Social Work England is the specialist body that regulates social workers in their vital role. Every day, social workers support millions of people to improve their chances in life. We believe in the power of collaboration and share a common goal with those we regulate – to protect the public, enable positive change, and ultimately improve people’s lives. We have been established as a successful and values driven organisation. The assistant director role is a central part of the leadership that aims to build on the platform that has now been established, to have a significant impact on the quality of social work practice in England. The assistant director will work autonomously and alongside the executive lead team to continue to shape our leadership structure, to optimise service performance and reinforce our core values and behaviours throughout the organisation. They will play a key, visible, leadership role in delivering our statutory responsibilities, and contribute to the development and delivery of our corporate and organisational priorities. Our assistant directors will be accountable for delivery in their own areas of the business. They will also work together in collaboration with the executive directors, ensuring the effective delivery of our statutory and strategic objectives, deputising for the executive lead team and other assistant directors as appropriate. Together with the other assistant directors this role will build a suitable structure for the organisation, executing key decisions in relation to operations and finance as well as supporting and informing strategic direction. The assistant director will also give strategic direction to our heads of and be the escalation point for risk, feeding up to the executive directors, weighing and identifying corporate risk and appropriate mitigations. This role will contribute to our focus on delivering our ambitions as a regulator, and in delivering for people, and on our commitments to equality, diversity and inclusion. The team respect differences and make decisions that benefit the organisation. What you will do Corporate leadership: Deliver visible leadership of a multi-disciplinary team, developing and implementing our externally facing work aims and objectives. Support, manage and provide strategic direction to heads of functions to enable them to deliver the operational objectives within their area of responsibility. Act decisively and make robust, unbiased decisions at a strategic level and act as decision maker for agreed areas of our statutory framework. Support heads of function in their operational decision making in their respective areas. Be accountable to the executive director in relation to team, directorate and corporate risk, ensuring they are appropriately addressed, profiled and reviewed. Understand regulatory risk and the strategies that can be developed to reduce risk and prevent harm. Work alongside the executive director in ensuring that our external engagement and communication activities are undertaken with this in mind. Identify and implement organisational changes where necessary that enhance flexibility, responsiveness and quality of service. Establish, build and maintain relationships with our Board and the sponsor departments, the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care, as well as other key stakeholders. Attend meetings and networks as the representative for the team, directorate and wider organisation, deputising for executive directors and other assistant directors where appropriate. Role model our values and behaviours, inspiring and motivating leaders and our people to achieve our strategic objectives and to achieve our ambitions as a regulator. Deputise for executive directors and other assistant directors as necessary. Demonstrate clear commitment to coproduction with our National Advisory Forum, sector representatives and those with lived experience in all aspects of your work. Directorate specific: Be accountable for strategic engagement and communication across the organisation providing leadership on our strategic position across regulation and social work. Be accountable for strategic developments in relation to our performance and our impact as a regulator including externally, and alignment with other key national developments impacting on the social work profession. Play a leadership role from a policy perspective to improve and drive forward our approach to data collection, insight and analysis and how this is used to improve our performance as a regulator, and our understanding of the social work profession, working collaboratively with teams in other parts of the organisation including our data and insight team. In collaboration with key internal and external stakeholders, lead the development of guidance and regulatory frameworks in relation to data collection and insight. Lead on the delivery of high-quality authoritative publications on our findings and strategic intent on all matters relating to our regulation and social work. Lead on all aspects of our communication – internally and externally, using innovative and sector leading approaches to deliver clear (and sometimes complex) messages effectively and to enhance our leadership role in the sector. Provide support and advice to the organization on engagement with media (including social media) and developing and increasing our reach and profile nationally. Engage and involve relevant stakeholders in targeted ways as partners in the development of our work. Develop and lead a clear and complimentary strategy on communication and engagement, with a demonstrable impact. Establish relationships with other organisations, other regulators and act as a representative of Social Work England’s strategic work on behalf of the Executive director. Establish constructive working relationships with relevant government departments. Your skills, knowledge and experience A high level of representational, influencing, interpersonal and organisational skills. Extensive experience and knowledge in the field of communication, particularly in relation to social work and social care. The ability to deliver results through others and to negotiate effectively at senior levels A significant level of leadership and management experience together with extensive experience to operate at this level. Demonstrable credibility with key stakeholders. Extensive experience in the development of strategy, strategic planning and translating those into operational delivery. Politically aware, with the ability to consider the long-term implications of policy and other changes. The ability to interpret trends and developments and produce future policies and organisational strategies in the light of these. The ability to establish build and maintain relationships or partnerships with key stakeholders who are of strategic importance to the organisation. The ability to use advanced negotiating and influencing skills to implement organisational change. Experience of analysing complex or conflicting evidence and choosing the most appropriate of alternative solutions. A demonstrable commitment to diversity and inclusion. A demonstrable commitment to co-production. Details Job type: Permanent Working pattern: Full-time. We offer flexible working subject to business need. Salary: £76,808 per year Location: Sheffield/hybrid Benefits: flexible working, contributory pension, life insurance and benefits portal. Application During the application process, you'll be asked to provide answers to three questions from the job description. These answers will be what your application is scored on, please answer in as much detail as possible using examples where necessary. Job Type: Full-time Pay: £76,808.00 per year Benefits: Cycle to work scheme Free flu jabs Life insurance On-site gym Schedule: Monday to Friday Work Location: In person