Job summary
Wiltshire Council is seeking an inspiring Principal Social Worker (PSW) to lead professional social work practice and drive high standards across Families & Childrens Services. In this pivotal role, you will act as the lead professional for social work, providing expert leadership, modelling excellent practice, and ensuring our workforce is confident, skilled and prepared for inspection. You will work closely with senior leaders, influence strategic direction, and champion the voices of children, families and practitioners at every level.
Main duties of the job
As PSW you will lead professional standards, workforce development and liaison with Social Work England; strengthen practice quality through Quality Assurance, audits, learning systems and continuous improvement; oversee ASYE, apprenticeships, student placements and CPD pathways; shape practice and policy through strong multiagency partnerships; and represent Wiltshire regionally and nationally, contributing to sector led improvement.
The successful candidate will bring substantial leadership experience within children's social care, deep knowledge of statutory social work, and a proven ability to strengthen quality and drive workforce development. Strong communication, innovation and a genuine commitment to championing excellent practice will be essential. A recognised social work qualification and Social Work England registration are essential for this role.
About us
Wiltshire Council is a friendly, welcoming place to work, with a 'One Council' ethos. Thats why we focus on getting the things that matter to our people right
Job description
Job responsibilities
This post is part of the extended leadership team for Families and Childrens Services which has
made excellent progress on its improvement journey to transform the lives of vulnerable children and
young people across the County.
We are dedicated to working in partnership with others developing new ways of engaging with our
children, young people and their families and communities to improve their outcomes by ensuring
that we build resilience and work as one team.
This post sits in the Performance, Outcomes and Quality Assurance service which is responsible for:
Driving strategic leadership of performance and outcomes across the Wiltshire Partnership
Provide leadership to the scrutiny process for Safeguarding across the partnership
Creating and embedding quality systems across services
Ensuring any areas of practice concern are picked up and responded to appropriately
Driving improvement through all teams ensuring Families and Childrens services are
inspection ready at all times
Oversight of, and support to, multi-agency child protection reviews and conference
Ensurign robust and timely performance data reporting at a national, regional and local level
Ensuring all complaints and escalations are progressed and responded to.
Oversight and operational leadership of recording systems for Families and Childrens
services
The impact of the Performance, Outcomes and Quality Assurance service is to ensure:
Services work effectively and with impact to ensure children are protected
Child protection plans and Looked after Children reviews meet relevant standards
Permanency is considered for all children and from the earliest point
Stability for children and help to achieve their potential
Care plans are robust and meet the needs of children and young people and are informed by
their voices
Quality of practice and best outcomes for children and young people
Escalation and resolution of relevant issues
Robust and timely performance data is available to all who need it to deliver safe and
effective services.
LST3-1470 Practice dev lead (principal SW) Sept 2018 Page 4 of 9
Job Purpose
As a Service Manager with the Families and Childrens directorate your duties and
responsibilities are to:
Work jointly and collaboratively as part of the extended leadership team to achieve the
directorates aims and vision and contribute to wider council priorities.
Help children, young people and their families be healthy and resilient and able to maximise
their life chances and independence.
Support and drive innovation and change across the service and wider partnership.
Provide leadership across the partnership (including both internal and external partners),
demonstrating a breadth of knowledge and skills and willingness to step outside of
specialisms.
Operate matrix management arrangements, including where required to multi-agency staff
groups, and provide leadership of a diverse range of day to day and transformational projects.
Support the service to have robust financial management and where relevant taking
management responsibility for delegated budgets, including budget monitoring and staff
resources.
Provide strategic policy direction and leadership across areas of responsibility.
Work proactively and take responsibility to assess and mitigate corporate risk.
Undertake quality assurance activity; including analysis of performance outcomes and
compliance with statutory responsibilities.
Undertake operational management of a specialist service, area and/or worksteam which has
impact across the council managing day to day performance in conjunction with the relevant
head of service.
As Practice Development Leader (Principal Social Worker) your specific duties are:
Under the direction of the Head of Service - Performance, Outcomes and Quality Assurance,
to be responsible for the development of quality social work practice within Families and
Childrens social care, with a focus on the identification of opportunities for service
improvement and to provide independent scrutiny of practice and standards.
