measurable outcomes.

Why Join?

• Opportunity to lead a high-profile service with city-wide impact
• Drive meaningful change for young people across Birmingham
• Competitive daily rate and flexible working arrangements

What you need to do now
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