Director of Safeguarding & Support - Swindon

Our Client is in search of a professional responsible for leadership, strategic direction, performance management delivery and effectiveness of their Children's Services. You will deliver the highest quality, family help, safeguarding and protection for the Council's most vulnerable children, particularly those subject to child protection plans and children in need.

Through partnership working with both internal and external agencies and in particular colleagues from Education and Schools, ensure and enable effective operational delivery and excellent workforce planning and development. Ensure the effective management and leadership of operational teams including performance management and quality assurance, at supervision and appraisals; offering appropriate training and development and ensure that senior managers are held accountable and successfully deliver in their roles.

To attend and report to Council, Scrutiny Committee, Cabinet Meetings, Joint Commissioning Group and Health and Wellbeing Board as and when required. To manage the budget and governance for resources allocated to your service and proactively seek to deliver efficiencies, where possible, without compromising the quality of service to children and young people.

To work closely with the Lead Member for Children's Services and inform them of appropriate issues relevant to the operation of the service. To champion continuous professional development, through actively promoting and engaging with the other Directorates and the Council's performance framework. To be responsible for leading, managing and delivering the next stage of development of the journey in Children's Services.

To provide clear and visible leadership, which leads to high levels of commitment amongst managers and staff, creates a culture of openness & transparency, and promotes equality of opportunity, underpinned by a positive working relationship with Trade Unions. Develop and maintain effective working relationships with central and local government departments and statutory partners, including Ofsted, schools, health agencies, criminal justice, public health, other Local Authorities and the third sector and private providers.

Ensure that the service area has an effective, efficient, and transparent way of recording and sharing performance management information and service data within the service and the communities it serves and ensure that children's services use this information and intelligence to drive service improvement and practice.

To collaborate effectively with senior leaders from statutory, non-statutory and voluntary agencies to lead the collective delivery of services for children and young people. To ensure that performance measures are realistic and deliverable with performance constantly scrutinised and monitored, so to provide the best possible outcomes for children and young people within the resources available.

Accountable to the DCS for statutory safeguarding and child protection functions and to advise the DCS on all relevant issues relating to the quality, performance, and improvement of the service, whilst promoting a culture of continuous improvement through managerial ownership and leadership of performance in your area of responsibility.

As a member of the Children's Services Leadership Team, take shared corporate responsibility for delivering the vision, pledges and objectives of the Service and Council and as required. To provide Director cover for Director Corporate Parenting and deputise for the DCS as and when required.

Qualifications:

• A social work qualification with current Social Work England registration.
• Degree level management qualification or equivalent level of proven experience is essential.

Knowledge and Experience:

• Comprehensive knowledge of relevant legislation, regulation, and statutory guidance relevant to Children's Services Social Care services and Early Help.
• Significant proven recent experience of having worked at a senior level in a political environment.
• Significant proven strategic experience of leading, managing and designing quality assurance and statutory services for children's social care.
• Proven experience of successfully leading, managing, and driving the performance of diverse services with cross-cutting agendas in a Local Authority and Partnership context.
• Experience of successfully designing and leading change and improvement programmes and transforming services to meet the needs of children and young people within a pressured financial climate.
• Extensive experience of effectively managing large complex budgets to improve services and maximise efficiency.
• Proven experience of working in a multi-agency and multi-stakeholder environment to establish new networks and contacts to maximise the Council's resources and outcomes for children.
• Experience of leading performance management, quality assurance, and data intelligence frameworks to plan strategically and successfully manage operational services.
• Excellent interpersonal skills including the ability to successfully influence and negotiate.

This role is a post which will be engaged in regulated activity and therefore is subject to the Vetting and Barring scheme. Must currently be working at Director level, or have worked at Director level previously - this is not a step up role.