Children & Families Social Work - Policy and Practice Lead

We are excited to be recruiting for a Children & Families Social Work Policy and Practice Lead at a time of profound change. Scotland’s social work landscape is evolving rapidly, with developments that will shape practice for years to come. The launch of the Scottish Social Work Partnership, and the National Social Work Agency; delivery of the Promise with the many related stands of change and improvement including redesign of the children’s hearing system, improving care experience and changes to the care landscape; developments and implementation of changes in youth justice, secure care and child protection; and an increasing focus on whole family support and tackling poverty. These interconnected strands present both significant opportunity and complex operational challenge - requiring leadership that is visionary, collaborative, and grounded in practice.

The post has a key role in facilitating the engagement and leadership of our Children & Families Social Work Standing Committee members, Chief Social Work Officers and the Social Work Scotland Board. In partnership with colleagues in Social Work Scotland and as part of the Scottish Social Work Partnership, this post also offers a chance to join up interdependent but disconnected policy agendas, constructing a more coherent and enabling operational environment for social work as a whole. The post will have a role in supporting national projects currently hosted by Social Work Scotland, such as reform of Joint Investigative Interviewing of Children, implementation of Self-directed Support legislation, and national development of Interagency Referral Discussions.

As Social Work Scotland’s Children & Families Social Work Policy and Practice Lead, you will provide the national team and partners with operational insight and expertise across the diverse range of children and families issues which, on a day-to-day basis, social work is involved in. You will play a key role in national discussions around the Promise, child protection, youth justice workforce capacity and the ongoing development of the profession. You will assist project leads in the delivery of their work programmes, and support colleagues and Social Work Scotland members to realise our organisation’s objectives; that includes playing a role in public facing communication about the role and value of social work. You will link in directly with Social Work Scotland’s Children and Families Committee, our Board, local authority Chief Social Work Officers and key partners (such as the Office of the Chief Social Work Advisor) to progress the national agenda. You will be a visible representative of the profession, and you will assist others to articulate Social Work Scotland’s positions in a number of high-profile forums and settings. In helping to support effective national leadership of social work in Scotland, you will be expected to ensure the voices of children, families, carers and communities inform all aspects of this role.

Application Details

To apply for this post, please submit a covering letter/email and a completed application form. Your covering letter should be between 800 and 1000 words and should set out why you want the job, summarise your relevant experience, and explain how you meet the job’s ‘Person Specification’. Please state in your application form if you do want us to contact references prior to interview. Secondments welcome.

Completed application forms and cover letters should be sent to admin@socialworkscotland.org by 11:59pm on Sunday 8th March.