Head of Community Support
| Posting date: | 05 January 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £62,072 to £67,853 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 25 January 2026 |
| Location: | Ipswich, Suffolk |
| Remote working: | Hybrid - work remotely up to 3 days per week |
| Company: | Ipswich Borough Council |
| Job type: | Temporary |
| Job reference: |
Summary
Ipswich is a town with a rich heritage and an exciting future. As a regional centre, we play a vital role in Suffolk’s economic success. This is the perfect time to join us. We have developed a new corporate strategy and operating model that maximises the many opportunities available to us and defines our core purpose to champion our community and revitalise our town.
We are on an exciting journey as we look to champion our vibrant communities, prioritise the revitalisation of our county town, Ipswich and focus on providing the best support and engagement opportunities for our residents. As part of this, we are looking for a proactive and positive Head of Community Support to lead the Council in its ambition to improve the outcomes for our residents and communities.
Reporting to the Council’s Assistant Director, Communities and working closely with our Director of Place, you will lead the experienced and passionate teams which deliver a wide range of services and activities from community engagement and our work promoting community safety, to managing a busy alarm receiving centre which safeguards some of the Boroughs’ most vulnerable residents.
You will passionately champion the role of both residents and voluntary and community groups in making our town a place where people feel able to both influence services and access those they need. As a critical link into the local Police and VCFSE organisations, you will enjoy working closely with external partners to unpick difficult issues and come up with innovative ways to engage people in our services.
You will inspire our staff and engage our members and customers to make a tangible difference to the residents they work alongside, in partnership with our various statutory colleagues, all our other Suffolk councils and our thriving VCFSE sector. Our new Community Engagement Strategy will embed co-design into our services to ensure they meet the needs of our residents. You will be passionate about how you will ensure our activities meet the needs of our diverse communities and actively listen for what we can do better. Joining at a time when we are moving our engagement into new territories, you will be passionate about the use of digital solutions to reaching our residents better.
You will join at an exciting time for the future of our HEARS service, with new technology and a digital switch on the horizon, it is the perfect time to ensure we are making the most of every opportunity to support our most vulnerable residents. You will relish the challenge of working with key stakeholders such as Adult Social Care and the NHS to ensure the service delivers an effective and safe service which reduced demand on other elements of the system, ensuring people can stay independent in their homes for longer.
As a lead for our grants programme, you will be experienced in the need to evaluate and analyse to ensure quality outcomes for individuals and to evidence value for money in public sector spending. Ideally you will have examples of your own utilisation of technology to streamline processes and present compelling data on outcomes.
This is a great opportunity to contribute to Ipswich Borough Council’s future achievements, as well as being part of the senior management team driving delivery of our exciting Corporate Plan.
This is a role for a passionate innovator who will bring a wealth of enthusiasm, supplemented with experience of working in complex, multi-faceted leadership roles. We will give you the support and opportunity to develop and grow.
As well as a good salary, we offer a career average pension scheme, generous holiday and sick pay entitlements, subsidised parking for work and leisure, public transport discounts, free swimming and gym membership, cycle purchase scheme, plenty of personal and professional development opportunities, flexible working, hybrid working opportunities, Employee Assistance Programme and the opportunity to work with great colleagues.
This is an exceptional fixed term or secondment opportunity for the right candidate, with the initial contract until 31st March 2028, with the potential for extension.
Applying
Early applications are encouraged as we reserve the right to interview candidates who meet the essential criteria prior to the closing date and / or to close the opportunity to applicants once we receive sufficient applications.
Key Dates
Applications close 11.59pm Sunday 25th January 2026
Candidates will be informed by 30th January 2026
Psychometric testing will be required for candidates invited to interview, and these will need to be completed by 7th February 2026
Interviews are all day on Wednesday 11th February 2026
Please download the Job Description and Person Specification to find out more about this role: Job Description and Person Specification
Applications must be made by sending a current CV, Supporting Statement of not more than 3 A4 pages and Monitoring Form to communityrecruitment@ipswich.gov.uk by the deadline.
Ipswich Borough Council operates a guaranteed interview scheme for Disabled Persons and veterans. You will be provided a confidential monitoring form which will ask this information, but should you wish to not disclose any personal circumstances, we respect your right to privacy.