To oversee the quality and development of practice of a range of other workgroups. This
could include full reviews of practice frameworks, drawing on theory, national best practice
and an udnerstanding of the local Wiltshire context. Developing, testing and piloting new
models and ensuring they are embedded throughtout the service.
To use your specialist knowledge and skills to coordinate and deliver a program of learning
and development in response to a training needs analysis and in accordance with the
Professional Capabilities Framework, ensuring staff are skilled to meet the requirements for
social work registration and validation.
To oversee the operational delivery of improvement initiatives and champion professional
Social Work and Early Help practice including with others through the oversight of audit
programmes.
To lead on the development and review of policies and procedures relating to Families and
Childrens services ensuring there are effective systems in place to deliver improved
outcomes for families.
To support change management processes to embed quality improvement measures and the
delivery of a range of quality and efficiency initiatives aligned to strategic objectives.
To represent the Council and be involved in partnership work and stakeholder engagement
Provide expert advice and guidance on complex operational issues.
LST3-1470 Practice dev lead (principal SW) Sept 2018 Page 5 of 9
Identify and manage risks within operational practice across all practice areas, ensuring that
significant risks are escalated as appropriate and having overall responsibility for ensuring
improvement are implemented in a timely fashion.
Oversee and ensure staff engagement, personal and professional development and
succession planning including having lead responsibility for development and
implementation of the Childrens Workforce strategy.
Take overall responsibility for the ongoing development and success of the social care
academy.
Ensure the quality of practice from and support to staff in student placements and ASYE year
is sufficiently robust to ensure safety of the service delivery and success for participants,
including working with the OD team around portfolio validation and review of placements.
To develop strategies in relation to recruitment and retention (including the using of
apprenticeships and training pathwiays) and have oversight of the development of career
pathways for staff across the directorate.
Develop and ensure effective performance monitoring and management of practice across
the Directorate ..
Responsibility for progressing and leading on all complaints and escalations within the
service.
Model the councils behaviours and develop and encourage these across all service areas
Lead on specific programmes of improvement and innovation across all service areas
The postholder will also be expected to have sufficient breadth of knowledge that they can support
across other areas and specialisms as required.
Job description
Job responsibilities
This post is part of the extended leadership team for Families and Childrens Services which has
made excellent progress on its improvement journey to transform the lives of vulnerable children and
young people across the County.
We are dedicated to working in partnership with others developing new ways of engaging with our
children, young people and their families and communities to improve their outcomes by ensuring
that we build resilience and work as one team.
This post sits in the Performance, Outcomes and Quality Assurance service which is responsible for:
Driving strategic leadership of performance and outcomes across the Wiltshire Partnership
Provide leadership to the scrutiny process for Safeguarding across the partnership
Creating and embedding quality systems across services
Ensuring any areas of practice concern are picked up and responded to appropriately
Driving improvement through all teams ensuring Families and Childrens services are
inspection ready at all times
Oversight of, and support to, multi-agency child protection reviews and conference
Ensurign robust and timely performance data reporting at a national, regional and local level
Ensuring all complaints and escalations are progressed and responded to.
Oversight and operational leadership of recording systems for Families and Childrens
services
The impact of the Performance, Outcomes and Quality Assurance service is to ensure:
Services work effectively and with impact to ensure children are protected
Child protection plans and Looked after Children reviews meet relevant standards
Permanency is considered for all children and from the earliest point
Stability for children and help to achieve their potential
Care plans are robust and meet the needs of children and young people and are informed by
their voices
Quality of practice and best outcomes for children and young people
Escalation and resolution of relevant issues
Robust and timely performance data is available to all who need it to deliver safe and
effective services.
LST3-1470 Practice dev lead (principal SW) Sept 2018 Page 4 of 9
Job Purpose
As a Service Manager with the Families and Childrens directorate your duties and
responsibilities are to:
Work jointly and collaboratively as part of the extended leadership team to achieve the
directorates aims and vision and contribute to wider council priorities.
Help children, young people and their families be healthy and resilient and able to maximise
their life chances and independence.
Support and drive innovation and change across the service and wider partnership.
Provide leadership across the partnership (including both internal and external partners),
demonstrating a breadth of knowledge and skills and willingness to step outside of
specialisms.
Operate matrix management arrangements, including where required to multi-agency staff
groups, and provide leadership of a diverse range of day to day and transformational projects.
