Assistant Director Of Adult Services - Operations

Contract Type: Permanent

Hours: 37 per week

Salary: NJC Grade H8 SCP 67-73 £81,735 - £88,616 per annum

Closing Date: Thursday 14th May 2026 at 23:59

Shortlisting Date: Friday 15th May 2026

Technical Interviews: W/C 18th May 2026 (Date TBC)

Assessment Day and Formal Panel Interviews: W/C 8th June 2026 (Date TBC)

Assistant Director of Adult Social Care (Operations)

Lead. Improve. Deliver real impact for adults and communities.

Blackpool Council is seeking an inspirational and experienced senior leader to join our Adult Social Care leadership team as Assistant Director of Adult Social Care (Operations).

This is a critical statutory leadership role with responsibility for the operational delivery, quality, and performance of adult social care services. You will play a pivotal role in improving outcomes for adults with care and support needs, their carers and families, while ensuring the Council meets its duties under the Care Act 2014 and related legislation.

About the role

Reporting directly to the Director of Adult Social Care (DASS), you will provide strategic and operational leadership across adult social care operations, including:

• Community and hospital social care
• Mental health services
• Learning disability and autism
• Safeguarding assurance and professional practice
• Transformation, governance and business support

You will line manage five Heads of Service, oversee a combined staffing and commissioning budget of approximately £60+m, and deputising for the DASS as required at corporate, regional and partnership levels.

A key priority will be to lead improvement activity and ensure services are Local Authority Assurance and Inspection-ready, with the ambition of achieving Good or Outstanding CQC outcomes, while maintaining strong financial control and workforce sustainability.

What you’ll be accountable for

• Providing visible, values-led leadership across Adult Social Care Operations
• Ensuring statutory compliance with the Care Act 2014, Mental Capacity Act, Mental Health Act and safeguarding duties
• Driving service improvement, quality assurance and performance management
• Leading and supporting inspection preparation and regulatory engagement with CQC
• Managing complex budgets and delivering within the Medium-Term Financial Plan
• Strengthening multi-agency working across health, housing, voluntary and community partners
• Promoting strong professional practice, safeguarding assurance and ethical and defensible decision-making
• Developing a resilient, skilled and motivated leadership and workforce culture

What we’re looking for

You will be an accomplished senior leader with substantial experience working at a Head of Service and/or strategic level within Adult Social Care. You will bring:

Essential requirements

• A recognised social work qualification (BAhons, DipSW, CQSW or equivalent)
• Registration with Social Work England
• Significant senior leadership experience within adult social care services
• In-depth knowledge of adult social care legislation, safeguarding, regulatory frameworks and best practice
• Proven experience of leading service improvement, managing large budgets and operating in a complex political environment
• Strong partnership, influencing and negotiation skills

Why join Blackpool?

Blackpool is an ambitious council serving communities with some of the most complex needs in the country. This is an opportunity to make a genuine system-wide impact, working with committed partners and political leaders who are determined to improve outcomes for local people.

We offer:

• A senior leadership role with real influence
• Competitive local government benefits and pension
• A supportive, values-driven organisational culture

If you are interested in joining Blackpool Adult Social Care Leadership Team and want to have a conversation about the role. Then please email our Director of Adult Social Care Nick Henson nick.henson@blackpool.gov.uk who will be more than happy to discuss further with you.

At this point in time we are not able to offer a Visa sponsorship in this role due to operational reasons

to view the Job Description.

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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)