Chief of Staff Job Description

Introduction

Police & Crime Commissioners were introduced nationally as part of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011. The job of the Commissioner is to ensure local community needs are met, bringing the public closer to policing.

The role of Chief of Staff to the Police & Crime Commissioner (PCC) is an opportunity to support the elected Commissioner for Kent and make a real difference supporting the delivery of a police service that reflects the needs of the community.

The Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan is based on putting victims and witnesses at the heart of the criminal justice system, and delivering tangible improvements in policing and relevant parts of the criminal justice sector that fall within her remit. Your role will be to support the Commissioner in the delivery of her aims and objectives.

Personal Qualities

The ideal candidate will be a graduate calibre professional with high levels of honesty and integrity combined with senior level experience and a track record of successful delivery of business aims and objectives, and change management at that level. The ability to rapidly familiarise, assimilate and understand information about the police service, Kent Police and national and local issues that affect the policing of the county is vital, especially in a fluctuating landscape.

You will be a proactive, innovative, confident problem solver who needs general direction rather than close management. You will be able to understand, plan, organise and implement activities on a short, medium and long term basis at both strategic and operational levels. You will be able to provide clear, objective, authoritative and impartial advice based on analysis and interpretation of complex information and situations. As an effective horizon scanner, you should be able to anticipate the needs of the PCC and present information before it is requested. Alongside this you will have developed a structure to provide regular, relevant management information that informs and updates the PCC on progress without creating burdensome bureaucracy.

As the manager of the Office of the Kent Police & Crime Commissioner (OPCC) you must possess excellent interpersonal skills that you can adapt to any situation. You will be an inspirational leader, who inspires and motivates people from all walks of life, whether this is the staff working in the OPCC, officers and staff from Kent Police, members of the public or those people working in partnership organisations and agencies – in fact anyone you come into contact with.

Key Responsibilities

1. Deliver a tasking and briefing service to the PCC, providing all relevant information in the most appropriate and suitable format, taking account of the security level of any such information, ensuring that the PCC is always fully briefed and up to date with any arising issues, activities and high profile incidents.

2. Manage, review, design, organise and deliver all aspects of engagement with the public, internal and external stakeholders and partnership organisations, on behalf of the PCC, including press conferences, press releases, website management, launches of new initiatives, planning of community engagement itineraries, open meetings and

publications/ documentation etc., ensuring that any information released into the public domain is high quality and accurate.

3. Attend meetings within Kent Police, press conferences/ launches and public engagement meetings as required, either assisting the PCC or acting as the PCC’s representative as directed, in order to support the achievement of the PCC’s stated aims and objectives.

4. Develop the short, medium and long term strategies required to successfully support the PCC and manage the OPCC, completing horizon scanning and anticipating future requirements whilst adapting existing strategies in response to evolving issues arising at a local or national level in the volatile policing and policing governance landscape.

5. Manage and regularly review the support framework required by the PCC, providing options and recommendations, implementing any structural changes and maintaining an overview of activity, in order to adjust the structure and skills available, and maintain the provision of effective support services to the PCC at all times.

6. Manage the staff of the OPCC providing inspirational and motivational leadership, especially during times of change, taking responsibility for all associated aspects of recruitment, selection, development, training, welfare, performance and disciplinary issues, in order to ensure that the OPCC is staffed with appropriately skilled and motivated people at all times.

7. Manage, drive, review and develop all aspects of OPCC performance, updating strategies, working practices and protocols as required, in order to provide a high quality responsive service to the PCC at all times.

8. Undertake the statutory governance duties of the role Chief of Staff as directed by the PCC and as detailed in the Police Reform & Social Responsibility Act 2011, including ensuring financial propriety, providing advice and recommendations to the PCC to enable and assist the OPCC to fulfil all their statutory functions effectively and efficiently.

9. Represent the OPCC at high level meetings with the Home Office, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, Local Government Association and other outside bodies at regional and national level as required, ensuring that the OPCC leads and contributes to the national consideration of issues concerning policing and reducing crime.