Education Quality Assurance Officer

Social Work England; Sheffield; Hybrid; GBP 37,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking an Education Quality Assurance Officer to enhance social work education in England. This role involves collaborating with stakeholders to ensure high-quality social work courses, conducting inspections, and providing expert guidance. The ideal candidate will possess strong analytical and interpersonal skills, with a commitment to governance and quality assurance. Join a team dedicated to making a positive impact in social work education and enjoy flexible working arrangements in a supportive environment.

Benefits

Flexible Working

Contributory Pension

Life Insurance

Benefits Portal

Qualifications

• Experience in governance, audit, or inspection roles.
• Strong analytical skills for informed decision making.

Responsibilities

• Lead inspection processes and prepare comprehensive reports.
• Provide expert advice and support for educational providers.

Skills

Governance Knowledge

Quality Assurance Systems

Analytical Skills

Engagement Techniques

Report Writing

Interpersonal Skills

Planning and Organisational Skills

Judgment and Decision Making

Job description

The Role

Social Work England are the specialist regulator for social work in England, focused on enabling positive change in social work. Every day, social workers support millions of people to improve their chances in life. We are taking a new approach to regulating social workers in their vital roles. We believe in the power of collaboration and share a common goal with those we regulate – to protect the public, enable positive change and ultimately improve people’s lives.

Working collaboratively with course providers, the education quality assurance officer will engage with key stakeholders in education to provide specialised knowledge and guidance to ensure high quality social work courses. They will undertake the quality assurance of education courses for social workers in England, assessing new course submissions and working to deliver the inspection and monitoring of courses leading to registration with us.

What you will do

• Work collaboratively with Inspectors and course providers as part of an inspection team to facilitate robust and consistent inspection processes, including developing inspection plans which detail activities, timelines and priorities for the inspection.
• Provide support for stakeholders and articulate complex matters, negotiating with course providers and influencing based on evidence and expertise.
• Lead on the delivery and smooth running of inspection activities, including determining use of resources, facilitating meetings with key stakeholders and representing us externally during the inspection process.
• Prepare and deliver detailed, comprehensive and accurate reports for each approval and monitoring process and agree the content of these reports with Inspectors, so that robust, consistent and fair decisions can be made.
• Work with Inspectors and other colleagues to ensure recommendations are supported by corroborated evidence, demonstrating a well-reasoned basis for decision making and an approach which stands up to scrutiny internally and externally.
• Work with Inspectors to identify any concerns and development needs in courses, including any potential risks to public safety, and process and escalate these concerns in line with agreed procedures and timescales.
• Provide comprehensive and effective advice with specialised knowledge and skills, and a sound understanding of education policy to support educational providers within a region on educational, quality assurance and wider policies, processes and standards.
• Work autonomously to deliver an engagement strategy managing collaboration with course providers to be a single point of specialised knowledge covering multiple diverse routes into social work.
• Provide membership at key engagement events and identify opportunities to embed standards within social work courses and practice.
• Provide guidance at a course provider specific level and negotiate with others as a recognised expert in education quality assurance establishing expectations of provision of high-quality education and training in social work.
• Able to respond proactively to a broad range of education topics in response to enquiries into Social Work England including responding to concerns about courses and qualifications.
• Deliver, analyse and report on approval and monitoring activity, identifying appropriate actions to embed standards, key learning opportunities from institutional regulation and decision-making routes.
• Support the head of education programmes and education quality assurance operations managers to ensure learning from the quality assurance process is effectively disseminated and used to inform continuous improvements of the education quality assurance processes.
  
  

Your Skills, Knowledge And Experience

• Knowledge of good governance in decision making and the ability to balance expert views with evidence provided against set criteria.
• Experience in a related area or with transferable skills, for example governance or audit/inspection, and working with quality assurance systems and frameworks.
• Experience of using analytical information and robust evidence to inform decisions against a risk-based methodology and evidence gathering and synthesis.
• Knowledge of engagement techniques and strategies with demonstrable experience of mediation, group facilitation and leading on techniques for consensus decision making.
• The ability to exercise sound judgement and confidently justify any actions taken both in written form and during complex multi-level meetings.
• The ability to work independently as well as part of a team and take initiative to drive personal work forward whilst supporting the delivery of team objectives.
• Strong planning and organisational skills, with the ability and commitment to deliver high quality, accurate work to tight deadlines.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, with report writing ability. Able to design and deliver presentations for a range of different audiences and facilitating feedback sessions with students, placement providers or senior staff.
• Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to build successful relationships with internal and external stakeholders and effectively handle sensitive situations with tact, diplomacy and professionalism.
• Flexibility and willingness to work outside normal working hours and to travel on a regular basis. This role will also require regular travel to locations throughout England and may require staying within pre-booked accommodation.
• A demonstrable commitment to inclusion and diversity.
  
  

Details

• Job type:Fixed-term 12 month contract
• Working pattern: Full time. We offer flexible working subject to business need.
• Salary: £37,583 per year, rising to £39,817 per year after successful completion of a 6-month probationary period.
• Location: Sheffield/Hybrid
• Benefits: flexible working, contributory pension, life insurance and benefits portal
  
  

Application

During the application process, you'll be asked to provide answers to three questions from the job description. These answers will be what your application is scored on, please answer in as much detail as possible using examples where necessary.

About Us

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Contact

If you have any queries about the appointment process, please contact [e-mail].

How to apply

To apply, complete the application form by the closing date.

Interview

At interview we will seek to further understand your skills, knowledge, experience and motivation and test the key competencies of the role. If you are successful, we will undertake routine security checks.

Find out more about our application and interview process.

Want to know more about the role?

If you would like to discuss the role or have any other questions, please contact our recruitment team:

[e-mail]

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