Practice Lead, Residential, Fostering and Kinship Care
Salary £64,394 - £68,464 (which includes a 25% temporary recruitment and retention payment)
A relocation package may be available subject to terms and conditions.
About Gateshead Council
At Gateshead, our vision is that all children and families, regardless of their background, are at the heart of everything we do – ensuring all children can thrive and meet their full potential.
During 2024, we focused our plans to reflect this vision and ambition. Moving into 2025, we now have a greater focus on trauma-informed approaches and inclusive practice across all of our services, as we believe that this delivers the best outcomes for children and young people. We will continue to be committed to developing services which are integrated and joined up through our family hubs and maintain our focus on supporting the most vulnerable children on the edge of care to remain safely living within their family networks.
About the Roles
Gateshead Council is continuing to invest in the future of our cared-for children. We are now looking to appoint to 2 exciting and rewarding Practice Lead positions within our senior management team due to internal promotion. These roles will have responsibility for:
1. Practice Lead, Children in our Care and Care Leavers: We have 3 Children in our Care teams who support our young people to ensure their needs and arrangements are in place for their current and longer-term care.
2. Practice Lead, Residential, Fostering and Kinship Care: We currently have an established residential service with 4 children’s homes, all with experienced management teams. In addition to this, we are in the process of opening a further 2 homes over the next 6 to 12 months.
The post holder will need to provide effective strategic leadership, planning, and robust performance management and oversight for these areas while promoting a culture that values learning, reflection, and accountability to ensure the continuous development and improvement of the service.
The role will be challenging but very rewarding. You must have effective people management, performance management, and quality assurance within a children’s services setting to ensure the focus is always on achieving better outcomes for children, young people, and their families with the provision of the highest possible professional standards of social work. As such, you must hold a Social Work qualification to degree level or equivalent and be Social Work England registered. A project management qualification is desirable although not essential.
You must have exceptional knowledge of Social Work methodologies, theory, and best practice, as well as a working knowledge of relevant legislation and case law. Knowledge of the national political and professional context, regulatory processes, inspections and expectations; risk assessment and risk management models are also essential.
As these are key managerial posts, you will need experience of successfully planning for and contributing to Ofsted inspection and have highly developed verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to prepare complex reports.
This is a unique opportunity to join Gateshead Council's GOOD Children and Families Social Work Service.
What can a career with Gateshead offer?
In addition to a competitive salary (which includes a 25% temporary recruitment and retention package), by pursuing your career with Gateshead, we can guarantee you will have:
* A stable senior leadership team that listens and cares about you and your work.
* A culture that takes pride in and actively celebrates social work.
* Excellent opportunities for career progression.
* Your base in the same building as all social work teams, allowing support not just from your allocated team but all services.
* Hybrid working – both working from the office base and home working.
Also, as an employee of Gateshead Council, you will benefit from:
* A generous annual leave package of 28 days, increasing to 30 days following 5 years’ service.
* Access to the flexi scheme which allows for working a 9 days over 10.
* Excellent training and development opportunities.
* Great transport links with the use of reliable and frequent public transport.
During the selection process, candidates will be assessed against the essential criteria as set out in the job profile. For further information regarding what Gateshead can offer you, please log onto Careers in children's social work - Gateshead Council.
If successful, you will need to apply for an enhanced Disclosure.
For an informal discussion about the post, please contact Lesley Thompson, Head of Children in Care and Resources, Children’s Social Care at LesleyAnnThompson@Gateshead.Gov.UK.
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