Location: Northallerton, North Yorkshire

Salary:  From £58,239 up to £67,030 per annum

Grade: SM1

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full-time/ 37 hours

We very much promote flexible working with the ability to work remotely from a variety of bases as well as from home.

North Yorkshire Council have a national reputation for excellence, and we are looking for an Effective Practice and Quality Assurance Group Manager to join our Children and Young People’s Services.

Do you have a passion for ensuring that children and young people receive the best care and support possible? This is an excellent opportunity to become part of a well-established, highly regarded team, who are determined to achieve the highest standards of care and safety for children and young people.

About the role

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, embed and monitor quality practice and assurance across all Children and Families teams. Including Inspection readiness, participation and preparation.
• Knowledge and experience of the full range of inspection regimes
• Ability to plan, lead and deliver Sector Led Improvement work nationally
• Management of a team of Independent Reviewing Officers, including practice improvement, team development and HR matters as necessary.
• Oversee the quality of children’s care plans and IRO activity, including the integration of this across all the services for children and their families.
• Understand, analyse and present complex data, to a wide range of audiences, using a range of methods. The ability to produce high quality reports and evidence.
• Forge and sustain strong partnerships with internal and external agencies and partners relating to early help, safeguarding, LAC, foster care and adoption.
• Contribute to the NYSCP and attend subgroups as delegated to ensure effective actions from practice learning, participation in learning reviews, CDOP and multi-agency QA activity
• Ability to deliver training and development sessions to teams across the service
• Work collaboratively across teams and directorates within the Council
• Ensure policies, systems and procedures promote full participation of children and families and comply with confidentiality and data-protection requirements.
• Oversee complex complaints and escalations; ensure lessons learned drive practice change.
• Knowledge and experience of workforce development, recruitment and participation, including a good understanding of all the proposed Government reforms
• Experience of contract and budget management

You will need to be a qualified social worker with extensive post qualifying management experience. You will have excellent organisational skills alongside the capacity to meet demanding targets to ensure best outcomes for our children within North Yorkshire.

We are seeking applicants with a good understanding of planning for children and excellent communication skills with children, families and professionals. You should have post-qualifying experience and a proven track record of children and family social work including substantial experience in child protection and planning for looked after children. Experience in chairing complex meetings and a good working knowledge of childcare legislation is required, alongside high levels of adaptability and energy to drive service improvements in ensuring the best outcomes for children.

What we can offer

·       Generous Annual Leave:
28 days of holiday (pro-rata), increasing to 34 days after 5 years’ service – plus public holidays.

• Pension Scheme:
  Save for your future with our generous Local Government Pension Scheme.
• Fitness Discounts:
  Discounted Gym memberships at various gyms across the county.
• Lifestyle Savings:
  Enjoy a wide range of discounts at hundreds of popular high-street and online retailers.
• And more:
  Additional wellbeing support, employee assistance, and development opportunities.

North Yorkshire as a county also benefits from excellent road and rail links, with easy access to bordering regions such as Yorkshire & Humber, Lincolnshire and East Riding, all of which are easily commutable to our great county, some members of our team travel from surrounding towns and cities including York, Beverley and Whitby.

If you have the necessary skills and experience for this post, we look forward to hearing from you.

We welcome any interested applicants to contact Samantha Clayton (Head of Effective Practice and QA) on Samantha.Clayton@northyorks.gov.uk for an informal conversation

We welcome individuals looking to relocate, for further information please see our Relocation Policy

Key dates

Closing date: Sunday 14^th September 2025

Interview date: Monday 22^nd September in person at County Hall, Northallerton.

We look forward to exploring your interest and receiving your application.

Key documents

Total Rewards

Enhanced Level DBS Disclosure is required for appointment to this post.

NYCC are committed to directly recruiting staff and will not accept applications nor services from agency suppliers in respect of our vacancies.

We are committed to meeting the needs of our diverse community and aim to have a workforce reflecting this diversity. We are also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.