Head of Service

Royal Borough of Greenwich; Greater London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Royal Borough of Greenwich is recruiting a Head of Service for Foster South-East London, a new sub-regional hub. You will provide strategic and operational leadership to recruit and support foster carers, drive transformation, and collaborate with partner authorities to deliver measurable improvements.

You will lead a programme of change, using data to inform decisions, and promote a clear, consistent journey from enquiry to approval for prospective carers.

Qualifications

• Experience in fostering recruitment and retention.
• Proven ability to lead transformation and service improvement.
• Strong communication with senior stakeholders across organisations.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for Foster South-East London.
• Establish and embed a high-performing service offering to improve recruitment across partners.
• Lead a programme of transformation using insight and data to drive decisions.
• Build robust relationships with senior leaders, fostering services and communications teams.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Influencing stakeholders

Data-driven decision making

Partnership working

People management

Job description

South-East London has secured Department for Education funding to fund the creation of a new sub-regional foster recruitment and retention hub which will join a network of five Fostering Hubs across London working together to develop best practice foster carer recruitment and assessment and lever partnership opportunities. Foster South-East London is looking for an exceptional Head of Service to lead this exciting new service development and fundamentally improve the way we recruit, engage and support prospective foster carers across the region. This is a unique opportunity for an experienced leader who combines a strong understanding of foster carer recruitment and the fostering landscape with significant expertise in transformation, service improvement and partnership working. The Hub will bring together expertise, resources, data and innovative approaches across the sub-region, creating a more coordinated and effective approach to attracting and converting new foster carers. Your leadership will be central to making this ambition a reality.

About the role As Head of Service, you will provide strategic and operational leadership for Foster South-East London; a new sub-regional approach to fostering recruitment and retention. You will be responsible for establishing and embedding a high-performing service offer that delivers measurable improvements in foster carer recruitment across participating partners. You will lead a programme of transformation that challenges traditional approaches, uses evidence and data to drive decision-making, and ensures that prospective foster carers experience a clear, consistent and compelling journey from initial enquiry through to approval. Working across organisational boundaries, you will build strong relationships with senior leaders, fostering services, communications and marketing teams, and other key stakeholders. You will bring people together around a shared vision and ensure that the Hub delivers value for each of the participating authorities. You will also have a strong focus on continuous improvement - identifying what works, understanding where recruitment journeys are being lost, using insight to target activity, and developing innovative approaches to reach people who could make a difference to the lives of children and young people. The role is offered for an initial term until 31 March 2028 and the Royal Borough of Greenwich will serve as the host authority for employment. Please note partner local authorities are subject to confirmation.

• Strategic leadership and influencing skills across organisational boundaries.
• Ability to communicate complex issues clearly to senior stakeholders and partners.
• Ability to use data and insight to drive improvement and decision-making.
• Resilience, sound judgement and a collaborative leadership style.
• Commitment to improving outcomes for children and foster families.
• Strong leadership and management abilities, including experience in team coordination, performance management and fostering best practices.

You will be comfortable working in an environment where the service is new, ambitious and evolving. You will bring energy, curiosity and pragmatism, alongside the ability to challenge established ways of working constructively.

This is much more than a recruitment role. It is an opportunity to build something new – creating a service that brings partners together around a shared ambition and developing a different, highly effective model for foster carer recruitment. You will have the scope to shape the Hub’s strategy, culture, operating model and approach to ensure service improvement from the outset. Most importantly, your work will contribute directly to ensuring that more children and young people can grow up in safe, stable and nurturing family environments, close to the communities they know. If you are an ambitious leader who understands fostering recruitment, thrives on transformation and wants to make a tangible difference at regional level, we would love to hear from you.

Our commitment: Foster South-East London will be made up of several local partners who are committed to working collaboratively to improve outcomes for children and young people. We welcome applications from people who reflect the diversity of the communities we serve and are committed to creating an inclusive working environment where everyone can thrive. Please note partner local authorities are subject to confirmation. For an informal discussion about the role, please contact: Ishara Tewary, Strategic Lead - Corporate Parenting, Royal Greenwich Children's Services 020 8921 2761 or alternatively email on Diversity Statement: Royal Borough of Greenwich values the diversity of its community and aims to have a workforce that reflects this. We therefore encourage applications from all sections of the community.

Full Employment History: A full employment history is required for this role. Please provide a full employment history, together with a satisfactory written explanation of any gaps in employment.

Salary: Salaries advertised are for a standard working week of 35 hours unless otherwise stated. Please use this 'Salary Calculator to help you calculate a pro rata salary.

Our Staff Values: Our Staff Values are important to us. Candidates will be continuously assessed against our staff values throughout the recruitment process. Where candidates demonstrate views and behaviours that do not meet the standards of our staff values, we reserve the right to reject their application/ registration.