Executive Director of Education and Childrens Services

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Working with Fife Council
Fife Council is the third largest authority in Scotland and the largest employer in Fife. We employ approximately 18,000 people to provide 900 different services to approximately 360,000 people and we have one of the highest overall customer satisfaction ratings for a council in the UK.

The Chief Executive leads the non-political organisation, supported by Executive Directors who lead operational directorates.
The services we provide range from education, social work, housing and neighbourhood services to transportation, looking after the environment and developing the economy.

Our vision is to make Fife a great place to live, work, visit and invest. To realise this we are committed to working in partnership with other local organisations and local communities. Our shared boundaries and close links with other public sector organisations including Fife NHS and Police Scotland have helped us build a strong Community Planning Partnership.
Fife Council works with an annual budget of around £900 million and we pride ourselves on providing value for money services. But, like all public sector organisations, we are having to make our budget stretch further every year and will have to save significant sums of money in coming years.

We remain ambitious for Fife, we want our region to inspire others, to lead the way and be the best it can be, but we must address the inequalities across our communities.

The council plan for 2012-2017 sets out Council’s aims:

• Grow a vibrant Fife economy
• Increase opportunities and reduce poverty and inequality
• Improve quality of life in local communities
• Promote a sustainable society
• Deliver excellent services.

We can only achieve our aims by working together and putting people first. We believe that all our employees must be empowered to make a difference by improving performance, efficiency and customer focus.

Building on these values, we are creating an organisation that is outcome focused, puts customers at the heart of what we do, supports flexible working, recognises and celebrates achievements and strives for innovation.

Our Customer Charter is our agreement with the people of Fife about how we will work together with them to develop the services they want, where and when they want them.

In return for our employees’ commitment to delivering excellent services we offer a range of employee benefits and support the health and wellbeing of staff. Fife Council is the largest public sector organisation to hold the Healthy Working Lives Gold Award.

Living in Fife
Property in Fife spans all the options. From picturesque fishing villages in the East Neuk, to medieval streets in St Andrews and new housing across Fife, there's a home to suit every taste. Fife offers excellent properties, easy commutes and fresh air on your doorstep.

184 schools offer the Curriculum for Excellence to learners from 3 to 18, helping 50,000 children and young people develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they will need to flourish in life.

Fife is home to one of Scotland’s most famous universities, St Andrews. Fife College offers qualifications and provides opportunities for learning at home or in the community across Fife. The college works with local employers to help meet their employment needs.

Leisure
Leisure comes naturally in Fife, from modern sports facilities to some of Scotland’s most beautiful parks, gardens, countryside and coastal paths and a packed events programme. Cycling is an ideal way of taking in the Fife landscape with over 300 miles of dedicated cycle routes (www.fife-cycleways.co.uk). Award winning blue flag beaches offer miles of clean white sand and protected wildlife, so good that we welcome over a quarter of a million visitors every year. Of course Fife is also the home of golf and has 5-star courses.

Travel & Location
The Fife transport infrastructure is excellent and accessible so you should find travelling throughout Fife simple. We experience few of the commuting pressures of major cities thanks to the first-class road and railway network.
By rail, the local Fife Circle Network connects major towns and villages with 19 stations, and the main east coast line from London to Aberdeen provides fast and regular links to the cities. By car, Fife is next to Scotland’s major motorway network. From south Fife, Edinburgh is just 30 minutes away, Glasgow just 45 minutes and Perth 30 minutes. The Ferrytoll Park and Ride at Inverkeithing provides an alternative to car journeys into Edinburgh from the north. Dundee is also just a short journey across the river Tay.
Both Glasgow and Edinburgh airports can be reached in under an hour.

Business & Jobs
Fife is redefining its economic landscape with high-tech industries, tourism and renewable energy. Once home to ship-building, mining and heavy manufacturing, Fife is a place that encourages innovation and entrepreneurship. Commitment to education, workforce training, life-long learning and skills development helps to attract and retain talent, develop a knowledge economy and promote a culture of enterprise.
For more about Fife see www.welcometofife.com

Living and Working in Fife
Great education, superb transport links, a growing economy and a wide range of leisure and housing choices, Fife has it all!
Fife lies on the east coast of Scotland, between Edinburgh and Dundee, and is one of Scotland's fastest growing regions. We are going from strength to strength offering competitive employment opportunities coupled with quality alternatives to big city living and everything you would need for a healthy work life balance. As Edinburgh is in easy reach, Fife residents can also benefit from the amenities of Scotland’s capital city.

As well as great golf (St Andrews is home to the game after all) and leisure facilities, our countryside, wildlife and award winning beaches attract over a quarter of a million visitors every year.
Fife is also rich in history; it's the birthplace of Adam Smith and Andrew Carnegie, as well as being the historic seat of Scottish Kings. If you are interested in culture, we have award winning community cultural festivals, theatres, libraries, museums and galleries.

The Kingdom of Fife is a place of contrast and opportunities, packed with potential.