Head of Service - Family Help & Care

Discover yourself in Lewisham where what you do makes a difference to our vibrant and culturally diverse communities! We have a rich history of welcoming people from all over the world and are proud to be recognised as the UK's first Borough of Sanctuary, for our work in championing the rights of refugees and migrants.

We are looking for three Senior Leaders to join Lewisham Children's Social Care, Family Help and Care, providing strategic and operational leadership across our children's social care services. These are senior leadership roles for ambitious, values-driven professionals who are passionate about improving outcomes for children, young people and families. The successful candidates will play a key role in shaping and delivering high-quality, effective and innovative services, ensuring that children are safe, heard and supported to achieve their potential.

The role is primarily based at Laurence House, Catford, London, SE6 4RU, with a hybrid working arrangement requiring regular time both in the office and at home.

Key responsibilities include:

• Providing strong, visible leadership across children's social care teams and services
• Driving improvements in practice, performance, quality and outcomes for children and families
• Leading and developing managers and practitioners, creating a culture of accountability, learning and continuous improvement
• Working collaboratively with education, health, police, housing, early help and other partners
• Ensuring children and young people's voices and experiences are central to service design and decision-making

About you

We are looking for an experienced social care leader with a strong track record of managing complex children's services and delivering sustainable improvement. The successful candidate will bring significant senior management experience within statutory children's social care, alongside a genuine commitment to improving outcomes for children and families.

The ideal candidate will:

• Hold a professional qualification in Social Work and be currently registered with Social Work England
• Have significant post-qualification experience within children's social care
• Have proven experience at senior management level within a statutory children's social care environment
• Demonstrate strong knowledge of safeguarding, child protection, corporate parenting and relevant legislation
• Have a demonstrable record of improving practice, performance and outcomes
• Possess excellent leadership, communication and relationship-building skills
• Be able to inspire and motivate teams whilst maintaining clear standards of accountability
• Have strong analytical, strategic and decision-making skills
• Have experience of working effectively with senior leaders, elected members and multi-agency partners
• Be committed to equality, diversity, inclusion and ensuring the voice of the child informs practice

Lewisham Council is a Disability Confident employer and welcomes applications from all abilities. Reasonable adjustments are available throughout the recruitment process. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check. Weekend working is required. To apply, candidates must hold a degree in social work or equivalent qualification and be registered with Social Work England.

About Lewisham

Welcome to Lewisham - a vibrant and culturally diverse borough that is bursting with fantastic things to see and do. As a truly international borough with over 170 languages spoken in our homes and businesses, a thriving cultural scene, and a treasure trove of indie shops, bustling markets and more, it's a great place to start and build a career.

Social work in Lewisham is changing and we have set out our vision and values for how we practice. In Lewisham Children's Social Care (CSC), we know what good social work looks like and we are passionate about creating the right conditions and culture for good practice to thrive.

Our social workers benefit from working in small, supportive teams with caseloads on average between 15-20 children. Our 'Signs of Safety' practice framework means we are committed to working in a relationship-based way with children and families, focussing on strengths in the family network to effect change. A positive learning culture which promotes opportunities for reflection and relationship-based practice is important to us. We are committed to developing our practice using reflective practice spaces such as case mapping, thinking spaces and group supervision.

Our permanent and stable senior management team are visible and approachable. Our dedicated PSW and workforce team supports professional development across the service so that you will;

be supported through our comprehensive learning and development offer, which includes subscriptions to 'Research in Practice' and 'Making Research Count'.

receive regular supervision and appraisal.

have 1-1 practice development coaching as a case holding practitioner, and professional development coaching as a manager.

have access to regular 'Signs of Safety' training and the opportunity to become a practice leader through attending our bespoke practice leader course.

have access to external leadership development opportunities such as Pathways and the Black and Asian Leadership Initiative (BALI).

have a clearly defined career progression pathway with opportunities for professional development at all levels.

Core CSC Staff Benefits include:

We have been awarded the Mayor of London's Good Work Standard - a benchmark for high employment standards. We are also one of the first London Councils to be accredited a London Living Wage employer and are a Disability Confident employer as well as a Timewise accredited Flex positive employer. We offer a 35-hour working week, and:

The opportunity to work in a thriving, diverse and developing inner London borough with a stable management team, manageable caseloads and a workforce group committed to promoting your development and emotional wellbeing

Generous salary for social workers at all levels

Generous holiday entitlement - starting at 27 days a year(pluspublic holidays)rising to 32 and 35 days after 5- and 10-years' continued service.

Oyster card access for travelling in and around London for work and we are exploring initiatives, including Zip cars

Flexible working policies and a variety of hybrid, and flexible working options - we know how important this is to you

Smarter Working with new modern technology and training to support this

Career average pension scheme

Family friendly policiesincluding maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental, and special leave for emergencies.

Variety of support schemes including key worker housing, tax free childcare scheme, access to Civil Service Sports Club which offers financial discounts and savings on days out and entertainment. KAARP activities and entertainment discounts. We offer a shop local discount scheme, volunteering leave, long service awards, membership of the Crownsavers Credit Union and access to Payroll Giving.

Health and Wellbeing support includes a staff support hub and 24/7 employee assistance programme which incorporates mental health support, counselling services and access to the PAM Assist health and wellbeing app.

We have signed the Menopause Pledge and offer gender specific and gender neutral health and wellbeing support with access to financial advice. We offer discounted gym and leisure centre membership including free lunch time swimming; interest free loans for season tickets, nursery childcare, and bikes, a "try before you buy" bike scheme and cycle training, smoking cessation, free eye tests and money towards glasses.

Active Employee Groups including the Black and Multicultural Forum, Anti racist Network Group, LGBTQ+ Forum, Disabled Staff Forum, Climate Emergency Staff Forum, Trade Union Memberships, and a staff led Change Network

Staff tell us they feel valued and enjoy working in Lewisham and are well supported by their managers with regular reflective supervision and good access to training.

"Lewisham has so much to offer any social worker. I feel supported, respected and valued every step of the way"

Lewisham Social Worker

If you have any questions about applying for this role, or if you are interested in having an informal discussion about working with us, please contact our Recruitment and Retention Manager, Angela Main at or Sara Taylor, our Principal Social Worker:

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