Assistant Director Of Childrens Services (Social Care)

Assistant Director Children’s Services Education and Inclusion

Blackpool Council

Salary: £81,700 - £88,600
 

Blackpool is changing fast, driven by a Council Plan focused on stronger communities and better opportunities for children and young people. With over £2billion invested in regeneration projects to enhance the town and its future potential, Blackpool is creating an environment where education, inclusion and lifelong outcomes can genuinely flourish.

About the Role

We are looking for an Assistant Director who can provide clear, confident system leadership, bringing coherence across early years, school improvement, SEND and inclusion, post-16 pathways, attendance, the Virtual School and safeguarding in education. You will also lead strategic place planning, ensuring mainstream and SEND sufficiency, alongside capital planning and admissions, so the whole education system feels aligned and connected.

You will join a Children’s Services directorate that continues to strengthen, with recent Ofsted findings noting improved practice, strong focus on safety and wellbeing and the embedded impact of our Blackpool Families Rock approach. Relationships with schools, MATs and the Education Improvement Board are positive and constructive, providing a strong platform for joint problem-solving and shared ambition across the system.

What we need now is a leader who can pull the different parts of the system together with clarity and purpose. You will align sufficiency, SEND strategy and school improvement around a small number of high-impact priorities, create the conditions for effective partnership working and ensure our education and inclusion offer is joined-up, consistent and focused on improving outcomes for every child and young person.

About You

You will be an experienced leader with strong credibility across SEND and inclusion, system improvement and strategic planning. You will understand what it means to be a system leader: someone who can see the whole picture, anticipate what is coming, horizon scan with confidence and guide partners through complexity with clarity and purpose. You will influence confidently, maintain trusting partnerships and work constructively with political leaders. You will also model the principles of Blackpool Families Rock, which place relationships, strengths and partnership at the heart of how we think and work. You will bring ambition, clarity and a commitment to improving outcomes for children and young people.

If you want to make a meaningful impact in a town committed to change, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Closing Date: 13:00 on Tuesday 7th of April

For further information, please view the candidate pack.

For a confidential conversation about this role, please contact our retained consultants at Penna:

Mark Baldwinson - on 07764 698139 or email: mark.baldwinson@penna.com

Amin Aziz – on 07709 514141 or email: amin.aziz@penna.com

to view the Job Description.

Please click here to see the benefits of working for Blackpool Council.

Are you a Blackpool resident aged between 16-24? Would you benefit from some free guidance on producing a quality application for job vacancies such as this one? Blackpool Council?s Youth Hub - The Platform, has highly skilled Employment Advisers that can support you with demonstrating how you can evidence you meet the Essential and Desirable criteria requirements on a Job Description.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children/vulnerable adults. This post is subject to satisfactory reference history of at least two years, Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check, medical clearance, evidence of any essential qualifications and proof of Right to Work in the UK in accordance with the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and amendments to the exemptions order, which mean that certain offences are ‘protected’ and do not need to be disclosed, guidance on the "filtering" of offences can be found at New filtering rules for DBS certificates (from 28 November 2020 onwards) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

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