Deputy Head of Service - Care Leavers

Luton Borough Council; Luton; On-site; GBP 58,000 - 62,000; Full time

Job description

About The Job

Salary: £58,507 - £61,745 a year pro rata plus £3,203 car benefit allowance

Hours per week: 37

Contract type: Fixed Term for 1 year

This position is available as a secondment opportunity for 1 year. If you are a permanent LBC employee, you must have written approval (an email will suffice) from your manager prior to applying and a copy will need to be submitted with your application. Please note: we will not be able to proceed with your application form without your manager’s permission.

The Leaving Care Team provides core services to young people leaving care and young people who have left care between the ages of 15.5 and 21 or 24.

The Deputy Head of Service for the Care Leavers Service team is a key leader responsible for managing day-to-day operations, mentoring a dedicated team of professionals, and fostering effective collaboration with partner agencies to ensure prompt and informed decision-making on complex cases.

In this strategic role, you’ll be responsible for the development, management, and operational delivery of key Children’s Services and Statutory Social Work interventions. You’ll provide vital support to a team of managers, working alongside the Head of Service to ensure the delivery of services that achieve the best possible outcomes for children, young people, and families.

You’ll help set the strategic direction of the service, delivering on the Council’s vision and values while implementing evidence-based practices and reflecting current good practice. This role also involves promoting the professional development of staff and creating a sustainable, effective workforce to meet the needs of the most vulnerable in our communities.

You’ll have the authority to make critical decisions within statutory and legal frameworks, ensuring a robust response to the needs of children and families. As part of your remit, you will assist the Head of Service in achieving the Council’s strategic objectives and play a pivotal role in improving service delivery through effective performance management and problem-solving.

Key Responsibilities

• Collaborate with the Head of Service to set strategic direction and ensure effective performance management across services.
• Implement evidence-based practices that reflect research and current good practices in service delivery.
• Promote the professional development of all staff, fostering a culture of learning and growth.
• Make decisions in line with statutory regulations and ensure positive outcomes for children, young people, and families.
• Support in the resolution of complex problems, ensuring vulnerable children and young people receive timely, appropriate, and proportionate responses.
• Lead the coordination of service delivery to meet the needs of children, young people, and families across diverse settings.

Please note this role does not attract sponsorship.

About You

We are looking for a strategic and hands-on leader with a proven track record of delivering impactful services. As the successful candidate, you will have:

• Substantial experience in a senior leadership role, having led and developed services in partnership with multi-agency groups across public and voluntary sectors.
• Proven ability to lead, manage, and motivate teams, ensuring effective performance management aligned with organisational objectives.
• Strong collaboration skills with the ability to work effectively across a wide range of stakeholders in a political context, managing complex issues and planning service delivery.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, enabling you to develop professional working relationships at all levels, with strong influencing, negotiation, and accountability abilities.
• Experience in managing significant budgets and diverse funding streams, ensuring efficient use of resources to meet service objectives.
• In-depth knowledge of key policies impacting children and young people, particularly in safeguarding, health & safety, and urban multicultural environments.
• Professional qualifications in social work and management (or equivalent experience), backed by substantial relevant experience, training, and competence.

This role is pivotal to ensuring the success of Children’s Services, and we are looking for a dedicated leader to help shape the future of the service. If you are ready to make a meaningful impact, we encourage you to apply!

About Us

Luton Council has been selected to deliver the government’s Families First for Children Pathfinder programme.

Luton is one of seven new areas in the second wave to be chosen with the aim of protecting vulnerable children from harm and improving services to help more children stay with their families in safe and loving homes.

The programme is an amazing opportunity for Luton to shape future social care practice, which includes closer working relationships with our health, police, education and voluntary sector partners.

Children are at the heart of everything we do in Luton, and we are very proud of the tremendous work that is already taking place together with our partners, including the development of our Family Hubs and working towards making Luton a child-friendly town where our children and young people can grow up feeling happy, healthy and secure.

Our ambitious Luton 2040 Vision – that no-one in Luton will have to live in poverty – is at the heart of everything we do. We recognise that our people are remarkable, talented, committed and passionate about serving our residents.

The people of Luton depend heavily on this council – and that means our workforce! Are you ready to realise the remarkable and help us deliver our vision?

Application process

Because of the nature of this job, it will be necessary for the appropriate level of criminal record disclosure to be undertaken. This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare all unspent cautions and convictions; and also any adult cautions (simple or conditional), and spent convictions that are not protected as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020). A person’s criminal record will not in itself prevent a person from being appointed to this post. Applicants will not be refused posts because of offences which are not relevant to, and do not place them at or make them a risk in, the role for which they are applying. However in the event of the employment being taken up, any failure to disclose such offence, as detailed above, will result in dismissal or disciplinary action by the Authority.

Additional Information

We offer a range of excellent staff benefits which include:

• From 25 to 32 days’ annual leave: linked to length of service and grade
• Buying annual leave scheme: buy up to 20 days additional annual leave
• Career Pathways: step up in your career or move into a specialist area
• Pension scheme: with generous employer contributions of up to 20.2 per cent (at July 2023) and 3x salary death in service grant
• Generous relocation package: up to £8,000 (subject to eligibility)
• Employee Assistance Programme: a free, 24/7 confidential counselling and wellbeing support service available to all employees, their partner or spouse and dependent children over 16 still living at home
• Work/life balance: flexible working options including working from home where possible. We welcome requests for flexible working arrangements including part-time hours and alternative working patterns
• Training and support: unlimited access to development courses, mentoring and support and clear career pathways
• Staff offers: includes discounts on your MOT, gym and fitness, restaurants and salons
• Arriva Travel Club: great value savings on local bus travel
• Friday Funday Socials - One Friday every 2 months where we encourage our staff to get together to socialise after work