Meath County Council wishes to recruit a Chief Officer for the Age Friendly Ireland Shared Service Office (analogous to Director of Services) to continue the development of the national shared service office and the support services that it provides to the local Age Friendly Programmes across the country.

• The Chief Officer will have responsibility for developing and managing the AFISSO and overseeing the evolution of the shared service to take on and deliver responsibilities already falling to the shared service, as well as, those that can be expected in coming years. This will include the development and implementation of a workforce plan for the AFISSO, supporting its sustainable development, including the retention of staff and the attraction of new skills, as required, as well as, ensuring appropriate operating structures and reporting arrangements.
• The Chief Officer will manage relations with AFISSO core funders and ensuring that good governance arrangements are in place. The post holder will also have responsibility for identifying other funding sources and broadening the funding base of the Age Friendly Programme and working with all stakeholders in this regard.
• The Chief Officer will be responsible for establishing robust systems for the gathering of relevant data to support programme monitoring and assessment and overseeing a framework of metrics to ensure delivery of outcomes and identify learnings and policy best practice.
• The Chief Officer will oversee and further develop a significant programme of Age Friendly Ireland events, including supporting the organisation of the annual National Older Persons Council Convention; National Awards; and the launch of policy documents and national programme initiatives.
• The Chief Officer will play a key representative role for the AFISSO and will actively promote the work of the shared service office, the Age Friendly programme and the local government sector in supporting national policies for our aging population.

• Have an ability to demonstrate competence in the following areas – Strategic Management & Change, Performance Through People and Delivering Results;
• Have a good knowledge of the key objectives of the Age Friendly Programme and the work of the AFISSO and demonstrate proven capacity and potential to contribute to delivering the programme’s key objectives;
• Have the ability to work with senior representatives of other relevant public sector bodies and to support the Age Friendly Programme’s National Advisory Group in undertaking its role;
• Be able to demonstrate a proven capacity to lead, involve and engage with all relevant stakeholders and be able to motivate and empower employees to deliver maximum productivity with greatest efficiencies and as a result deliver the key objectives of the Age Friendly Programme;
• Have satisfactory management and leadership experience at a sufficiently high level in any discipline;
• Be able to work and lead multi-disciplined teams and have the ability to motivate, empower, encourage and achieve maximum efficiency for the staff under they control;
• Have the ability to maximise financial resources within a budgetary control framework;
• Be capable of working in close consultation with other stakeholders and demonstrate a capacity to engender co-operation and consensus with a whole range of bodies and representative groups;
• Be creative and innovative and have a career record that demonstrates to date a high level of competence in leading and managing staff, a customer care orientation, strategic, conceptual and analytical thinking, initiative and the management skill necessary to lead and foster, encourage, initiate and drive change;
• Have a developmental view of the local government sector, which encourages involvement and engagement and optimises local democracy and use of existing powers and functions;
• Have strong interpersonal and communication skills.