Deputy Director Children's Services (Director of Children's Social Care) in Exeter

At Devon County Council, we believe every child deserves the opportunity to grow up safe, loved, and able to achieve their full potential. We're looking for an exceptional leader to join us as Director of Children's Social Care. This is a pivotal role leading Children's Social Care across Devon and shaping the next generation of services for children, young people and families. Working alongside the Director of Children's Services and as a key member of the Children's Services Leadership Team, you will provide strategic leadership for family help, safeguarding, corporate parenting, quality assurance and frontline social work services. You will champion excellent practice, drive continuous improvement and ensure children remain at the centre of everything we do. This is a high-profile leadership role where you will positively influence policy, shape practice and drive lasting change across the Council and partner organisations. As the senior social work leader for Devon, you will play a critical role in driving excellence in practice, strengthening safeguarding arrangements and providing visible leadership across the children's workforce.What you'll be doing You will have overall responsibility for one of the largest and most important areas of the Council, with oversight of Children's Social Care services across the county. This includes family help, safeguarding and child protection, children in care, care experienced young people, fostering, kinship care and partnerships. You will inspire and support a workforce committed to making a meaningful difference to the lives of children and young people, strengthen partnerships across health, education, policing and the voluntary sector, and ensure Devon continues to build on its progress in delivering high-quality services for children, young people and families. As a strategic leader, you will drive improvement, oversee performance and quality assurance, manage significant resources and budgets, and provide professional leadership for social work practice across the organisation. You will also deputise for the Director of Children's Services when required. You will play a pivotal role in designing and delivering the national Families First reforms and wider Children's Social Care transformation agenda across Devon. You will also work closely with colleagues in Inclusion and Learning to ensure the alignment of Families First and SEND reform delivery. Working directly with the Director of Children's Services, you will provide strategic leadership for whole-system transformation, ensuring that children, young people and families experience high-quality, joined-up support that improves lives while delivering sustainable services. You will work closely with partners across the system, helping to shape a shared vision for improving outcomes across Devon and the wider region. You will build on Devon's positive workforce culture, supporting and developing leaders, social workers and practitioners to deliver excellent practice and achieve the best possible outcomes for children.

• DCC embraces the positive benefits of a diverse workforce and is committed to providing an environment that is inclusive and safe. We welcome applications from people who share our commitment to stop discrimination, challenge inequality and promote diversity across Devon. More information can be found on our Equality and Diversity webpages.
• For details on the use of AI in applications and Devon County Council's use of AI in Recruitment please see Use of AI in Our Recruitment Processes - Working for Devon | Devon County Council
• Happy to Talk Flexible Working - The Council offers flexible working arrangements in terms of when and where people work e.g. hybrid working, part-time, condensed hours etc.
• We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
• This role requires the ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence and fluency in English.
• Personal data we collect from you will be processed in accordance with the Applicant privacy notice.
• For more information about Working for Devon please visit our Working for Devon page.
• We cannot consider visa sponsorship at this time. UK Right to Work is required. For further guidance on right to work in the UK, please visit: Work in the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
• This role requires a DBS disclosure.
  You will be a qualified and registered social worker with substantial senior leadership experience in Children's Social Care and safeguarding. You will bring a strong track record of leading large-scale services, driving improvement and delivering better outcomes for children and families.
• This is an opportunity to take on one of the most influential leadership roles in Devon and make a lasting impact on the lives of children, young people and families. You'll join an ambitious and committed leadership team with a shared determination to improve outcomes, strengthen partnerships and deliver high-quality public services. Find out more about what it's like to work for Devon County Council and the benefits available through our employee offer: Our Offer to You - Working for Devon | Devon County Council

You will be an influential and collaborative leader, able to build trusted relationships, inspire high-performing teams and work confidently within complex partnership and political environments. Most importantly, you will be passionate about improving the lives of children and young people and ensuring their voices shape the services we provide.
This is an exciting time to join Devon. Building on sustained improvement over recent years, we are now focused on delivering the next phase of transformation for children and families. We have established strong foundations, improved outcomes and strengthened practice, but we know there is more to do. As we implement national reforms and work with partners across Devon and the wider region, our ambition is to become an outstanding children's social care service, recognised for delivering consistently excellent experiences, relationships and outcomes for every child and young person. This role will play a pivotal part in shaping and delivering that ambition. Serving one of the largest local authority areas in England, Devon offers the opportunity to lead services across diverse rural, coastal and urban communities, combining strategic influence with impact at scale. Devon is one of the most beautiful places in the country to live and work, with vibrant communities, stunning coastline, thriving market towns and areas of outstanding natural beauty. Alongside these strengths come real challenges and opportunities. This role offers the opportunity to lead at scale, influence system-wide change and help shape the future of children's social care and family support across Devon. As local government continues to evolve, you'll play an important role in ensuring children, young people and families continue to receive excellent services and support. This creates a unique opportunity to influence the future design and delivery of services across Devon.

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