Head of Service - Family Safeguarding
Location: Reigate, Surrey - Hybrid Working
Rate: 500 per day
Contract: Interim
We are looking for an experienced and influential Head of Service to provide senior leadership across Family Safeguarding and Children's Social Care.
This is an excellent opportunity for an established senior leader who can bring strong operational grip, lead improvement and use performance intelligence to drive better outcomes for children and families.
We are particularly interested in candidates who combine extensive Children's Social Care and safeguarding leadership experience with a strong understanding of performance improvement, quality assurance and business intelligence.
The Role
Working at a senior leadership level, you will provide strategic and operational direction across Family Safeguarding, ensuring services are safe, effective, performance-focused and centred around achieving positive outcomes for children and families.
Key responsibilities will include:
- Providing strong strategic and operational leadership across Family Safeguarding and Children's Social Care services
- Driving service improvement and transformation, ensuring clear standards and expectations are embedded across the service
- Using performance data, management information and business intelligence to identify trends, risks and areas requiring improvement
- Strengthening performance management and ensuring leaders have a clear grip on service delivery
- Overseeing quality assurance, audits and performance measures, translating findings into tangible service improvements
- Providing leadership and oversight to senior managers and operational teams
- Ensuring effective management of safeguarding risk and consistently high standards of practice
- Managing and monitoring budgets and resources, ensuring effective deployment and value for money
- Building effective partnerships across Children's Services and wider multi-agency partners
- Supporting workforce development and creating a strong, accountable and improvement-focused culture
- Contributing to wider strategic priorities and continuous improvement across Children's Services
About You
We are looking for an accomplished senior Children's Social Care leader who can demonstrate:
- Significant senior leadership experience within Children's Social Care
- Previous experience operating at Head of Service level, or substantial equivalent senior management experience
- Strong experience within Family Safeguarding, Child Protection, Children in Need or closely related statutory services
- A proven track record of performance improvement and service improvement
- Strong understanding of business intelligence, performance data and management information, with the ability to turn insight into action
- Experience of quality assurance, audits and improving practice standards
- Strong operational grip and the ability to identify and respond to areas of risk or underperformance
- Experience of managing significant budgets and resources
- Strong knowledge of statutory Children's Social Care and safeguarding practice
- The ability to lead and influence senior managers, practitioners and multi-agency partners
- A confident, visible and collaborative leadership style focused on achieving sustainable improvements for children and families
This role would suit an experienced Head of Service, Senior Service Manager or Senior Children's Social Care leader with a strong safeguarding background who enjoys combining operational leadership with performance, improvement and strategic development.
Why consider this opportunity?
This is an opportunity to take on a highly influential senior role where you can directly shape practice, performance and service delivery. You will have the scope to use your leadership experience to strengthen services, develop a culture of continuous improvement and ultimately improve outcomes for children and families.
Please apply today to be considered for this position.
Connect2Surrey is a trading style of Surrey & Kent Commercial Services LLP - A joint venture between Surrey County Council & Commercial Services Kent Ltd. Connect2Surrey is an equal opportunities Employment Agency & Business. It positively encourages applications from all suitably qualified and eligible candidates.
