Enfield Council seeks an experienced Head of Safeguarding and Quality Assurance who is a highly skilled, experienced, and motivated social work senior leader. This is a great opportunity to lead the safeguarding and quality assurance service and be a core member of Children and Family Services, supporting ambitious caseworkers and staff to make a significant impact on every child and family they work with.
The Head of Service will be responsible for setting the direction and purpose for staff in the service, leading to high performance and effective planning, commissioning, and delivery of services. This role is pivotal in contributing to the development and implementation of strategic goals and meeting statutory responsibilities towards Children.
Enfield is a vibrant and diverse part of London, with good schools, abundant green spaces, and local amenities, as well as great transport links. With a population of over 333,000 of which over 90,000 are children and young people, Enfield is the place where social work thrives.
You will join a supportive work culture and stable management team that gives staff the autonomy they need to deliver a first-class service that helps, supports, and protects the most vulnerable people in the borough. We are relentless in our commitment and dedication to improving services and ambitious for all our children and young people to have the best start in life to achieve their potential.
Registered social worker with Social Work England
Proven experience to lead, engage, motivate, appraise and develop staff to deliver high standards of service and performance.
Extensive senior management experience of successfully managing a range of statutory operational safeguarding services.
Experience of managing independent reviewing officers and/or chairing looked after children’s reviews/ case conferences.
Successfully led teams to respond positively to change.
Experience of effective budget management and deliver service plans on time and on budget.
A good understanding of the political context and role of elected members.
The ability to converse clearly and courteously with customers and provide advice in accurate spoken English.
To provide expert technical advice to multi-agency chief officers and operational teams in all regulatory safeguarding and looked after children matters.
Experience of collating and interrogating statistical data to monitor and improve performance and a proven ability of writing clear, accurate and succinct reports, in plain English to a range of audiences.
Success in driving and delivering continuous improvement across services.
Enfield is one of the most diverse parts of London, with all the benefits this brings across our communities, culture, heritage and local economy. It also has incredibly diverse landscapes – from the urban centres of Edmonton, Southgate, Palmers Green and Enfield Town, to rural areas and farmland in the north of the borough.
Based in the bubbling heart of Enfield Town, situated in a modern newly designed service hub, the new office is an environment which supports our smart working policy surrounded by small businesses, bars, restaurants, a buzzing high street and shopping centre. Our brand new high-tech multiagency office has good transport links into central London and is easily assessable to the M25, A10 and A406.
We are proud of the services we offer to children and families living in the borough and work with partners to ensure children receive the best start in life. We are passionate about improving outcomes and driving up standards and performance. Ofsted has rated our children’s services as GOOD overall, read the full report here
Our offer to you include:
A rewarding role in an Ofsted rated GOOD children’s services department
Up to 32 days annual leave depending on grade and length of service. You will also get eight public holidays per year and an extra day off at Christmas.
A blend of remote and office based working
Health and leisure discounts and tax-free bikes for work.
Modern purposefully designed working environment in Thomas Hardy House located 5 minutes from the station
A clear career progression pathway, supported by a comprehensive training programme
Smart technology assistance including hybrid video conferencing
Employee Assistance Programme to provide advice and counselling services. This is a free and confidential service available to staff and members of their family.
Enthusiastic and proactive staff network groups
1 month paid sabbatical for children’s social workers