For a confidential discussion, contact Kate Price, Assistant Director, Communities on kate.price@ipswich.gov.uk
Documents to consider:
IBC Corporate Strategy
Community Engagement Strategy
Digital Strategy
HEARS Personal Alarm Service – Peace of mind for you and your family
We are on an exciting journey as we look to champion our vibrant communities, prioritise the revitalisation of our county town, Ipswich and focus on providing the best support and engagement opportunities for our residents. As part of this, we are looking for a proactive and positive Head of Community Support to lead the Council in its ambition to improve the outcomes for our residents and communities.
Reporting to the Council’s Assistant Director, Communities and working closely with our Director of Place, you will lead the experienced and passionate teams which deliver a wide range of services and activities from community engagement and our work promoting community safety, to managing a busy alarm receiving centre which safeguards some of the Boroughs’ most vulnerable residents.
You will passionately champion the role of both residents and voluntary and community groups in making our town a place where people feel able to both influence services and access those they need. As a critical link into the local Police and VCFSE organisations, you will enjoy working closely with external partners to unpick difficult issues and come up with innovative ways to engage people in our services.
You will inspire our staff and engage our members and customers to make a tangible difference to the residents they work alongside, in partnership with our various statutory colleagues, all our other Suffolk councils and our thriving VCFSE sector. Our new Community Engagement Strategy will embed co-design into our services to ensure they meet the needs of our residents. You will be passionate about how you will ensure our activities meet the needs of our diverse communities and actively listen for what we can do better. Joining at a time when we are moving our engagement into new territories, you will be passionate about the use of digital solutions to reaching our residents better.
You will join at an exciting time for the future of our HEARS service, with new technology and a digital switch on the horizon, it is the perfect time to ensure we are making the most of every opportunity to support our most vulnerable residents. You will relish the challenge of working with key stakeholders such as Adult Social Care and the NHS to ensure the service delivers an effective and safe service which reduced demand on other elements of the system, ensuring people can stay independent in their homes for longer.
As a lead for our grants programme, you will be experienced in the need to evaluate and analyse to ensure quality outcomes for individuals and to evidence value for money in public sector spending. Ideally you will have examples of your own utilisation of technology to streamline processes and present compelling data on outcomes.
This is a great opportunity to contribute to Ipswich Borough Council’s future achievements, as well as being part of the senior management team driving delivery of our exciting Corporate Plan.
This is a role for a passionate innovator who will bring a wealth of enthusiasm, supplemented with experience of working in complex, multi-faceted leadership roles. We will give you the support and opportunity to develop and grow.
As well as a good salary, we offer a career average pension scheme, generous holiday and sick pay entitlements, subsidised parking for work and leisure, public transport discounts, free swimming and gym membership, cycle purchase scheme, plenty of personal and professional development opportunities, flexible working, hybrid working opportunities, Employee Assistance Programme and the opportunity to work with great colleagues.
This is an exceptional fixed term or secondment opportunity for the right candidate, with the initial contract until 31st March 2028, with the potential for extension.
Applying
Early applications are encouraged as we reserve the right to interview candidates who meet the essential criteria prior to the closing date and / or to close the opportunity to applicants once we receive sufficient applications.
Key Dates
Applications close 11.59pm Sunday 25th January 2026
Candidates will be informed by 30th January 2026
Psychometric testing will be required for candidates invited to interview, and these will need to be completed by 7th February 2026
Interviews are all day on Wednesday 11th February 2026
Please download the Job Description and Person Specification to find out more about this role: Job Description and Person Specification
Applications must be made by sending a current CV, Supporting Statement of not more than 3 A4 pages and Monitoring Form to communityrecruitment@ipswich.gov.uk by the deadline.
Ipswich Borough Council operates a guaranteed interview scheme for Disabled Persons and veterans. You will be provided a confidential monitoring form which will ask this information, but should you wish to not disclose any personal circumstances, we respect your right to privacy.
For a confidential discussion, contact Kate Price, Assistant Director, Communities on kate.price@ipswich.gov.uk
Documents to consider:
IBC Corporate Strategy
Community Engagement Strategy
Digital Strategy
HEARS Personal Alarm Service – Peace of mind for you and your family
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme
Disability Confident
About Disability Confident
A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.