Job Description: Director of Consultancy

Key responsibilities

Leadership and strategy

• Support the translation of Crest’s long-term organisational strategy into clear organisational priorities (business plan) to ensure balanced growth, profitability, compliance and excellence 

• To provide strategic and intellectual direction to our consultancy team, ensuring it is in a position to grow and adapt to the changing needs of our clients, to offer best value and impact. 

• Work with the Partner for Consultancy and Insights to develop and maintain a high-performing consultancy team that understands their shared purpose and can work well collaboratively to maximise their value externally to clients and internally to our staff.

• Ensure compliance to all organisational statutory, legal and regulatory requirements, integrated within the overall management of the organisation risk management approach and governance 

Culture and people

• Role model Crest values being credible, courageous and collaborative at all times through exceptional leadership and management skills, maintaining visibility across consultancy, supporting the development of policies, processes and activities that motivate, support and engage staff. 

• Enhance collaboration within our consultancy practice and with our thinktank Crest Insights and our inquiries practice, identifying and maximising opportunities for better integration both externally (in terms of partnerships and sales) but also externally in terms of skill development and synergies across content, working closely with our Director of Research  

• Support on all HR issues (e.g. recruitment, performance decisions, disciplinary appeals) related to the consultancy practice, ensuring compliance to legal requirements and Crest policies and procedures 

• Work with the Partner for Consultancy and Insights and the wider senior management team to ensure Crest has a skilled and capable workforce, through a robust training programme for staff, supported by required changes in recruitment practice 

External profile and business growth

• Promote Crest Consultancy offer and its output through networking opportunities, publication (where possible) and wider communications 

• Identify synergies and opportunities for collaboration and integrated delivery with our in-house thinktank Crest Insights, led by the Director of Research, including joint proposals, shared networking opportunities and stakeholder management alongside the internal transfer of knowledge and insight

• Lead a robust and consistent approach to all sales, working closely with the Partner for Consultancy and Insight and the CFO to oversee and where required lead bids and proposals to a high standard, seeking out innovative solutions and using market feedback to refine our approach

Delivery and quality assurance

• Ensure the consultancy team produces high quality impactful work that meets the highest professional standards and the needs of the client and/or partnership through focus on adherence to quality management standards. 

• Support the Partner for Consultancy and Insights in ensuring a robust oversight process to the delivery of consultancy work, identifying and solving challenges related to capability and capacity and ensuring that lessons learnt are applied into a process of continuous improvement 

• Support and lead Innovation in consultancy practice by investigating new approaches to Crest’s consultancy offer for example consideration of delivery partnerships/consortia, the development of new skills and through an ongoing assessment and understanding of the needs of our market 

• Provide exceptional and robust client management, through direct delivery and modelling of good practice to SMT and the wider management team to ensure quality, timely and profitable delivery 

Financial oversight and governance

• Support income generation through the creation winning bids and proposals for new work, ensuring Crest’s place on relevant procurement frameworks and ensuring a lessons learnt and continuous improvement approach re: all procurement/client feedback

• Support the Partner for Consultancy and Insights in meeting revenue targets, and in maintaining operational efficiency across consultancy without compromising on quality or culture.

• Support the development of the annual budget process, and adapt delivery and sales priorities and approaches to proactively 

• Ensure the robust oversight of resource management across all programmes of work within consultancy - reducing overservicing, by meeting client needs and ensuring robust bids/proposals 

Position in Organisation

• Reports to: Partner for Consultancy and Insights 

• Responsible for: Consultancy services 

• Budget responsibilities: As delegated by clients

• Salary range: £80,000 - £92,500

Knowledge, experience and behaviours

Essential

• Experience operating at Director or similar level where working with clients and/or partners is core to the successful outcomes of the organisation 

• A clear understanding of the key policy and practice issues, legislative agendas and surrounding, policing, justice and public safety missions and strategies 

• Strong leadership and people management skills and a commitment to work collaboratively, motivate teams and support development of more junior team members

• Experience in designing and delivering high profile programmes of work, that seek to answer complex and multifaceted problems in the public safety and/ or equivalent sector

• Experience in the management of complex and challenging stakeholder arrangement and in maintaining partnerships and alliances in both a commercial and delivery setting

• Experience in the management of a portfolio of different programmes of work, with a view to ensuring high quality and financial standards through effective risk management 

• Strong commercial acumen, managing complex budgets, ensuring value for money through effective and efficient delivery and financial reporting  

• Experience and knowledge of commissioning and procurement, with an understanding of what a good ITT, bid and evaluation process (this could be from the commissioning or consultancy side) looks like to inform winning bids and proposals 

• A good understanding of the mixed methods and practices deployed in gathering credible insight to ensure robust recommendations or options for transformation. 

• Excellent written and oral communication skills, with a track record in the management and facilitation of difficult conversations with a range of stakeholders and presentations to senior management and leadership teams with a view to influencing positive change 

Desirable

• A track record of conducting consultancy/insight work within home affairs/public safety environment

• An understanding of what good consultancy looks like either as a result of working in a consultancy organisation, or as a client and/or commissioner

• Experience of working alongside service users and/or survivors within the criminal justice, public safety arena, inclusive of working with vulnerable children and adults 

• A record of developing talent across an organisation through both informal training plan development and through more informal arrangements 

• Demonstrable examples of influencing skills where you have changing thinking, planning and or decision making  

• Experience of applying innovative approaches to positively improve outcomes 

General Responsibilities

• Commitment to equal opportunities, social inclusion and social value 

• Cooperation with corporate policies and procedures, such as data sharing and security, safeguarding, social value and health and safety

• Adhere to confidentiality requirements

• Commitment to Crest Advisory values

• Collaborate with and behave respectfully towards colleagues