Director Children's Social Care (Family Help and Safeguarding)

Shape the future of children’s social care in Swindon. Swindon Borough Council is forging an exciting future by integrating services, connecting our workforce with a shared sense of purpose, strengthening partnerships, and using AI and data to drive a preventative, insight-led approach. Our Swindon 2028 programme sets out a bold ambition to transform how we deliver services and achieve better outcomes for our communities. Improving outcomes for children and young people is our top priority.

We’re on a significant improvement journey, with strong foundations and clear progress, recognised through monitoring visits. We’re now seeking a visionary, creative and driven Director of Children’s Social Care (Family Help and Safeguarding) to sustain momentum, embed lasting change and ensure consistently strong practice for children and families. This is a pivotal role at a critical point in our journey.

With responsibility for targeted Early Help, Family Help and Safeguarding, and Youth Justice, you’ll lead the next phase of improvement. You’ll drive delivery of Families First reforms, strengthen practice quality, and ensure services work together to reduce demand through earlier, more effective support. You’ll join a supportive and ambitious leadership environment, with strong corporate and political backing and sustained investment in early help and prevention.

With a clear remit, you’ll have the space, support and autonomy to lead with clarity and impact and shape your team. This is a role where you can see impact quickly. With strong foundations in place, the focus is on raising standards, embedding practice and delivering sustainable change. You’ll work with experienced colleagues, committed partners and a workforce passionate about making a difference.

As a qualified social worker, you’ll bring deep expertise and the ability to lead within a complex system. You’ll be confident working in an improving authority, able to translate vision into practice and drive shared accountability with partners. Experience of delivering sustained improvement will be key. Just as importantly, you’ll be a visible and values-led leader. You’ll invest in your workforce, create the conditions for them to thrive, and champion high-quality practice, ensuring the voices of children, young people and families are central to everything we do.

Swindon is a place where you can make a real difference. With strong foundations, a committed workforce and improving partnerships, this is an opportunity to take services to the next level. If you’re ready to lead with purpose, pace and impact, we’d love to hear from you.

For an informal discussion, please contact Anita Denton on 07725 554802 or Chris Barrow on 07437 839048 at our recruitment partner, Tile Hill.

Closing date: midnight on Sunday 24th May 2026.

To apply, please submit an up-to-date copy of your CV (three sides of A4 maximum), along with a supporting statement (three sides of A4 maximum) detailing your experience and achievements and addressing the key criteria for the role set out on this site and using examples to demonstrate how you meet the requirements. Documents should be uploaded via our website, please include and upload the below information in two documents only:

• Names, positions, organisations and contact details for two referees (we will ask your permission before contacting referees);
• Details of your notice period;
• Notification of any dates when you are not available for an interview.

At Tile Hill, we are committed to inclusion and accessibility. We champion and support all individuals to ensure everyone feels valued, listened to and motivated to get the very best out of each recruitment process and that processes are designed to meet the needs of individuals. If you have any specific requests and would like a confidential discussion with the Tile Hill team, then please email inclusion@tile-hill.co.uk.