As Workforce Development Manager, you will play a pivotal role in shaping, delivering and evaluating a workforce development offer that supports high quality practice across Children's Services. Working under the leadership of the Principal Social Worker, you will lead on the delivery of the workforce development strategy, learner programmes and career pathways that strengthen recruitment, retention, progression and succession planning.
Responsibilities
* You will oversee social work entry pathways and learner programmes, including ASYE, apprenticeships, students, return to practice routes and practice educator development, ensuring they are well designed, effectively delivered and continuously improved.
* You will lead training needs analysis across the workforce, using insight from data, evaluation and feedback to inform training priorities and align workforce development activity with organisational improvement and statutory requirements.
* You will work in close partnership with managers, advanced practitioners, QA and practice improvement colleagues, HR and wider partners to embed a strong learning culture.
* You will champion Bolton's Practice Approach, practice standards and values, ensuring learning is purposeful, practice focused and translates into improved outcomes for children, young people and families.
* As a member of the Principal Social Work management team, you will provide professional challenge, influence strategic decision making and contribute to inspection readiness and service improvement.
* You will also represent Bolton through partnership working and external engagement, helping to position the council as a credible, supportive and aspirational place to work and learn.
Qualifications
* You are an experienced and credible registered social worker, with significant post qualifying experience in children's social work and a strong commitment to developing a confident, capable and values led workforce.
* You have a deep understanding of statutory children's services, current legislation and national drivers, and what good practice looks like in complex, pressurised environments.
* You ideally bring strong expertise in workforce development, learning culture design and programme delivery, with experience of leading social work entry pathways, ASYE and learner programmes, and supporting career progression.
* You are skilled in training needs analysis, evaluation and reporting, using insight to shape effective, evidence informed development activity that has tangible impact on practice.
* You are confident working strategically and operationally, able to manage multiple priorities and lead complex workstreams while maintaining focus on quality and outcomes.
* You have strong influencing and communication skills, enabling you to work effectively with senior leaders, managers, practitioners and partners, and to provide constructive challenge where needed.
* You are organised, reflective and resilient, with excellent written and verbal communication skills.
* You are committed to partnership working, continuous improvement and professional development, and you model Bolton's values in everything you do.
* Above all, you are motivated by making a difference, creating the conditions in which practitioners can thrive and deliver the best possible outcomes for children and families.
Essential Requirements
* DBS, Registered with SW England and be at least five years post qualified with experience working in a children's social work setting.
* Must have a Social Work Qualification and registered with Social Work England.
* This post is a designated customer facing role under the fluency duty and requires a specified level of spoken English as per the person specification.
Benefits
* Including discounts and exclusive gym membership prices and salary sacrifice schemes.
* We offer a generous annual leave allowance, flexible work opportunities, access to a Pension Scheme, as well as a range of employee wellbeing and support services.
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