Head of Service Integrated Front Door Emergency Duty Team and MACPT in Stoke-on-Trent

As Head of Service, you will provide strategic and operational leadership across the Integrated Front Door, Emergency Duty Team and Multi-Agency Child Protection Team (MACPT). These services are central to Stoke-on-Trent's safeguarding response, ensuring concerns are considered promptly, urgent situations are managed outside normal working hours and statutory child protection activity is coordinated effectively. You will set clear direction, strengthen performance and quality, and lead service improvement with children's experiences and safety at the centre of decision-making.,

• Provide strategic and operational leadership across the Integrated Front Door, Emergency Duty Team and MACPT, with clear accountability for safe, timely and effective services.
• Ensure contacts and safeguarding concerns receive a proportionate response, urgent out-of-hours situations are managed effectively and statutory child protection duties are met.
• Develop and maintain effective performance and quality-management systems, using evidence and service information to identify and deliver sustained improvement.
• Lead, organise and develop the workforce, maintaining high standards of professional practice, supervision, safer recruitment and staff development.
• Plan and control delegated budgets and resources, delivering agreed priorities and targets within available funding and council requirements.
• Provide expert advice to senior leaders and elected members, strengthen multi-agency partnerships and participate in the senior management standby rota when required.

Why Join Us?

• Lead services that make critical safeguarding decisions and provide urgent support to children and families when they need it most.
• Shape the continued development of the Integrated Front Door, Emergency Duty Team and MACPT as part of the council's improvement and transformation programme.
• Work closely with senior leaders and partner agencies to improve the consistency, quality and impact of Stoke-on-Trents safeguarding response., Any offer of employment will be subject to the successful completion of required pre-employment checks. These may include:
• Right to Work in the UK.
• Proof of address.
• Satisfactory references.
• Occupational Health clearance.
• Evidence of relevant professional qualifications or registrations.
• A DBS check at the appropriate level.
  Stoke-on-Trent City Council's diverse and talented workforce is its greatest asset. The skills, knowledge and experience of our employees are essential to delivering our ambitions for the organisation and the city. We want to be an employer people are proud to work for, where staff are supported, developed and rewarded in an inclusive way that helps them excel and deliver the high-quality services our residents need., We are growing and developing our Children and Families workforce as part of an ambitious programme of service transformation. We are looking for talented, committed and values-led professionals to join us., A degree in a relevant subject, a recognised social work qualification and current registration with Social Work England.
• Detailed knowledge of children's services legislation, statutory safeguarding responsibilities and the regulatory framework for local authority children’s social care.
• Substantial senior management experience in childrens services, including strategic planning, operational delivery and people management within a complex local authority or similar environment.
• Experience of leading statutory safeguarding, front door or child protection services, with the professional judgement to make clear decisions in urgent and high-risk situations.
• A strong record of managing change, improving performance and quality, and planning and reviewing services against local and national expectations.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, with significant experience of partnership working, budget management and leading large multidisciplinary workforces.
  We are a city of strengths, with a proud heritage and bright future. Working for Stoke-on-Trent City Council is more than just a job; it is about making, protecting and improving services for local people, reducing inequalities and improving independence for those who live and work in the city. That is where you come in. We are looking for people of the highest calibre, with the skills, knowledge and experience to help us deliver our compelling vision.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council is a unitary authority employing approximately 4,600 staff who deliver 700 services to more than 260,000 residents. Our city comprises of six towns: Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Stoke and Tunstall. We are a city of strengths, with a proud heritage and bright future. We have undergone significant changes over the last few years. New ways of working have already transformed many service areas and we are determined to continue to develop more innovative approaches to ensure that we can maximise the benefits of transformation.

• A competitive salary based on your skills, experience and talent.
• Hybrid and flexible working options, where these are compatible with the needs of the role and service.
• Access to the Local Government Pension Scheme.
• Professional development through learning opportunities, regular training and apprenticeship and management programmes., When you work for Stoke-on-Trent City Council you'll be helping to improve the lives and wellbeing of our residents. We'll provide you with support, learning opportunities and flexible working options and some amazing benefits including; a competitive salary, generous holidays, an excellent defined local authority benefit pension scheme, annual leave purchase scheme, cycle to work schemes just to name a few. We also have access to lifestyle benefits which offer a wide range of discounts such as family days out, travel, retail and many more.
• Our commitment to you Vibrancy and diversity are two of Stoke-on-Trent's greatest assets. A city founded on creative endeavour should value and celebrate the multitude of voices, ideas and identities that shape its culture. We are committed to creating a culture which is truly inclusive, where all staff feel valued, listened to, supported and able to do their work to the best of their abilities at all times. And we must ensure that our decisions and policies nurture and empower communities across our city and do not inadvertently disadvantage groups and individuals that we want to help to thrive. Our approach to Equality and Diversity is an invitation to all our communities to work with and for us so we can continue to improve how we deliver services residents need. Our employee networks are inclusive, open forums for colleagues with similar lived experiences. They allow staff to meet, support and mentor each other, alongside being a voice for under-represented groups to advise and support the organisation when developing policies and services.