Assistant Director - Assurance and Improvement

The Role

Social Work England are the specialist regulator for social work in England, focused on enabling positive change in social work. Every day, social workers support millions of people to improve their chances in life. We are taking a new approach to regulating social workers in their vital roles. We believe in the power of collaboration and share a common goal with those we regulate – to protect the public, enable positive change and ultimately improve people’s lives.

Purpose of the role

This is a newly-established senior leadership position, offering an exciting opportunity for the right person to support, enhance and develop the work of existing teams and to shape and develop the role within the directorate and wider organisation. 

We have been established as a successful and values driven organisation. The assistant director role is a central part of the leadership that aims to build on the platform that has now been established, to have a significant impact on the quality of social work practice in England.

The assistant director will work autonomously and alongside the executive leadership team to continue to shape our leadership structure, to optimise service performance and reinforce our core values and behaviours throughout the organisation. You will play a key, visible, leadership role in delivering our statutory responsibilities, and contribute to the development and delivery of our corporate and organisational priorities.

Our assistant directors will be accountable for delivery in their own areas of the business.  They will also work together in collaboration with the executive directors, ensuring the effective delivery of our statutory and strategic objectives, deputising for the executive directors and other assistant directors as appropriate.

Together with the other assistant directors you will build a suitable structure for the organisation, executing key decisions in relation to operations and finance as well as supporting and informing strategic direction.  You will also give strategic direction to our heads and be the escalation point for risk, feeding up to the executive directors, weighing and identifying corporate risk and appropriate mitigations.

You will contribute to our focus on delivering our ambitions as a regulator, and in delivering for people, and on our commitments to equality, diversity and inclusion. The team respect differences and make decisions that benefit the organisation.

What you will do

• Deliver visible leadership of a multi-disciplinary team, developing and implementing our strategic and policy aims and objectives.  Supporting, managing and providing strategic direction to heads of function to enable them to deliver the objectives within their area of responsibility.
• Act decisively and make robust, unbiased decisions at a strategic level and act as decision maker for agreed areas of our statutory framework.  Support heads of function in their operational decision making in their respective areas.
• Be accountable to the executive director in relation to team, directorate, and corporate risk, ensuring they are appropriately addressed and are appropriately profiled and reviewed.    Understand regulatory risk and the strategies that can be developed to reduce risk and prevent harm.  Work alongside the executive director in ensuring that our policy and strategic activities are undertaken with this in mind.
• Identify and implement organisational changes that enhance flexibility, responsiveness, and quality of service.
• Establish, build and maintain relationships with our Board and the sponsor departments, the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care, as well as other key stakeholders.  Attend meetings and networks as the representative for the team, directorate and wider organisation.
• Model our values and behaviours, inspiring and motivating leaders and our people to achieve our strategic objectives and to achieve our ambitions as a regulator. Work closely with other assistant directors to ensure cohesive, collaborative and effective delivery of our operational activities and strategic aims.
• Deputise for executive directors and other assistant directors as necessary.

Directorate specific

• Work to the executive director, people and business support on matters relating to governance, quality assurance and customer feedback, business planning and improvement, data and performance reporting, management of the annual project portfolio and benefits realisation, information governance and data protection.  Provide day to day support and advice, to ensure compliance with statutory requirements, internal policies and procedures and best practice.  You will be accountable for the quality and integrity of decision making, and the performance of our processes.
• Work flexibly across the directorate, deputising for the executive director, people and business support and leading collaborative and cross-cutting projects as required
• Establish robust infrastructure, systems and processes that promote trust and confidence and embed our culture of innovation, improvement and co-production across the organisation. Oversee the project management office and realisation of benefits.
• Ensure the delivery of high-quality support to our Board, Board committees and executive leadership team, making sure that governance processes comply with relevant national guidelines and good practice.  Strengthen corporate governance and implement learning outcomes from Board effectiveness reviews and internal audit reports.  Build an open and collaborative relationship with the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee to provide assurance and ensure transparent reporting on your areas of responsibility
• Continue to develop and strengthen our quality assurance and assurance frameworks,  ensuring that learning is embedded within operational teams. 
• Oversee the delivery of a robust and consistent approach to business planning and risk management, which takes full account of emerging or potential changes we may face in the future.  Work collaboratively with others across the organisation to ensure that these processes remain closely aligned to our strategy and budget/workforce planning
• Work collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders to improve and drive forward our approach to data collection, insight and analysis, and how this is used to improve our performance as a regulator and our understanding of the social work profession. 
• Provide strategic oversight and direction for our data and insight strategy, to ensure that we can achieve best practice in data governance, reporting and analysis; and that robust data and insight is available to inform the development and review of organisational priorities and performance. 
• Accountable for ensuring that robust and effective policies, procedures and practices for information governance and data protection are in place within the organisation, whilst making sure that boundaries are clear and the data protection officer retains the necessary independence and accountability to fulfil the specific responsibilities of this role.
• Work collaboratively to horizon scan, identifying plans for service improvements, taking account of current and forthcoming legislation, the requirements of the wider organisation and our partners and stakeholders
• Oversee preparation and publication of the annual report and accounts
• Have accountability for the financial budget in relation to your area, as well as understanding and giving consideration to the wider organisational budget, ensuring value for money.

Your skills, knowledge and experience

• Evidence of successful collaboration and partnership working, ability to work with and inspire others outside the line management relationship
• Significant senior leadership experience, ideally gained within a public sector, regulatory or regulated environment
• Experience of leading complex change programmes or projects, and of working with teams, colleagues, and stakeholders to deliver successful outcomes and realise benefits in complex and challenging environments.
• Evidence of a strong focus on developing strategies and plans, performance management and successful delivery of outcomes, including identifying and delivering service and performance improvements.
• Evidence of effective management of budgets, contracts, and business plans, including the ability to ensure value for money. Including experience of decision making and sound judgement within statutory or governance frameworks
• Evidence of strong influencing, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills, and ability to present complex information to a range of stakeholders both in writing and verbally
• Proven ability to analyse data, understand trends, identify risks and articulate potential consequences, and use data on a strategic level, to improve the work of teams and the organisation
• A professional or technical qualification in an area the directorate is responsible for would be advantageous (i.e. corporate governance, quality assurance, HR, information governance, organisational development, programme and project management, data and reporting, IT, finance or commercial).
• A demonstrable commitment to inclusion and diversity

• Job type: Permanent.
• Working pattern: Full-time. We offer flexible working subject to business need.
• Salary: £76,808.
• Location: Sheffield/hybrid remote.
• Benefits: flexible working, contributory pension, life insurance and benefits portal.

Application

During the application process, you'll be asked to provide answers to three questions from the job description. These answers will be what your application is scored on, please answer in as much detail as possible using examples where necessary.