Job Introduction
Bradford Children and Families Trust was established in April 2023 to enhance the quality and delivery of Children’s Services across our district. Our purpose is clear, to ensure that our promise to improve the lives of children and young people in Bradford becomes a reality. It’s a tough ask. It requires dedication, determination, and resilience – but under a new Chief Executive, Senior Leadership team and an unswerving drive to deliver the best outcomes, we are confident that we’ll achieve our ambition, and yours.
So, if you’re up for the challenge we’d love to hear from you!
About The Role
This is an important opportunity to renew our approach to delivering the support that Bradford’s children, young people and families in need, by renewing services and creating a new organisation. We are bringing the mindset, dynamism and energy of a start-up together with the national expertise and determination of the Trust’s Board, senior leadership and our colleagues’ practical experiences of providing children’s services in Bradford.
Within this role, you will drive and influence practice improvement by managing and leading all quality-assurance activity across Early Help, Parenting and Family Support, Fostering, Social Work, Residential and Youth Justice Service. You will prepare and present both qualitative and quantitative reports for presentation to senior managers and respective boards that oversee the improvement work for children’s services.
You will work with Team Managers, Service Managers and Heads of Service to strengthen and develop knowledge and practice to improve the quality of the service we offer our children and families. This will include a focus on strengthening outcomes for children by providing coaching and support which will enhance the skills and approaches needed for effective relationship-based practice.
You will be working closely with the Principal Social Worker and colleagues across the Trust to ensure the ongoing implementation of relationship-based practice. This will include contributing to the development and implementation of policies and practice improvement.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop, manage and lead a team of experienced practice improvement officers and business support to implement auditing and learning opportunities across the Trust.
- Understand and evaluate the effectiveness of children’s services to safeguard and meet the needs of children and young people in Bradford. This will be underpinned by restorative and relational approaches.
- Support managers with identifying and acting upon areas of need based upon quality assurance findings.
- To implement, operate and review systems that ensure quality and standards of professional practice and performance are achieved.
- To strengthen service delivery by supporting and developing knowledge and skills in teams to ensure it is evidenced and reflected within practice, young people’s records and plans.
- Lead, plan and underpin the development and improvement of practice by role modelling good practice, providing opportunities for reflective case discussions and individual coaching/ training sessions. Acting as the ‘expert’, to provide and promote consultation, facilitate bespoke learning events and provide presentations to wider audiences as required across all service areas.
- To include and understand the views of children, young people and their carers to understand and develop stronger feedback initiatives and processes.
- To lead and implement quality assurance systems and monitoring tools across all practice areas to enable the Trust to understand and improve the quality of practice, and share findings with PSW and Senior Leadership Team.
- Collate, analyse and present complex data from a variety of sources for a wide range of stakeholders (internal and external), confidently using the case management systems and excel to extrapolate data and information to understand the relevant data sets.
- To design high quality audit and review tools that will provide an understanding of practice to assess how we are making a difference by working with our children and families.
- To lead and facilitate moderations to ensure that there is consistent understanding of good practice across the services.
- To lead and facilitate learning opportunities for Heads of Service, Service Managers, Team Managers and Practice Supervisors to develop a shared understand of good by reviewing and reflecting practice together.
About You
- Experience of managing teams in Children’s Social Care and has offered specialist consultation and advice on complex cases and circumstances across Children’s Services.
- Demonstrate knowledge and awareness of the priorities of children’s services including an understanding of improvement planning and how a quality assurance framework support practice.
- Uses a wide range of computer applications including advanced excel and is familiar with the LCS database or can demonstrate experience of a similar database and willingness to learn.
- Understands the process of audit and what good looks like.
- Can write reports including integrating data within these in an accessible format.
- Knows and understands how to use, interpret, handle and communicate information, and can analyse information from a range of sources to resolve problems and ensure compliance with statutory and internal procedures.
- Ability to appropriately interpret and apply legislation relating to children especially in respect of statutory services.
- Able to provide day to day support to staff and provide guidance and support to assist them in meeting performance requirements.
- Able to apply detailed knowledge and experience of Child Protection practice.
- Ability to apply an understanding of child development in practical situations connected to children at risk of significant harm.
- Able to monitor standards of practice and where necessary offer challenge around working practices that do not meet the required standard.
- Operate effectively within multi-agency and inter-professional partnerships and settings, working within the organisations remit, including demonstrating a sophisticated knowledge of relevant legislation and the ability to influence organisational development.
- Embeds a culture of continuous improvement and quality.
Qualifications and Experience
- Post qualification experience of the statutory social work, including experience of working with professional staff to support them to deliver high quality work.
- Experience of managing social work services including supervision and guidance to front line staff.
- Recognised Social Work Qualification.
- Registration with Social Work England.
- Advanced IT skills – Microsoft Word, Outlook and Excel are required as well as excellent time management and multi-tasking skills.
Benefits:
- Generous employer contributions in a Local Authority Pension Scheme
- Competitive salary and pay progression structure
- Real living wage as the minimum rate of pay
- Supportive carer and parental policies
- Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave
- Access to Occupational Health and confidential counselling services
- Supportive staff networks
- Access to Blue Light Card discounts
- Professional development/support
- Career progression
- Enhanced annual leave entitlement
- Social Worker Registration fees paid
- Flexible working / hybrid options subject to service need
- £3000 retention bonus, reviewed annually
Next Steps
For an informal discussion, please contact Anna Culver via anna.culver@bradfordcft.org.uk.
Closing Date: 28th April 2025
Interviews: 06 & 09 May 2025
Bradford Children and Families Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all employees to share this commitment.
If shortlisted, you will be required to disclose relevant information regarding criminal history prior to interview.
A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check including a check against the Children’s barred list, will be carried out on preferred candidates.
