Social Work Professional Standards Officer (Children, Young People & Education)

Role Responsibility

Kent County Council is looking for an outstanding individual who is committed to providing a first-class service to children, Young People, and their families.

As a Social Work Professional Standards Officer (SSO), you will support the research, design, and delivery of high-quality integrated children’s practice across all of Children’s Services and the wider partnership, including new service standards, practices, policies and procedures.  You will be an active change agent in driving the standards of quality assurance within the children’s workforce practice across the County ensuring the effective delivery of services which safeguard children. This will involve actively engaging the voice of Social Work, Children and Families. 

We are looking for someone to provide practitioners and managers with expert advice on all aspects of practice for children and families. You will provide support to practitioners and managers to develop a culture of optimum conditions for high quality practice. Your main emphasis will be on driving a high support, high challenge culture.  You will support and engage with the Senior Management Team to ensure practice remains focused on the child. 

A successful applicant will have strong frontline practice skills; sound management experience in children's social care; the ability to analyse complex information and use this to support improvement in practice; a positive communicator who can collaborate, influence, challenge with sound verbal and written skills. We are looking for someone who is deeply committed to improving outcomes for vulnerable children and will go the extra mile to make this happen.

You will have extensive knowledge of the legislation and statutory responsibilities that underpin Children's Social Work Services, including appropriate performance indicators and quality standards.

Kent County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff to share this commitment.  Appointment is dependent on satisfactory and verifiable references.

This post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure application to the Disclosure and Barring service and registration as a qualified Social Worker and registered with Social Work England.

This post is considered by KCC to be a customer-facing position. The Council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English/Welsh sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the Job Description/Person Specification.

Interview date March 8th 2024.