Principal Social Worker

Role Responsibility

Role Responsibility

Kent County Council is looking for two accomplished leaders (Service Manager and Principal Social Worker) to join our outstanding children Quality Assurance, Safeguarding and Professional Standards service. Working within the QA unit is fast paced and adaptive, the units’ priorities directly influenced by local and national contexts. The roles benefit from a supportive senior management team with a can-do attitude enabling creativity and innovation to flourish.

Building upon an established role you will lead the development 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 drive Quality Assurance and the Practice Framework within the children’s workforce across the County including actively engaging the voice of Social Work, Children and Families to ensure the effective delivery of services which safeguard children. 

We are looking for someone to provide strategic leadership and expert advice on children and families workforce issues within the Council across all aspects of practice. You will provide challenge and support to practitioners, managers, and elected members to ensure practice is robust and high quality.  You will engage with the Senior Management Team to ensure practice remains focused on the child.  

A successful applicant will have excellent 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 excellent 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 substantial 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 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.

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to an interview the week beginning 23rd September 2024.

As part of the interview process for this role you may be required to complete additional testing.

Contact Details

Leemya McKeown
Assistant Director - Safeguarding, Professional Standards & Quality Assurance
Leemya.McKeown@kent.gov.uk
03000 422190

About the Company

Work that works for you and us - let’s talk flexibility!

KCC is committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the county’s working residents, encouraging applications from people of all ages, abilities, genders, sexual orientations, ethnic backgrounds, faiths and those with caring responsibilities, and aspires to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves at work.

Please note – if you are interested, please apply as soon as possible as the closing date for this advert may be earlier than stated should a number of suitably qualified candidates apply.