Head of Service Family Access & Support

Important Information for Current Barnet Council EmployeesWhere possible, employees who have access to Oracle are encouraged to apply via the Opportunity Marketplace (Internal Career Site). This helps to ensure applications are correctly identified as internal and avoids potential delays during the recruitment process.
 About Barnet CouncilBarnet is a borough with much to be proud of. Our excellent schools, vibrant town centres, vast green spaces and diverse communities all help make it a great place to live and work. As a council we want to build on these strengths as we move into the future. We are growing and developing as an organisation to meet the challenges facing our borough and we are committed to working with partner organisations and residents to make Barnet even better. As an organisation, our staff are committed to Our Values: Learning to Improve, Caring, Inclusive, Collaborative – which drive everything we do.
Head of Service Family Access & Support (MASH), Risk Outside the Home (ROTH) and Youth Justice About the role:

Lead for Barnet's Front Door, Contextual Safeguarding and Youth Justice Services:

This is an exceptional opportunity to join Barnet Children's Services at one of the most exciting and significant periods of reform in children's social care.

As we implement the Families First for Children reforms, we are redesigning how children, young people and families access help, support and protection. At the heart of this transformation is the evolution of our well-established Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) into the new Family Access and Support Service (FAS), creating a more accessible and strengths-based front door for families whilst maintaining a strong safeguarding response. 

We are seeking an outstanding leader to oversee Family Access and Support (formerly MASH), Risk Outside the Home (ROTH) and Youth Justice Services, leading some of the most visible and influential services within our safeguarding system. 

This is far more than a traditional Head of Service role.

As a member of the Children's Services Senior Leadership Team, you will lead Barnet's front door arrangements, adolescent safeguarding response and Youth Justice Service at a time of significant national reform and local transformation. You will play a key role in shaping how Barnet delivers Family Help, contextual safeguarding and integrated responses to children and families who require support, protection and intervention.

You will provide strategic leadership for:

• Family Access and Support (formerly MASH), including the Children's Out of Hours Service. [
• Risk Outside the Home (ROTH), our developing adolescent safeguarding and exploitation service. 
• Barnet's Youth Justice Service and Child First approach. 
• Strategic partnerships across safeguarding, community safety, education, health, police and the voluntary sector. [ 
• Service transformation, workforce development and continuous improvement. 

You will shape strategic direction, drive innovation, oversee performance and quality, and ensure children and families receive timely, effective and relationship-based support that improves lives. 
 

Please click here to download the Job description for this role. (Right-click and select “Open in new tab” so you can keep the job description open while completing your application)
About you

We are looking for a confident and values-led leader who is passionate about improving outcomes for children and young people.

You will be a qualified Social Worker with substantial leadership experience within Children's Social Care and a proven track record of delivering excellent services within complex multi-agency environments. 

You will bring:

• Significant experience of leading safeguarding, assessment, Family Help and/or front door services.
• Experience of working strategically across Youth Justice, adolescent safeguarding or wider partnership arrangements.
• Strong understanding of child protection, contextual safeguarding, exploitation and serious youth violence.
• Experience of managing large-scale change and service transformation.
• Strong partnership and influencing skills.
• Experience of leading high-performing teams and developing future leaders.
• A commitment to relationship-based, strengths-led and child-centred practice.
• The ability to balance strategic vision with operational delivery. 

Why Join Barnet?

Barnet is ambitious for its children, young people and families.

We are investing in reform, innovation and workforce development, creating services that are better connected, more effective and focused on delivering the best possible outcomes.

This role provides a unique opportunity to:

• Lead the future development of Barnet's front door services.

• Shape our response to adolescent safeguarding, exploitation and serious youth violence.

• Influence strategic Youth Justice delivery through a Child First approach.

• Deliver meaningful change through the Families First reforms.

• Work alongside an experienced, supportive and ambitious senior leadership team.

• Have genuine influence over system-wide improvement across children's services and our safeguarding partnership. 

  If you are an inspiring leader with the vision, ambition and expertise to help shape the future of Children's Services in Barnet, we would love to hear from you.

  Join us and help create safer childhoods, stronger families and better futures for Barnet's children and young people.
   

  What we offer 

• 31 days annual leave, plus public and bank holidays

• Access to the Local Government Pension Scheme, which provides a valuable guaranteed income in your retirement together with security for your dependents

• A comprehensive Flexible Working Policy which supports work-life balance by empowering staff and management to make decisions around when, where, and how work is done

• A vast range of lifestyle discounts from major retailers, supermarkets, energy suppliers and more

• Broad range of payroll benefits including cycle to work, eye care vouchers, travel and gym membership

• Excellent training and development opportunities

• Employee well- being training programs including confidential employee assistance 

How to apply Read the job description and person specification before clicking ‘Apply’ to commence the online application form. If you would like any further information about the role before applying, please contact Karen.Popely@Barnet.gov.uk  System notice: Some dates shown on our online application system (such as “Apply Before”) appear in US date format (MM/DD/YYYY) due to Oracle system settings.
Artificial intelligence (AI) can be a useful tool to support your application as a reasonable adjustment, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn, escalated to counter Fraud for further investigation and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Barnet 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. Barnet operates stringent safer recruitment procedures, this may include AI Detection Screening, Biometric ID/Right to Work Checks, Qualification and Registration Checks, Up to 6 years of Employment Data and Insights to Accelerate Screening (Konfir), Up to 5 years of Employment History References, DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) Checks, Credit Checks and Social Media, Sanctions and Occupational Health Screening.
To deliver Barnet Council’s commitment to equality of opportunity in the provision of services, all staff are expected to promote equality in the workplace and in the services the Council delivers. As such we value diversity and welcome applications from all backgrounds.Barnet Council embraces all forms of flexible working (including part-time, compressed hours, and hybrid working) and is committed to offering employees a healthy work-life balance. Candidates are encouraged to talk about relevant requirements and preferences at interview. We can’t promise to give you exactly what you want, but we do promise not to judge you for asking.
Barnet Council is a Disability Confident Committed Employer. We welcome and encourage job applications of all abilities. If you require any reasonable adjustments in the application or interview, please contact the lead contact on this advert. We will make reasonable adjustments to make sure our disabled applicants and those with health conditions are supported throughout our recruitment process. We support the access to work scheme, further details are available at www.gov.uk/access-to-work/apply 
All posts with the council are subject to a probationary period of six months, during which time you will be required to demonstrate to the council satisfaction your suitability for the position in which you will be employed. Due to the high number of applications that are received for some posts we may close vacancies before the stated closing date if sufficient number of applications are received. Therefore, please apply as soon as possible. Please ensure you regularly check the email account (including JUNK MAIL folders) that you use to submit your application, as any further communication regarding your application will be sent electronically. Should you not hear from us within four working weeks of the closing date for this post, then regretfully in this instance, you have not been shortlisted. 

Responsibilities