About the team we are recruiting to

Children’s Services is a service area within Coventry City Council that supports children and families across the city. 

The vision and commitment of Children’s Services ensures that a high quality and child centred service is provided, ensuring the right help at the right time and engaging with partners.  

Children’s Services is committed to outcome-driven and impactful interventions and measures success by the outcome for children and families.  

The service reflects and responds to the changing needs of Coventry and its population and understands the need for a reflective and flexible service with a strong Early Help offer to provide early and targeted intervention so that families can access the support they need from a variety of partners and agencies.  

A successful recruitment and retention strategy has resulted in a committed and stable workforce who are dedicated to delivering excellent services to children and young people in Coventry.  

It is a great time to join our diverse workforce within Children’s Services, with great opportunities to develop your learning, ongoing training to improve practice, a clear way to progress through our progression pathway, and an engaging team that recognises success and values staff.  

What is the job role?

We are currently recruiting a Principal Social Worker to join our Senior Leadership Team in Children's Services (CSLT) to deliver the best outcomes for children.

As the successful Principal Social Worker you will provide leadership and professional support to social workers and be responsible for the development of social work practice and practice systems, promoting best practice which positively responds supports practitioners and the Council to meet the needs of children, young people and their families in the city.

You will receive, co-ordinate and represent the views and experiences of Social Workers to the Deputy Chief Executive, the Director of Children’s Services, and elected members in order to positively influence strategic and organisational decision taking and to ensure that there is a good understanding of how management and policy decisions impact on social care practice.

You will also promote, support and champion best, new and innovative social work  practice across the city within the Council and partner organisations, including further development of our award winning Social Work Academy.

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for an inspirational and innovative leader with significant knowledge and expertise in the practice and delivery of social work for children across a range of settings.

You will have detailed knowledge of current legislation, national standards and best practice affecting children's services, knowledge of national strategies, policies and frameworks for the provision of children's services and detailed knowledge of qualification and professional accreditation arrangements for social work learning and career pathways.

You will have highly developed interpersonal skills with the ability to establish relationships with all stakeholders, including children, young people and parents/carers as well as with professional colleagues, senior managers, elected members and partner agencies and have the ability to articulate a credible vision for social work in Coventry
and to engage others to commit to the vision.

You will have sound understanding of learning theory and practice, significant experience of delivering change in the context of service modernisation redesign and improvement along with significant experience in frontline social work including experience of working at a senior level within at least one of the professional disciplines represented.

For full details on the application process please read the attached document on our jobs page labelled 'Coventry City Council Application Process'

Interview date: 8th December 2020

About Coventry

Coventry is a lively, multicultural city, which embraces old and new. Around the modern city centre there are traces of history everywhere – in the old city walls, the timber-framed buildings and the reconstructed medieval Spon Street. But Coventry has always had an eye on the future, and is now firmly focused on regenerating and re-inventing itself to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. With major developments and new projects taking place right across the city, Coventry City Council is the place to be!

There's a huge buzz about the city – Coventry ranks as the 8th best city to live, work and do business in the UK, and is the UK City of Culture 2021 ! We believe this will help put Coventry on the map for all the right reasons. You can feel the sense of local pride throughout the city as we build towards this momentous year. It also offers a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to those joining us to play their part in it.

We genuinely believe that Coventry City Council is a special place. You will be joining Coventry City Council during an exciting time to become part of a team that contribute to achieving our visions for the city. We have made our council a place where we look after our people, making sure you're happy in your work and given everything you need to succeed. We've created friendly, welcoming workplaces where everyone is working towards the same cause, providing the best possible services for the city of Coventry.

As a Council with improvement at its heart, we’re committed to making life better for the people who live and work in Coventry. We’re equally concerned with the quality of life enjoyed by our people, so by joining us, you won’t just be helping the community, you’ll be helping yourself too.

Not only do you get to work alongside great people that are helping to improve services for our community we offer great benefits too! For your valued contribution we will provide a fantastic benefits package including;

• Flexible working arrangements
• Generous annual leave allowance starting at 27 days and rising to 32 days
• Pay progression through multiple increments
• Outstanding local government pension scheme
• Learning & Development with access to certified courses.
• Access to an award winning Occupational Health Team
• Vibrant employee networks 

Coventry City Council