Are you committed to improving the lives of children, young people, and their families?

Wokingham Borough Council are looking for an experienced children’s services professional to join our leadership team as the Director of Children’s Services.

The Opportunity

As our Statutory Director for Children’s Services, you will support our passion to continually ensure Wokingham is a fantastic place for children to grow up, and will lead the service into providing better support, opportunities, and a brighter future for those who need it most.

Our recent Ofsted report confirmed our renewed focus on strengthening support for children and families in the borough, with significant improvements identified in support for children in care and disabled children. Further work is needed to expand this improvement trajectory across all areas of practice.

The fundamentals in Wokingham are strong. We have one of the lowest rates of Children in Care nationally, in part, because of our progressive approach to prevention and diversion services. Our Early Help services include Children’s Centres and a vibrant Voluntary sector offer. 

Our partnership with Schools continues to strengthen as we work together on improving inclusion and services for Children with SEND.  With exceptional levels of investment from both the DfE and the Council to reform, innovate and expand provision in this area, including two new SEND free schools.

Children’s services are prioritised throughout the council, with high levels of support from elected members, support services and other council departments. 

Our Vision

Our vision is for Wokingham Borough to be a great place to live, learn, work, and grow and a great place to do business.

Our progressive and ‘be inspiring’ mindset, drives our ambition to make a difference and provide the best care, support and education to all children and young people across the borough. 

Wokingham is situated in the heart of Berkshire, an area with a strong and vibrant community and a fast-growing economy, close to London but surrounded by countryside, it is one of the most accessible locations in the southeast.

The Person

As our Statutory Director for Children’s Services, you will be a confident leader with experience of inspiring change and developing high performing teams, to positively impact and improve outcomes for children and their families.

Your visible leadership will impact beyond individual service areas and organisational boundaries to create solutions, build relationships, and inspire ideas that span the entire system across education and social care to build credibility with parents, partners, schools, the local community, and Ofsted.

Benefits

You will receive an extensive range of benefits including 31-36 days annual leave (depending on local government continuous service), a local government pension, flexible working arrangements, an employee assistance programme, a host of employee discounts and more.

For more information about this vacancy and our organisation, please visit our Microsite Welcome (wokingham.gov.uk)

For any enquiries please contact:

Lee Partridge, Resourcing Lead, lee.partridge@wokingham.gov.uk / 0118 237 8307.

Gemma Baker, HR Operations Manager, gemma.baker@wokingham.gov.uk / 0118 237 8293.

Closing date Sunday 19th November 2023, 11pm.

Technical Interviews Monday 27^th – Wednesday 29^th November 2023 (remote).

Stakeholder interviews and final committee interviews Monday 11^th December 2023.

Wokingham Borough Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff, other workers and volunteers to share this commitment. All successful candidates for this role will be subject to Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) checks along with other relevant employment checks. 
 
Wokingham is an equal opportunities employer.