Head of Education Programmes

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.

The head of education programmes is responsible for providing the strategic and operational delivery of the approach. This includes the development of the implementation plan for education and oversight of key projects within the programme. Engaging with stakeholders and collaboration with sector colleagues will be critical to the success of the implementation plan; and co-production will be central to our approach.

The role is responsible for providing operational leadership and management of the quality assurance programme for social work education and training. This is one of the organisation’s key regulatory responsibilities and the head of education programmes is responsible for ensuring timely and consistent decision making based on a high quality and evidence based inspection framework.

What you will do

• Develop the implementation programme and plans for the delivery of the Social Work England approach to social work education and training.
• Lead and oversee the quality assurance process of education and training providers, developing a programme of inspections and a reapproval cycle based on the needs of the sector and key performance objectives. This includes operational leadership of the internal education quality assurance team and associated partners to support inspection activity and lead on the development of our quality approach.
• Develop new and innovative approaches to quality assurance and the inspection framework, including the implementation of thematic inspections and prioritising inspection based on risk and insight.
• Facilitate regulatory decision making on the approval/reapproval of social work courses in a transparent, timely, robust and evidence based way.
• Provide expert advice on social work education and training to inform the review and development of the education programme and provide the evidence base for policy and practice development.
• Use our education and training standards to proactively embed equality, diversity and inclusion principles across the education programme and to enhance the assurance of social work education and training courses.
• Collaborate with internal and external colleagues; along with people with lived experience of social work to ensure plans are co-produced, evidence based and impact on improved education and training that assures public confidence and protection.
• Oversee the production of clear, engaging and high quality information for public and specialist audiences, including the Executive Leadership Team and Social Work England Board. This includes the publication of findings from inspection activity to promote learning, innovation and best practice.
• Oversee the development of reporting systems to highlight the implementation of the programme; and to identify risk and resource factors and recommendations for improvement based on regular reviews of progress.
• Keep up to date on sector developments and ensure digital and technological innovations are central to the approach.
• Demonstrate the organisational values and behaviours across all interactions, decisions and relationships.

Your skills and knowledge

• A demonstrable track record of delivering complex programmes with multiple workstreams.
• A strong understanding of business improvement and quality assurance frameworks.
• An understanding of the regulatory and legislative framework within which Social Work England operates.
• An understanding of the social work education and training context.
• Clear experience of developing effective and productive relationships with multiple stakeholders based on collaboration, consultation and co-production.
• A proven track record of successfully leading and delivering change programmes with internal and external colleagues.
• Proven ability to analyse data, identify trends and learning, and articulate risks and plans for improvement.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including emotional and political intelligence to respond to competing agendas and interests.
• The ability to think and act strategically, developing practical innovative and creative solutions to the management of strategic and operational problems.
• Excellent organisational skills and ability to manage a variety of issues simultaneously, to the agreed deadlines and a high level of quality.
• Demonstrable experience of communicating complex plans and decisions to diverse audiences.
• A proven role model for respectful, open and honest behaviour including a demonstrable commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion in service planning and delivery.

Details

• Job type: Permanent
• Working pattern: Full time. We offer flexible working subject to business needs.
• Salary: £56,101 rising to £58,218 after successful completion of a 6-month probationary period.
• Location: Sheffield/hybrid working
• Benefits: Flexible working, contributory pension and life insurance and 25 days holiday
• Interview dates: Week commencing 20 February 2023

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Salary: £56,101.00-£58,218.00 per year

Benefits:

• Company pension
• Flexitime
• Life insurance
• Work from home

Schedule:

• Flexitime
• Monday to Friday

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Sheffield, S3 8JY

Reference ID: 10086