Support the service to have robust financial management and where relevant taking
management responsibility for delegated budgets, including budget monitoring and staff
resources.
Provide strategic policy direction and leadership across areas of responsibility.
Work proactively and take responsibility to assess and mitigate corporate risk.
Undertake quality assurance activity; including analysis of performance outcomes and
compliance with statutory responsibilities.
Undertake operational management of a specialist service, area and/or worksteam which has
impact across the council managing day to day performance in conjunction with the relevant
head of service.
As Practice Development Leader (Principal Social Worker) your specific duties are:
Under the direction of the Head of Service - Performance, Outcomes and Quality Assurance,
to be responsible for the development of quality social work practice within Families and
Childrens social care, with a focus on the identification of opportunities for service
improvement and to provide independent scrutiny of practice and standards.
To oversee the quality and development of practice of a range of other workgroups. This
could include full reviews of practice frameworks, drawing on theory, national best practice
and an udnerstanding of the local Wiltshire context. Developing, testing and piloting new
models and ensuring they are embedded throughtout the service.
To use your specialist knowledge and skills to coordinate and deliver a program of learning
and development in response to a training needs analysis and in accordance with the
Professional Capabilities Framework, ensuring staff are skilled to meet the requirements for
social work registration and validation.
To oversee the operational delivery of improvement initiatives and champion professional
Social Work and Early Help practice including with others through the oversight of audit
programmes.
To lead on the development and review of policies and procedures relating to Families and
Childrens services ensuring there are effective systems in place to deliver improved
outcomes for families.
To support change management processes to embed quality improvement measures and the
delivery of a range of quality and efficiency initiatives aligned to strategic objectives.
To represent the Council and be involved in partnership work and stakeholder engagement
Provide expert advice and guidance on complex operational issues.
LST3-1470 Practice dev lead (principal SW) Sept 2018 Page 5 of 9
Identify and manage risks within operational practice across all practice areas, ensuring that
significant risks are escalated as appropriate and having overall responsibility for ensuring
improvement are implemented in a timely fashion.
Oversee and ensure staff engagement, personal and professional development and
succession planning including having lead responsibility for development and
implementation of the Childrens Workforce strategy.
Take overall responsibility for the ongoing development and success of the social care
academy.
Ensure the quality of practice from and support to staff in student placements and ASYE year
is sufficiently robust to ensure safety of the service delivery and success for participants,
including working with the OD team around portfolio validation and review of placements.
To develop strategies in relation to recruitment and retention (including the using of
apprenticeships and training pathwiays) and have oversight of the development of career
pathways for staff across the directorate.
Develop and ensure effective performance monitoring and management of practice across
the Directorate ..
Responsibility for progressing and leading on all complaints and escalations within the
service.
Model the councils behaviours and develop and encourage these across all service areas
Lead on specific programmes of improvement and innovation across all service areas
The postholder will also be expected to have sufficient breadth of knowledge that they can support
across other areas and specialisms as required.
Person Specification
Experience
Essential
- Substantial knowledge of child protection and welfare processes and procedures including
- Criminal Justice, CAF/Team Around the Child and key education/Early Years processes and
- procedures.
- Advanced knowledge of data management and ability to analyse and incorporate into decision
- making and strategic development.
- Experience of managing and monitoring budgets.
- Willingness to use and/or understanding of principles and good practice in staff supervision/
- performance management in respect of Safeguarding, management of risk and harm to and by
- young people
Qualifications
Essential
- Professional qualification in Social Work
- HCPC registration
Desirable
- Post graduate qualification in a relevant discipline or equivalent relevant experience.
Person Specification
Experience
Essential
- Substantial knowledge of child protection and welfare processes and procedures including
- Criminal Justice, CAF/Team Around the Child and key education/Early Years processes and
- procedures.
- Advanced knowledge of data management and ability to analyse and incorporate into decision
- making and strategic development.
- Experience of managing and monitoring budgets.
- Willingness to use and/or understanding of principles and good practice in staff supervision/
- performance management in respect of Safeguarding, management of risk and harm to and by
- young people
Qualifications
Essential
- Professional qualification in Social Work
- HCPC registration
Desirable
- Post graduate qualification in a relevant discipline or equivalent relevant experience.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
