Assistant Director - Quality Assurance, Safeguarding and Workforce

Contracted Hours: 36

The role of Assistant Director – Quality Assurance, Safeguarding and Workforce Development is a great opportunity for someone who has the passion to drive change and make improvements in a challenging time. This brand new role will give you the chance to really make your mark and put measures in place to improve quality assurance and the safeguarding of vulnerable adults. Hackney is an ambitious and exciting place to work, and this role will offer the right person the opportunity to be a leader and pioneer in making Hackney a site of excellence and innovation.

This role is responsible for driving quality assurance and improvement across the wider social care workforce, ensuring the development and delivery of supporting workforce development strategies and leading our improvement and innovation journey. This is an exciting time to join Hackney; we are committed to the integration agenda and are working closely with our partners to design and deliver a neighbourhood model, and we are keen to develop new and innovative ways of working to support the most vulnerable residents in our very diverse communities .

Reporting to the Group Director Adults, Health and Integration, this role will directly manage the Head of Adult Safeguarding, Head of Transformation, Business Hub Manager (including the Workforce Development Team) and the Principal Social Worker. As a core part of the management team, you will be a visible and empathetic leader who can ensure our commitment to excellence in social work practice is embedded in everything we do, and that our workforce feels supported, engaged and excited about their professional development.

You will be committed to the protection and safeguarding of adults and you will influence and create the attitudes and behaviours that ensure a person–centred, risk appropriate approach to safeguarding across the system. You will drive wider quality assurance and best practice initiatives across internal and external provision, ensuring a strengths–based approach permeates decision making at all levels and that a culture of reflective learning and improvement is developed and embedded.

A social work qualification or equivalent is essential for this role and you will be registered with Social Work England. Experience of working directly with managing safeguarding adult functions at a Head of Service level or above is required, combined with leading the operational delivery of safeguarding, quality assurance and transformation services.

This year has seen all our certainties overturned; the way we work, how we interact with our residents and colleagues, how we provide services, how our local economies function. 2020 has given us new challenges, but more than anything, it has intensified our existing challenges, and our focus on them.

Hackney Council has always been positive, ambitious, and pioneering, and remains so today. We are determined that out of this uniquely challenging set of circumstances, we will renew ourselves as an organisation, and our commitment to our underpinning values.

Those who apply for senior level roles in the organisation, will be vital to helping us overcome these new challenges, and meet our ambitious goals, together as one team. We are looking for exceptional individuals with creativity and vision, with a track record in leadership, and who can share our passion and commitment for Hackney, and for building a fairer future for everyone who lives here.

We are looking for an exceptional individual with creativity and vision, with a track record in the strategic leadership of public services, and who can share our passion and commitment for Hackney, and for building a fairer future for everyone who lives here.

If you want to work in a place where you can represent our values so we achieve the best for our residents, please click on the apply button below.

The recruitment process is anonymous. Therefore, we do not accept supporting statements or CVs.

When applying, there will be a number of questions relating to the post on the application form. It is essential that you complete the application questions, responding to each using examples of your skills, knowledge and experience.

This application process replaces a supporting statement.

Closing date for applications: 03 October 2021

Interviews: W/c 18 October 2021

We are also working towards our vision, which is to be a place for everyone; where residents and staff can be proud; a place that celebrates diversity and where everyone can feel valued, included and involved. In order to achieve this, we look for people who are: Proud; Ambitious; Pioneering; Open; Proactive; Inclusive.

Hackney Council works to eradicate discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy and maternity, age and marital status. We also recognise that people can be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will also work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class. We also welcome those interested in flexible working. We particularly welcome applications from disabled people, as this group is currently under represented in our workforce.

The Council has a dedicated employment support service (Hackney Works), which offers Hackney residents guidance in relation to applying for jobs. If you are thinking about applying for a job, please contact the Hackney Works team to find out what support is available