Head of Practice
Our Heads of Practice provide inspirational leadership to our teams, ensuring the delivery of high quality services and practice across a geographical area.
They are responsible for leading practice improvement internally and influencing local delivery partners while other duties might involve work on strategic or complex operational matters.
Ultimately the focus of the role is to ensure that Cafcass priorities, policies and plans are delivered to the highest possible standard to ensure positive outcomes for children and young people.
Due to the geographical spread of our sites, Heads of Practice should expect a certain amount of travel although the provision of laptop or tablet device as well as a smart phone enables them to work court, home and our offices.
What you need
You will have demonstrable post qualifying experience in a social work setting or equivalent of working with children and families at a sufficient level to make an impact in this post.
As a leadership role, experience of effectively managing staff, service and budgets at a senior level across a wide range of functions is also a requirement. You must also have the experience and credibility to influence others and drive forward continuous improvement.
Let us tell you more…
“I started working for Cafcass in 2004 as a Service Manager. Prior to this I’d had local authority experience as a team and Service Manager. The work is very different. You still have the satisfaction of providing the very best outcomes for some of the most vulnerable children in our society, but you work within a very clear, time limited court structure which suited me down to the ground.
I’ve enjoyed the diverse range of work in Cafcass, my previous experience was in public law but the other half of our work is in private law and one of the key learning experiences for me is how we support the often hidden swathe of children affected by parental separation and conflict.
Cafcass is keen to support the career aspirations of its staff and my career in Cafcass has provided me with numerous promotion opportunities: from Enhanced Service Manager to Senior Service Manager. At the beginning of this year I accepted the post of Head of Practice. This gave me the opportunity to lead in a number of service areas and be part of the Operational Management Team and to influence developments nationally. As a manager in Cafcass there is a real sense of being able to influence best practice, lead innovation and be close to the key decision makers in Government.
Cafcass looks after its staff. The last few years have seen the implementation of an effective Health and Wellbeing service that has supported staff and enabled managers to draw on a variety of resources to develop personal resilience. It’s not just words, it works. Cafcass has some of the lowest sickness rates in the social work sector.
It’s both an exciting and challenging time for Family Justice, budgets are tight and the need to innovate and represent the interests for vulnerable children subject to family proceedings has never been greater.”
Spencer Hird, Head of Practice
With approximately 75% of our workforce qualified Social Workers, we’re the largest employer of Social Workers in England. Whether you’re looking for a frontline role or a managerial role, take a look at our current vacancies. If we aren’t currently recruiting for a role that interests you then you might want to register for our National Social Work Talent Pool.