Head of Strategy and Programmes - Adult Social Care

Head of Strategy and Programmes, Adult Social Care (Job Ref: 4222)    

Salary: £86,889 - £96,983 (Dependant on experience)

Grade: Level 6 Zone 2

Location: 5 Pancras Square, London N1C 4AG/Hybrid     

Hours per week: 37

Contract Type: Permanent / Full Time

Closing Date: Monday 27^th July 2026 at 23:59

Interview: Week commencing 3^rd August 2026

About North London Councils Partnership

The post sits within the North London Councils Partnership, which is hosted by Camden Council. The North London Councils Partnership is a local authority led partnership supporting 13 boroughs to: 

• deliver programmes of work that address shared priorities in social care in partnership, and 
• promote a strong local authority presence within North London’s Integrated Care System (ICS).  

 The Partnership is a high profile, high performing team that in 2021 won the national LGC award for Adult Social Care demonstrating the impact of our work.  

What You’ll Be Doing / How You’ll Be Involved

This key leadership role directs the North Central London (NCL) adult social care (ASC) programme across Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Islington Councils. It develops and leads a cross-borough market shaping and management programme covering key ASC service priorities including accommodation-based services, digital development and matrix leadership of workforce-related activity. The role provides strategic leadership of joint work with health partners, influencing them to support excellent outcomes for residents, and builds effective professional ASC leadership networks across the 5 boroughs. 

Adult Social Care markets strategy and programme:

• Lead the development and delivery of cross-borough programmes of work with the ASC market that yield benefits for the local authorities, NHS partners and residents. 

• Drive strategic collaborative and aligned commissioning approaches for ASC services across NCL to secure provision in line with local need and to yield substantial cost avoidance and/or financial savings, whilst ensuring the market remains sustainable. 

• Champion a data driven and evidence-based approach to innovative programme strategy, delivery and reporting, including cyclical market analysis of trends, opportunities and risks; sustainable cost modelling; data digitisation and access for boroughs; expanding the range of data sources; and demonstrating impact and performance.   

• Provide strategic leadership and coordination on ASC issues and in response to changing circumstances or guidance where there is aspiration to develop aligned approaches, coordinate responses or joint strategies. 

• Oversee complex market shaping workstreams (including quality, price, market oversight and sufficiency, digital), to deliver specified outcomes and savings against challenging timeframes.  

Strategic direction to NCL ASC Programme Board and Integrated Care System:

• Form trusting, credible relationships with a range of partners through an ability to think strategically, persuade, negotiate and influence a complex local agenda. This will include working closely with the 5 Directors of Adult Social Care and senior commissioners to agree approaches across the 5 boroughs.
• Lead on planning for the NCL ASC Programme Board reporting to the 5 Directors of Adult Social Services (DASS) and their leadership teams, providing expert advice and guidance that drives forward programme delivery and ensures the Partnership is achieving the anticipated outcomes.

• Develop excellent strategic relationships with care providers to promote health and social care input (e.g. digital social care), understand providers’ challenges and opportunities, improve outcomes and quality, and inform supportive effective council-NHS partnerships. 

• Provide strategic and programme input on behalf of the 5 local authorities into a range of ICS workstreams with a focus on building effective joint planning and integrated working across health and social care.  

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and will require an Enhanced DBS. Please note Camden also offers the DBS update service.

To view the Job Profile, please click HERE or copy and paste the below URL into your Microsoft Edge browser (please note the attached will not open in other browsers): 

http://camdocs.camden.gov.uk/HPRMWebDrawer/Record/11818333/file/document?inline

All About You

To find out more about what it is like to work at Camden, meet some of our People by visiting 'www.camdenjobs.co.uk/our-stories'.

We are looking for a proven and growing leader who is looking to further develop their skills, experience and impact in delivering complex change. You will benefit from direct exposure to senior local government officers and politicians across five local authorities. You will bring an ability to think strategically, persuade, negotiate and influence a complex and evolving local commissioning and market management agenda. You will also bring the skills required to develop and deliver a complex and evolving programme of commissioning and market shaping work that yields benefits for the local authorities, NHS partners and residents.

To be successful in this post, you will be excellent at building credible relationships across a wide range of stakeholders across the 5 Councils and NHS partners. You will be experienced at working collaboratively and successfully across agencies to deliver improved outcomes and will be confident in your ability to act as a system leader, developing excellent partnerships across the local authority and health landscape and inspiring confidence in stakeholders and staff at a time of significant change. You will be able to deal with conflicting views at a senior level including offering pragmatic and palatable solutions. You will be confident at analysing health and social care datasets to support a deeper understanding of local services and using your commissioning knowledge and exper