Interviews will be held across W/C 25th May 2026.

The Opportunity

This is an exciting opportunity to lead a number of Essex County Council's (ECC) most complex and rewarding services. Covering Education and Adult Social Care (ASC) transport services, Travel Training and Ugobus, you'll have the opportunity to make a real difference to people's lives. These are large scale, complex services with huge diversity, corporate and political interest and high quality teams. You'll move from meaty operational issues to national strategy to transformation in a single day. It's never boring and there's never a week when you don't learn something new. 

The Role

This role will lead school and adult social care transport services, driving effective and efficient operational delivery of ECC’s passenger transport provision across home to school transport, adult social care transport, children’s services transport, travel training and Ugobus. It requires the management of a team of customer-focused staff who understand the range of transport delivery options available to meet the different needs of adults, children and education passenger transport passengers across Essex; the award winning Travel Training team improve life skills for those with SEND; and the high quality in-house fleet provided by Ugobus.    

Working collaboratively with key stakeholders focused on improving the quality and value of travel services to ensure delivery of a continuous improvement culture which drives and shapes operational service delivery. Contributing to the development of transport strategies and defining future services forms an integral part of this role.   

As an experienced Leader, this role will contribute to the overall strategic vision of transport and customer focused service delivery.  

Responsibilities will include…

• Using specialist skill, knowledge and experience to develop, deliver and oversee a high-quality School and Adult Social Care Transport service.
• Supporting transformation projects, including the use of digital and self-service solutions. 
• Reviewing the operational performance of all services identifying opportunities to deliver change to enhance value for money and deliver greater efficiency.  
• Supporting positive safeguarding approaches and ECC LADOs in managing any issues
• Developing and building operational relationships with stakeholders and partners to support the delivery of joint objectives and ensure maximise all modes of passenger transport and accessibility.  
• Overseeing the delivery of requests for transport, in accordance, with policies and guidelines ensuring deadlines, targets and performance indicators are met whilst maintaining accurate passenger, and financial data, as required by legislation. 
• Contributing to the development of Essex County Council’s Passenger Transport Strategies and delivering transformation projects in order to enhance levels of service and minimise costs. 
• An operational budget of £72 million, 7 direct reports and a team of 192

About You

• Evidence of experience of managing public facing operations and teams, knowledge of legislation and best practice through a relevant degree, qualification (e.g. TPP, IoSCM, CPC) or equivalent experience.
• Strategic thinker with the ability to think creatively, challenge assumptions and develop innovative and creative solutions.   
• Strong leadership with the ability to focus on supporting dispersed operational teams, developing talent and high performing teams from diverse backgrounds to achieve operational objectives. 
• Evidence of exercising effective leadership in influencing and delivering positive cultural and organisational change in a complex environment. 
• Evidence of working collaboratively across an organisation and to reconcile competing interests successfully and experience of working in a political environment and the nuances involved. 
• Evidence of awareness of industry and commercial legislation and current issues. 
• Experience of managing financial processes to accurately record spend and income to support the development of accurate forecasting and budget management information and monitor costs. 

To read more about our business area, please visit: Climate, Environment and Customer Services

Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we’re committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in Everyone's Essex. With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you. 

In March 2026, the Government announced that councils in Greater Essex will be reorganised into five new unitary authorities from April 2028. In addition to this, Greater Essex has been accepted on to the devolution priority programme, where we will work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority. You can read more about these changes, and what this may mean for this role, on our careers site.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email resourcing.team@essex.gov.uk

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Further details can be found on our careers page.

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