Title

WORKFORCE

Director of Specialist Children's Services

We need a seasoned social work professional to put safeguarding high on the agenda.

Improving the life chances of vulnerable children and young people are of paramount importance to Kent County Council, the largest Local Authority in England. We have recently appointed a new Corporate Director of Families and Social Care and this is your chance to strengthen the Directorate's senior management team.

You will lead and commission all elements of children's social services planning operations, provision, and performance. Your focus will be on the evolution and promotion of initiatives and services relating to adoption, fostering, care leavers and unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC). You'll also be responsible for support for children with disabilities.

It's likely that you're a highly qualified social worker with a track record of achievement at a senior and strategic level, including leading safeguarding and looked-after children's services. Your wide-ranging experience of partnership workingwith other agencies will be matched by a flair for delivering change.

If you would like to be part of the team that is set to transform the education of children and young people in Kent please visit our website.

For an informal conversation about this opportunity with the Corporate Director, Andrew Ireland, please contact Lesley Standring on 01622 696083.

WORKFORCE

Leadership capacity – the key to social care reform

By Nik Shah | 11 December 2025

Nik Shah reflects on a survey that finds confidence in social care reform is rising, but confidence in the leadership pipeline isn’t.

WORKFORCE

The cost of improvement in children's social care

By William Burns | 02 December 2025

William Burns says that improvement to children’s social care is both complex, costly and long term. But Wakefield and Medway show that when councils commit ...

WORKFORCE

NCASC: Children's minister pledges to 'reinvent' fostering

By Ann McGauran | 27 November 2025

The children’s minister has pledged to expand and ‘reinvent’ fostering to reverse the ‘expensive and inappropriate’ growth of residential care.

WORKFORCE

Ofsted to drop headline 'one word' judgement for children's services inspections

By Ann McGauran | 27 November 2025

Ofsted has confirmed plans to change inspections of local authorities’ children’s services (ILACS) in 2026 and 2027, including removing the overall effective...