Head of Regional Adoption Agency Family Adoption Links (FAL)

Family Adoption Links (FAL) is a Regional Adoption Agency that formally launched in October 2020 on behalf of Leicester, Leicestershire, North Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire Children’s Trust, Lincolnshire and Rutland Councils, with Lincolnshire County Council being the lead authority.

About the Role

The role of Head of Service Regional Adoption Agency is an exciting opportunity to lead and continue to develop the partnership to provide the best possible outcomes for children waiting to be adopted and potential adoptive families.

About You

We're seeking a dynamic and experienced leader to head up the service and inspire the team, providing motivation and strategic direction for the service.

The Partnership is looking for an exceptional individual to lead, drive and continue to develop the adoption service across the region. The successful candidate will be responsible for realising the partners’ shared vision of delivering excellence in every aspect of adoption and will influence key managers across the 6 partners in the provision of consistent service delivery. 

The right candidate will bring significant management experience along with an excellent understanding of the adoption sector. What will help them succeed, will be their ability to collaborate with and influence stakeholders at all levels and they will be comfortable managing the complexity of working across the different organisations. They will share our desire to engage with service users in the design and delivery of services and will have a natural ability to take people with them.

What you need to succeed:

• Significant experience in children’s social work as a Social Work England registered social worker.
• Extensive and detailed knowledge of adoption services and an understanding of the legislative and statutory obligations relevant to such services.
• A natural professional curiosity, horizon scanning for upcoming legislative or policy change.
• Inspirational, credible leadership and management capabilities.
• Able to contribute to operational and strategic development in relation to permanence planning across the partnership, driving improvement and reducing the duration of care for children who are adopted.
• Act as Lead Adoption Advisor across the five LAs and 1 Children’s Trust and to contribute to national and local developments to facilitate and enhance service delivery.
• Work within the political environment of the partnership and provide reports as and when required by the Governance Board, Politicians, Senior Officers and the Leaders of the Participating Local Authorities.

• Specifically report quarterly to each of the LAs via the Governance Board, performance against each of the delegated functions.

If you are passionate about adoption, you want to make a real difference to people’s lives and you think you have what it takes to rise to the challenge this role offers, we want to hear from you.

We are offering a competitive salary , along with a pension, a comprehensive benefits package including excellent discount schemes, cycle to work, civil service sports council membership and many areas for professional support and development.

 

Interviews will be held on 2nd October.

A Smarter Working Employer

We have embraced new ways of working and hybrid working will be a feature of this role. You will be given a nominated contractual work base and you will be required to commute to this work base when necessary.  Working arrangements regarding hybrid working will be discussed as part of the appointment process.

Our technology platform and equipment is very good enabling you to connect and collaborate remotely. We require that you have in place good connectivity, and we will discuss during the recruitment process if support with this is needed.

 

Please be advised that this position may be subject to a criminal record check.

All candidates are advised to read the attached job information pack prior to making an application.

On occasion we receive significantly more applications than expected for some vacancies and under such circumstances we reserve the right to bring forward the closing date of the advertisement. We therefore strongly advise you to apply for the role promptly to avoid disappointment should the closing date be brought forward. 

We operate a talent pool scheme whereby candidates who are not successful on this occasion may be considered for a period of up to 3 months for equal positions.

Lincolnshire County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

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