Assistant Director - Chichester, United Kingdom - WSCC

WSCC

Verified Company

Chichester, United Kingdom

3 weeks ago

Posted by:

Tom O´Connor

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Description

Job Details Salary**:
Circa £118,000 per annum

Contract Type:
Permanent

Working Pattern:
Full time

Location:
County Hall, Chichester (Hybrid working available)

Interviews:
Initial Technical interviews to be held via an MS Teams video call on Wednesday 1st
May 2024.

If successful at this stage, you will be invited to the full interview process in person on Tuesday 7th
May 2024.

We need a senior leader to ensure that children remain at the heart of our service and practice. Are you an inspirational senior leader with extensive experience leading a complex Children's Service, which includes the provision of Children's Social Care and Early Help in a large local authority? Are you an excellent manager, who will put Children First, with a strong background in professional social care practice, performance management and deliver effective partnership working?

Do you possess the proven ability to strategically plan for the development of services, with an understanding of what good looks like? You will need to be passionate about enhancing delivery to children and young people, with the ability to engage positively with children, young people, their families/carers and other key stakeholders.

About us

Despite tight financial constraints and the ever increasing pressure to provide our residents and communities with greater levels of choice and improved outcomes, Children's Services in West Sussex continues to improve at pace.

Our Children, Young People and Learning (CYPL) Department is recognised as strong and effective services.

Joining now you will become part of an ambitious leadership team setting out a bright future for children in West Sussex.

The hard work and determination of the previous holder of the role has contributed to Children's social care services recently been judged to be 'Requiring Improvement to be Good' with some key judgments such as Leadership and Care Services receiving sub-judgements of 'Good.' So, you will be joining a strong leadership team and playing a key part in the next part of our journey as we strive to move to 'Good' and 'Outstanding'.

Our 2023 Ofsted Inspection praised our relentless approach to improving practice.

We have now fully launched the Family Safeguarding Model and have multi-disciplinary teams embedded across our 3 areas, which are already having a positive impact on the children and families we work with and on the staff who work in those services.

Our Ofsted ILACS and our SEND inspections in the past year have recognised our improvements and we are excited about our journey to good and outstanding.

We have created an environment in which every member of staff feels motivated and supported to do to their best.

The Opportunity
We have a unique opportunity for a senior leader to join us.

You will report to the Director for Children, Young People and Learning and be given the opportunity to work at both an operational and strategic level.

You will be a key member of the Departmental Leadership Team (DLT) and will be responsible for setting the strategic direction for the whole directorate, with a particular focus on Children's Social Care and Early Help.

You will lead our passionate and committed operational teams in their area of accountability. Driving high performance, whilst creating the right culture and environment for our teams to flourish. You will collaborate across the Children, Young People and Learning Department, working closely with internal and external partners.

What you will be doing

You will be a key member of DLT and play a pivotal role in providing Safeguarding and Quality leadership across the whole CYPL directorate.
As part of the Children's Service Senior Leadership Team, to advance WSCC's corporate priorities and those of Children's Services, ensuring collectively that priorities of the Children First Programme are delivered effectively and are having a positive impact on all children and young people.
You will lead on all aspects of policy, practice, governance and service development for the designated areas of service accountability.
You will drive and embed a culture of openness and continuous improvement, leading the way in demonstrating the importance of Corporate Parenting within the Council, making it integral to the wider Council agenda.
You will deliver a range of children's social care services to the relevant service area, including a focus on effective practice, high quality and improving performance in an ever changing and demanding environment.
You will ensure strong quality measures are in place to ensure the effectiveness of our service and improvements are driven from feedback and that all social work is carried out to agreed service standards within available budgets and in line with legislative, regulatory and national requirements.
You will ensure that the service is delivered within its financial envelope and contribute to the