Head of Service Corporate Parenting

To provide strategic and operational leadership for Corporate Parenting services ensuring children in care care experienced young people foster carers kinship carers and families receive high-quality effective and relationship-based support.

The postholder will lead services across children in care fostering kinship care permanence and preparation for adulthood ensuring children and young people experience stable placements strong relationships effective care planning and timely pathways to permanence.

As a senior leader within Childrens Services the postholder will provide visible restorative and child-centred leadership driving continuous improvement in practice performance quality and outcomes. They will ensure the Council fulfils its corporate parenting responsibilities and that the voices wishes and lived experiences of children and young people are central to service development and decision making.

The postholder will work collaboratively with senior leaders elected members practitioners carers children and young people and partner agencies to strengthen corporate parenting arrangements and improve outcomes.

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for Corporate Parenting services ensuring high-quality support and positive outcomes for children in care care experienced young people families foster carers and kinship carers.
  
• Lead service improvement across children in care fostering kinship care permanence and preparation for adulthood.
  
• Develop and implement strategies that deliver measurable improvements in practice performance quality and outcomes.
  
• Ensure effective oversight of care planning permanence placement stability pathway planning transitions to adulthood and the achievement of positive outcomes for children and young people.
  
• Promote a strong corporate parenting culture across the Council ensuring all relevant services understand and fulfil their responsibilities towards children in care and care experienced young people.
  
• Ensure statutory duties and responsibilities relating to Corporate Parenting are met consistently and effectively.
  
• Use performance data quality assurance activity audit findings inspection outcomes complaints feedback and other intelligence to identify areas for improvement and drive service development.
  
• Champion restorative strengths-based trauma-informed and relationship-based approaches to practice.
  
• Promote high professional standards and ensure practice is child-centred evidence-informed and focused on achieving positive outcomes.
  
• Lead workforce development and support the development of a confident capable motivated and reflective workforce.
  
• Ensure children and young peoples wishes feelings voices and lived experiences meaningfully influence service development decision making care planning and quality assurance.
  
• Work closely with education health housing employment voluntary sector and other partners to improve outcomes and reduce inequalities for children in care and care experienced young people.
  
• Strengthen partnership working with foster carers kinship carers families practitioners and external agencies.
  
• Provide effective leadership and oversight of complex safeguarding placement performance quality workforce and resource issues.
  
• Contribute to the wider strategic leadership and development of Childrens Services.
  
• Fulfil the responsibilities of Agency Decision Maker in accordance with relevant legislation regulations and Council procedures.
  
• Lead significant resource management ensuring services are delivered effectively efficiently and within agreed budgets.
  
• Provide strong leadership during periods of change improvement inspection and service transformation.
  
• Ensure effective governance risk management quality assurance and performance management arrangements are in place.
  
• Work closely with elected members and senior officers to provide assurance on Corporate Parenting performance risks priorities and improvement activity.
  
• Represent the Council and Childrens Services at relevant strategic partnerships boards forums and external meetings.
  
• Promote equality diversity inclusion and anti-discriminatory practice across all Corporate Parenting services.
  
• Undertake other duties appropriate to the level and responsibilities of the role as directed by senior management.
  

• Recognised Social Work qualification.
  
• Current registration with Social Work England.
  
• Significant post-qualifying professional development relevant to statutory children and family social work safeguarding leadership Corporate Parenting and service development.
  
• Management or leadership qualification or equivalent demonstrable senior leadership experience.
  
• Significant senior management experience within statutory childrens social care.
  
• Extensive knowledge of legislation statutory guidance regulations and policy relating to children in care care experienced young people fostering kinship care permanence and preparation for adulthood.
  
• Significant experience of leading and improving Corporate Parenting services or comparable statutory childrens social care services.
  
• Strong experience of managing complex safeguarding placement performance quality workforce and resource pressures.
  
• Demonstrable experience of leading service improvement and delivering measurable improvements in practice and outcomes.
  
• Strong understanding of effective care planning permanence placement stability pathway planning and transitions to adulthood.
  
• Experience of using performance data audit quality assurance inspection findings and feedback to drive service improvement.
  
• Experience of leading and developing professional teams within a complex statutory environment.
  
• Strong understanding of corporate parenting responsibilities and the importance of cross-Council ownership.
  
• Ability to develop effective relationships with children and young people elected members senior leaders practitioners carers and partner agencies.
  
• Excellent strategic leadership communication influencing and decision-making skills.
  
• Ability to manage significant budgets and resources effectively.
  
• Strong commitment to relationship-based restorative strengths-based and child-centred practice.
  
• Ability to operate effectively at a senior level while maintaining a clear focus on frontline practice and outcomes for children and young people.
  

• Experience of acting as or undertaking Agency Decision Maker responsibilities.
  
• Experience of leading fostering kinship care permanence or leaving care services.
  
• Experience of working through Ofsted inspection improvement or transformation activity.
  
• Evidence of successful partnership working across education health housing and other agencies.
  
• Experience of developing and implementing Corporate Parenting strategies and governance arrangements.
  
• Further leadership management or professional qualifications relevant to the role.
  

The postholder will be expected to:

• Provide strong visible and values-led leadership across Corporate Parenting services.
  
• Ensure children in care and care experienced young people receive high-quality consistent and child-centred support.
  
• Deliver measurable improvements in service performance quality placement stability permanence and outcomes.
  
• Ensure children and young peoples voices and lived experiences are central to decision making and service improvement.
  
• Maintain high professional standards and a strong culture of accountability learning and continuous improvement.
  
• Ensure statutory duties and Corporate Parenting responsibilities are effectively discharged.
  
• Build strong relationships across the Council and with external partners and carers.
  
• Use evidence performance information audit inspection findings and lived experience to inform strategic decisions.
  
• Manage risk resources and workforce pressures effectively while maintaining a clear focus on outcomes.
  
• Promote a culture where children and young people are listened to respected supported and enabled to thrive throughout childhood and into adulthood.