Principal Service Lead – Through Care

Hurst Green; Dudley; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Dudley Council is seeking an exceptional Principal Service Lead - Through Care to join our Children & Young People Leadership Team. This pivotal role will lead and improve services for children with disabilities, fostering, residential care and emotional wellbeing, and will coordinate with the Principal Service Lead for Children in Care and Care-experienced to maximise outcomes.

The successful candidate will provide strategic leadership across Through Care, drive quality and continuous

Qualifications

• Visible, authentic and ambitious leader with significant experience within Children’s Social Care and a proven track record of delivering improvement in complex environments.
• Candidate will drive safeguarding, statutory compliance and continuous improvement across Through Care.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership across Through Care services, including care leavers, fostering, residential provision and services for children with disabilities.
• Drive quality, performance and continuous improvement with a relentless focus on improving outcomes for children and young people.
• Lead high-performing teams and partner with health, education, police and other system partners to deliver service excellence and value for money.

Job description

The following content displays a map of the jobs location - Cable Plaza, Waterfront West, Brierley Hill, Dudley

Cable Plaza, Waterfront West, Brierley Hill, Dudley

Closing Date:

31/08/2026

Job Type:

Sector:

Local Councils

Business Unit:

Children's Services

Job Introduction

Principal Service Lead - Through Care

Are you an inspirational, values-driven leader with a passion for improving outcomes for children and young people?

Dudley are embarking on an exciting journey of improvement. We have strengthened capacity at Associate Director level with four permanent roles AD Education and Inclusion, AD Quality, Performance and Improvement, AD Family Help and Safeguarding and AD Corporate Parenting. We are now recruiting to our Principal Service Lead roles to further strengthen our leadership capacity.

Dudley Council is seeking an exceptional Principal Service Lead - Through Care to join our Children & Young People Leadership Team. This is a pivotal leadership role, responsible for leading and improving services for children with disabilities, fostering, residential care and emotional wellbeing, with strong interconnectivity with the Principal Service lead for Children in Care and Care experienced.

In this role, you will:

• Provide strategic leadership across Through Care services, including children in care, care leavers, fostering, residential provision, placements, family time and services for children with disabilities, ensuring outstanding support and positive outcomes.
• Drive quality, performance and continuous improvement, ensuring strong safeguarding practice, statutory compliance, inspection readiness and a relentless focus on improving the lives of children and young people.
• Lead high-performing teams and partnerships, championing the voice of children and young people, embedding excellent corporate parenting, and working collaboratively across health, education, police and wider system partners to deliver service excellence and value for money.

Who we're looking for:

We are seeking a visible, authentic and ambitious leader with significant experience within Children's Social Care and a proven track record of delivering improvement in complex environments.

If you're driven to make a real impact for children and families across Dudley, we want to hear from you.

Workplace Attendance: Working in the office 3+ days a week (pro-rata) or Onsite full time.

So that we can demonstrate Dudley's commitment to diversity and inclusion and to improve bias in the recruitment process that could create barriers for candidates.

All applicants must be able to provide documentation to prove their right to work in the UK.

Please note: Dudley MBC does not currently offer sponsorship for candidates without the Right to Work in the UK.