Midland House
Permanent
37 hours per week
Grade L (£56,924 to £60,970)
Head of Service - Role Profile.pdf
An exciting opportunity has arisen to join Plymouth’s Children, Young People and Families
Service as a Head of Service for front door and out of hour’s teams. In doing so, you will be
joining a forward thinking authority, with a restorative approach to supervision and practice and
a multi-agency commitment to work together as trauma informed partners for the City. You will
be supported by enthusiastic colleagues and a culture of commitment to development,
supported by The Academy of Social Work Plymouth.
Plymouth is Britain’s Ocean City, in the heart of South Devon, with over five miles of walkable
sea front, affordable housing and ready access to the moors and idyllic coastal environment of
the South Hams.
As a Head of Service, you will provide expert and detailed advice to the Service Director, DCS
and elected Members on a range of matters associated with your role. At the heart of
everything you do, will be a passion to ensure that children, young people and their families
achieve positive and improved outcomes are effectively safeguarded. You will lead, motivate
and inspire others to deliver the best standards of practice, demonstrated by achieving both
local and national performance expectations.
This post is centred on the leadership of our Front Door Services with a remit for service
improvement and delivering an excellent safeguarding response to children and families in need
of statutory investigation and intervention. You will be working in a multi –agency environment,
line managing our multi agency safeguarding hub and referral and assessment services. Please
visit the Academy’s dedicated site here.
You must be a qualified social worker, registered with Social Work England. A leadership or
management qualification or evidence of higher related study would be an advantage. You will
be committed to the national statutory post qualifying standards for your own continuing
professional development, joining an authority where these are nationally recognised as well
embedded. You should demonstrate in your written statement key areas of learning and
progression in your own journey.
You will bring to the role considerable management experience including managing others and
service budgets. You will be able to talk in interview about your experience of managing and
motivating teams to achieve significant service improvements and improved outcomes for
children and young people. As an individual, you will embrace change as an opportunity for
innovation and will have a track record in performance gains. You will be able practice with
confident authority in relation to key aspects for safeguarding children, ensuring that statutory
guidance is followed. This confidence will enable you to take lead roles in quality assurance and
inspection activity.
For an informal discussion, please contact our Service Director Jean.Kelly@plymouth.gov.uk to
arrange a time for discussion, stating Head of Service in subject line.
For general enquiries relating to process, please contact our dedicated Recruitment Manager
Mark Anderson on SWChildren.Staffing@plymouth.gov.uk.
Please note that interviews and selection activity may be carried out remotely
Closing Date: Tuesday 16 August