Assistant Director

Assistant Director

£96,057 to £102,408

Location: Flexible across England

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 two Assistant Directors - one leading on Performance & Quality Assurance, the other fulfilling the critical role of Principal Social Worker.

If our ambition for children resonates with you, you are confident you can demonstrate the breadth and depth of experience required for these roles, 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 in either of these roles you will have a range of responsibilities, and accountabilities, befitting a senior role. Further detailed information, including job descriptions, are available for you when you click through, allowing you to better understand the unique features of each role, what is the same about them and how they interconnect.

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.

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.

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 28th April 2024.

Initial interview: 7th to 10th May 2024.

Panel Interview:

Assistant Director (Performance and Quality Assurance) - 29th to 30th May 2024.

Assistant Director (Principal Social Worker) - 3rd and 6th June 2024.

If these roles are attractive to you, please click through to find out more about both and hopefully start the application process