Head of Family Help

London Borough of Lewisham
Salary £77,157 to £83,448
Hackney

Discover yourself in Lewisham where what you do makes a difference to our vibrant and culturally diverse communities!  We have a rich history of welcoming people from all over the world and are proud to be recognised as the UK’s first Borough of Sanctuary, for our work in championing the rights of refugees and migrants.

THE ROLE

Lewisham is recruiting to head of service posts in our newly established Family Help and Care Division and our Families, Quality and Commissioning Division. These services are part of our Children and Young People Directorate and provide help and support to children and families from our family hubs through to statutory child protection and children looked after services.

It’s an exciting time to join Lewisham as we are at the forefront of social work reform as a Wave 2 Families First for Children Pathfinder local authority. These posts are part of our reform programme and the redesign of how we deliver services to children and families in our borough. Lewisham will be taking a lead role in supporting other local authorities to embed the reforms as part of the wider DfE national roll out. We are very proud of what we have achieved in the first year as a Pathfinder authority.

These roles are based in our Family Help and Care service. Our Family Help services are being redesigned to provide a wide range of support to families with multi-agency partners from adult mental health, domestic abuse and substance misuse. We are developing specialist teams such as adolescent family help and a newborn team. The heads of service for Family Help will play a key role in the redesign and development of these services working with the wider partnership and lead the evolution of our practice with families and children. The postholder will be able to work effectively with partners and be creative and ambitious for children in our borough. You will be energised by the opportunity to lead a new service and have impact on a national level on social work practice.

INFORMATION

For further details, please click on the candidate pack, job description and useful links below, or for more information please contact Jamie Brown at jamie.brown@starfishsearch.com

Candidate Pack     Job Description     Children and Families Structure Chart     Directorate Structure    
Timeline

Closing Date: 27th April 2025

Technical Interviews: 12th & 16th May 2025

Panel Interviews: w/c 19th May 2025

Useful Links
Why Choose Lewisham? VIEW
Our Approach to Anti-Racism VIEW
Children's Social Care Wellbeing Week VIEW
Social work – it’s all about relationships! VIEW
Children's Social Care Training and Development VIEW
ITV Report: Access to the frontline of children’s social services VIEW
Inspection of Children's Services Report VIEW
Families First for Children Pathfinder Presentation VIEW
Families First for Children Pathfinder: Summary Design Specification VIEW
Directorate Structure Chart VIEW
Our Values VIEW
How to apply

To make an application, please click on the apply now button below, with the following prepared:

  • Your CV (no more than three sides of A4).
  • A supporting statement (no more than three sides of A4) that sets out why you think this role is the right move for you and how you meet the knowledge and experience criteria.

 

If our client is a member of the Disability Confident Scheme and you would like to apply under the scheme, please state that clearly at the top of your supporting statement, along with any adjustments you require to be made if invited for interview.

Apply