Durham County Council is proud of its strong legacy of excellence within Children’s Services. Following a period of significant transformation, the service has been rated Outstanding by Ofsted, reflecting the high quality of our practice, the strength of our leadership, and our unwavering commitment to improving outcomes for children, young people and families. We are now seeking an exceptional leader to join us as our Head of Children’s Social Care - a pivotal role offering the opportunity to build on an established record of success while driving forward innovation, inclusion, and meaningful impact. ABOUT THIS ROLE As Head of Children’s Social Care, you will provide strategic leadership across a broad portfolio of statutory and specialist services, ensuring that children are effectively safeguarded, supported, and given every opportunity to thrive. You will oversee assessment and safeguarding services, early help services, looked after children and permanence teams, fostering, adoption, residential care, and care leaver provision, ensuring each area delivers high-quality, compliant, and impactful practice. A key part of your leadership will involve working collaboratively with partners to implement robust safeguarding arrangements, maintain strong operational links with the family courts, and ensure that early help pathways and social care reforms are effectively embedded. You will also ensure that the council maintains a sufficient range of placements - both internal and commissioned - while working proactively with Ofsted and other inspection bodies to maintain excellence across regulated services. You will champion continuous improvement through strong quality assurance, effective performance management, and a culture of learning. As a senior leader within the council, you will also contribute to broader transformation priorities, provide clear leadership to teams and managers, oversee staffing and budgets, and maintain productive partnerships with internal and external stakeholders. In addition, you will play a key governance role by supporting the Corporate Parenting Panel and presenting to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, ensuring transparency, accountability, and a steadfast focus on the needs and experiences of children and young people. ABOUT YOU We are looking for a visionary, compassionate, and resilient leader with: A strong track record of delivering high-performing children’s social care services. Deep knowledge of statutory frameworks, regulatory requirements, and best practice. Proven experience of leading transformational change and service improvement. Excellent partnership-building skills and the ability to influence at a senior level. A passionate commitment to safeguarding, inclusion, and improving outcomes for children. INTERVIEWS Interviews will be take place on both Monday 13 and Tuesday 14 April 2026. OUR OFFER TO YOU We offer a competitive rewards package that includes attractive salaries, a generous annual leave entitlement of 27 days (rising to 32 after five years’ continuous local government service), membership of the excellent contributory career average Local Government Pension Scheme, and a range of flexible working arrangements including hybrid working (home and office) where applicable. Explore the full range of rewards and benefits on our website Rewards and benefits are subject to individual terms and conditions. REMOVAL AND LODGINGS Removal, lodging and separation expenses may be available to the successful candidate if at the time of application for appointment their place of residence is outside the administrative area of County Durham and more than 30 miles in a straight line from their new administrative centre, along with several other criteria for eligibility. EQUALITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION We are a proud equal opportunities employer and believe a diverse workforce brings fresh ideas and drives service improvement. We welcome applications from everyone and make employment decisions based on skills and ability. As a Disability Confident Leader, we actively encourage applications from disabled people and offer support throughout the recruitment process. CONNECT WITH US Follow us on Instagram Like us on Facebook Visit our website HOW TO APPLY Please submit a CV and include a personal statement to demonstrate that you have the essential and where possible, desirable experience, skills, and knowledge. Candidates who do not evidence that they meet the essential qualifications and experience listed on the person specification will not be short-listed. To find out more, please contact our retained consultants at Penna: Nick Raper on 07715 690463, or Kelly Ridley on 07709 512415 for a confidential conversation, or visit this link for further information and to apply. Important Information for Members of the Local Government Pension Scheme HM Revenue and Customs impose controls on the amount of pension savings you can make without having to pay extra tax. These controls are known as the Annual Allowance and Lump Sum Allowance. The Annual Allowance is the amount by which the value of your pension benefits may increase in any one year without you having to pay a tax charge. You are most likely to be affected by the Annual Allowance if you receive a significant pay increase, and/or you are a high earner. Two lump sum limits were also introduced in April 2024. If the value of all lump sums taken from UK pensions is higher than these limits, you will have to pay tax on any excess at your marginal rate. More information can be found at www.lgpsmember.org/your-pension/the-essentials/tax/ If you are successful in your application for this post and wish to find out more about these controls, please contact the Pension Section at pensions@durham.gov.uk VPRS/161