Assistant Director (Performance & Quality Assurance)

Our strategic ambition is for every child in family law proceedings to have an exceptional experience, everywhere in the country and every time. Are you an experienced and senior operational leader of services for children and families with the energy and commitment to lead a highly effective service?

Key to being part of the leadership team and helping us to achieve our ambition, is inspirational, inclusive leadership, a commitment to continuously improve the quality and effectiveness of practice and to do this through developing collaborative partnerships across the family justice system.

While we are proud that Ofsted judged us to be ‘outstanding’ earlier this year, we haven’t come this far only to come this far. There is always more to do to serve the best interests of children in public and private law proceedings across England. Our inspection outcome has energised us to keep getting better at what we do for children and families and to hear feedback from them that tells us we are doing just that.

Due to retirement and confirmation of our senior operational leadership structure, we are recruiting for an Assistant Director(Performance & Quality Assurance).

If our ambition for children resonates with you, and you are confident you can demonstrate the breadth and depth of experience required for the role of Assistant Director(Performance & Quality Assurance), have a track record as a senior leader in improving the quality and impact of social work practice, and your leadership style and values align with ours, we invite you to read on.

Directly accountable to the National Director of Operations, if you join us you will have a range of responsibilities, and accountabilities, including:

• Beingthe accountable senior manager for the effective functioning of the national Performance & Accountability Framework.
• Supporting operational Assistant Directors and Heads of Practice to deliver the annual practice and leadership improvement priorities set out in their Operational Service Area Improvement Plans.
• Supporting even greater consistency in the quality and effectiveness of practice in safeguarding the welfare of children.
• Promoting the consistent application of the values and core elements of our practice framework, ‘Together with Children and Families’.
• Working closely with the Principal Social Worker to evidence the quality of practice and performance nationally through the application of the 4 key frameworks of: Performance & Quality, Management Oversight, Quality & Impact, and Learning.
• Working collaboratively with operational Assistant Directors to undertake general and thematic national Practice Quality Audits.
• Reporting findings from the cycle of audit and learning, making recommendations for action to the Corporate Management Team and when required the Cafcass Board.

We are looking for individuals who already have significant experience at a senior level, have successfully led children’s social work services, and are ready to take their next career step. We are also looking for you to demonstrate the following:

• Experience of working effectively as a member of a senior management team committed to improving the lives and futures of children.
• Collaborative working with partners across a multi-agency system.
• Ability to communicate an ambitious vision and plan, instilling staff with confidence and optimism about their capability to achieve the strategic goals.
• Develop and implement change based on staff engagement and mitigating the impact of the change process on quality and performance.
• Maintains a relentless and forensic focus on the quality of practice and performance, through quality and impact audits, practice observations and practice and learning reviews.
• Analytical skills that inform a solutions-focussed approach to improving performance.

As a national organisation, we are flexible on your location. However, we expect senior leaders to be visible which will mean some travel and overnight stays in different parts of the country, including our offices in central London.

If you join us, you will be well-supported through induction, supervision, learning and performance review, whether you are already at this level of leadership or are taking your next career step.

We offer an attractive reward package, flexible working to achieve that important work/life balance, and a comprehensive programme of support to maintain your wellbeing at work that includes 4 ‘wellbeing days’ in addition to a generous annual leave entitlement.

We are an organisation valuing, promoting and prioritising equality, diversity and inclusion and we especially welcome applications from people with diverse backgrounds. The Chief Executive and Corporate Directors sponsor our objectives in this regard, listening to and encouraging feedback from families, children, our staff, and partners about how well we are doing in terms of understanding and celebrating uniqueness.

We encourage you to read the Assistant Director(Performance & Quality Assurance) job description and if you haven’t already, to visit our website to find out more about ‘working for us’. You may also benefit from visiting to the ‘professionals’ section.

Next steps

We have set out a timeline here for the recruitment to these positions. We anticipate a two-stage interview process, the first being an opportunity not only for us to find out more about you, but for you to strengthen your understanding of the role and Cafcass.

The second stage will be a panel interview with members of the corporate management team. The Family Justice and Young People’s Board (FJYPB), who always provide an invaluable perspective, will also assist with interviews.

Closing date: Sunday 28^th April             

Initial interview: 7^th to 10^th May

Panel Interview: 29^th to 30^th May

If this role attracts you, we look forward to receiving your application.