Job Description

Purpose-

• Act as lead for developing, monitoring and evaluating the quality of Safeguarding and Care practice in as identified through relevant frameworks, assisting councillors and senior managers in the challenge to improve social care practice.
• Lead and drive social care practice audits, ensuring they are of high quality and are supported by sound knowledge of what good practice is required in each service area.
• Undertake detailed analysis of audits and complex performance data, providing reports, presentations and information appropriate for a range of audiences including managers, councillors and employees.
• Undertake independent audits of social care cases and report findings to senior managers, providing challenge regarding practice in order to drive improvements.
• Drive improvement planning through participation in senior management meetings, audits, completion of high level reports and action plans, as well as the development of policies, procedures and training workshops and/or programmes aimed at embedding good practice.
• Author policies, procedures and guidance for social care and the multi-agency workforce, as identified through quality assurance activity, annual reviews, changes in legislation and national best practice.
• Lead on ensuring quality assurance information and communications are cascaded from senior managers to front line employees. Utilising available resources.
• Work with managers and the workforce to embed policies and procedures into practice, measuring the impact of such activities over time.
• Support internal and external inspection work including preparing for and dealing with statutory assessments as well as commissioned peer reviews.
• Support and drive the engagement of staff in quality assurance activities.
• Develop and maintain the policy and communications index for the service.
• Undertake any other duties commensurate with the role as requested by management.

Outcomes-

• To contribute to the quality assurance process within the Children and Young People Directorate, in partnership with all stakeholders to ensure that the best possible outcomes are achieved for Wakefield citizens by:
• Ensuring a customer focused approach to supporting services to continuously improve.
• Monitoring and tracking the Government's quality and performance assessment framework and support the Partnership and Children and Young People Directorate to maximise their performance through supporting the continuous development of services.
• Undertaking project work to support quality and performance improvement including service evaluation..
• Promoting the understanding and use of Management Information by identifying management information needs and ensuring the provision of appropriate support.
• Collecting, interpreting and reporting appropriate intelligence to support effective service planning and commissioning.
• To proactively seek 'best practice' in relation to Children and Young People Services at local and national levels.
• Seeking innovative approaches for efficient production and analysis of management information, utilising the Internet, Intranet, mapping and other available software.
• Establish effective working relationships with colleagues across the Partnership and other agencies to produce management information necessary for the completion of key data.
• Contribute to the development and design of services through supporting the collation and interpretation of service users' feedback and experiences of current service delivery and their future expectations.
• Support the development within the Children's Partnership and Children and Young People Directorate of the necessary infrastructure and processes to ensure robust planning and decision making.
• Lead and drive social care practice audits, ensuring they are of high quality and are supported by sound knowledge of what good practice is required in each service area.
• Undertake detailed analysis of audits and complex performance data, providing reports, presentations and information appropriate for a range of audiences including managers, councillors and employees
• Undertake independent audits of social care cases and report findings to senior managers, providing challenge regarding practice in order to drive improvements.
• Drive improvement planning through participation in management meetings, audits, completion of high level reports and action plans, as well as the development of policies, procedures and training workshops and/or programmes aimed at embedding good practice.
• Author policies, procedures and guidance for social care and the multi-agency workforce, as identified through quality assurance activity, annual reviews, changes in legislation and national best practice.
• Lead on ensuring quality assurance information and communications are cascaded from senior managers to front line employees. Utilising available resources.
• Support internal and external inspection work including preparing for and dealing with statutory assessments as well as commissioned peer reviews.
• To promote effective partnership working, supporting opportunities to work together to realise maximum benefits for the Directorate, the Council and Citizens.
• Contribute to the management and operation of the Children and Young People Directorate, participating where appropriate in key initiatives to ensure quality services and high organisational performance is achieved.
• Undertake any other duties commensurate with the role as requested by management.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities