Head of Practice

Cafcass (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service); Lancashire; Hybrid; GBP 85,000 - 115,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Wellbeing support for colleagues

Excellent benefits

Job summary

Cafcass is recruiting a Head of Practice to sit on the senior leadership team and oversee services across North Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria, including offices in York, Blackburn and Carlisle. You will guide and develop a large team of managers and front-line social workers, ensuring high standards of practice and outcomes for children and families across the designated areas.

You will work closely with the Assistant Director, shaping strategy, leading change, and sustaining exceptional

Qualifications

• Extensive experience operating at a senior leadership level in a similar service.
• Ability to lead, influence and inspire teams to deliver high-quality practice.
• Proven track record in improving performance and outcomes for children and families.

Responsibilities

• Direct responsibility for ~100 service managers and 1,250–1,500 children across multiple offices.
• Lead internal practice improvement and coordinate with delivery partners on strategic and operational matters.
• Ensure high standards of practice and service delivery with strong performance management.
• Travel nationally and maintain visible office presence to model collaboration.

Skills

Leadership

Change management

Stakeholder engagement

Performance management

Social work experience

Job description

We are recruiting for a Head of Practice to be part of our senior leadership team covering North Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria, leading and supporting teams based in our York, Blackburn and Carlisle offices.

If you join us, working closely with your Assistant Director, you will play a pivotal role in helping fulfil our strategic ambition for children where Cafcass is involved - exceptional experiences, for every child, everywhere and every time.

If this ambition resonates with you, let us tell you more about the role, what we're looking candidates to demonstrate and what you can expect if you join us.

Let us tell you a bit more about the role…

In this role you will have approximately 10 Service Managers directly reporting to you, with overall responsibility for c100 colleagues and the 1,250-1,500 children they have responsibility for at any one time. This is also one of the largest Cafcass service areas covering three Designated Family Judge Areas (Carlisle; Blackburn / Lancaster; North Yorkshire), which brings a range of unique challenges.

Therefore, to really succeed in this role, you will have extensive experience operating at a similar level already and ideally be able to demonstrate how you led change and brought about stability in a service.

As a Head of Practice, you will also need to draw on your considerable, professional Social Work experience to lead and inspire those around you to ensure the delivery of high-quality services and practice.

You will set high standards and combine this with high levels of support so the Service Managers you lead can create the conditions for our Family Court Advisers, who engage directly with children and families, to deliver exceptional experiences.

Reporting directly to the Assistant Director - who has overall leadership responsibility for the two operational service areas that covers Tyneside, Northumberland, Durham Teesside, North Yorkshire, Cumbria and Lancashire - you will lead on internal practice improvement as well influence local delivery partners while also working on a mix of strategic and operational matters.

By ensuring Cafcass priorities, policies and plans are delivered to the highest possible standard, you and your teams will deliver positive outcomes for children and young people going through significant events including care proceedings, adoption and parental separation.

More detailed information about the role responsibilities can be found in the job description, which you are encouraged to read prior to applying.

What We’re Looking For...

As stated above, extensive experience operating at a similar level is essential. We are looking for someone who can demonstrate their experience and capability as a highly effective Leader who guides, influences and inspires others to consistently fulfil their responsibilities and to identify individual and collective opportunities for professional improvement.

You will also thrive on the responsibility of ensuring quality of practice and service delivery across the operational area is not only sustained but continually improved. You will be motivated to achieve performance standards by supporting Service Managers to ensure strong, consistent performance management behaviours and processes are embedded.

Further information

Whilst you can expect to work remotely some of the time, reflecting the seniority of the role there is a requirement for some national travel.

Similarly, as a Senior Leader, you will be expected to have a regular, visible office presence not only for formal meetings but to also model the importance and value of staff using office spaces to connect and collaborate.

As a guide, it is reasonable to expect you may be in one of the named offices twice per week, on average. Therefore, whilst you don't necessarily need to live close to the office(s) this may be something for you to consider.

We are a diverse, inclusive organisation that is a safe space for colleagues with shared aspects of identity and lived experience, which helps ensure we provide a service which promotes the diversity and uniqueness of children and families from all backgrounds. We especially welcome applications from people from diverse backgrounds as we strive to ensure our workforce reflects the diversity of the children and families we work with.

We provide extensive wellbeing support for colleagues, as well as excellent benefits, all of which we hope encourages you to join us. Further information is available on the 'Working for us' pages of the Cafcass website.

Please be advised successful applicants will be subject to a range of pre-engagement checks, including a Disclosure and Barring Service check (DBS). In accordance with the DBS code of practice and our own policy, should an individual have a declared criminal offence an individual assessment will be completed. Further information on what the assessment covers can be found by viewing the Cafcass DBS policy.