Assistant Director for Suffolk Cares (Redeployment)

• Suffolk County Council  
• Address: Endeavour House, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 2BX 
• Salary: £91,136 per annum 
• Hours: 37 hours per week flexible working options available  
• Contract: Permanent 

As Assistant Director for Suffolk Cares, you will be the strategic leader for children and young adults who are in our care or have left our care. You will be responsible for improving practice, strengthening partnerships and making sure children and young adults receive the right support at the right time. 

Your role and responsibilities  

This is a senior leadership role with direct accountability for the quality, performance and impact of corporate parenting services. You will:  

• Lead services for children in care and care leavers, including fostering, adoption and residential children’s homes.  
• Act as the champion for children and young adults who are in, or have left, our care, ensuring their voices shape services and decision-making. 
• Lead and influence complex partnerships across the Suffolk system to improve outcomes for our Care Experienced Community. 
• Drive continuous improvement, ensuring services are effective, high quality and focused on achieving the best possible outcomes. 
• Provide strong leadership across people, performance, resources and governance within a large and complex service area. 
• Champion a culture of collaboration, innovation and co-production, working alongside children, young people, families, carers and partners. 
• Be a critical part of achieving a good inspection outcome. 

We support hybrid and flexible working, however, in this role you’ll be expected to provide visible, accessible leadership across the organisation and with our partners. This means you'll regularly work from our offices and across Suffolk. 

About you 

We are looking for a senior leader who understands children’s social care and can lead improvement across a complex system. You will need:  

• A strong commitment to improving the lives of children and young people. 
• A Social Work qualification and registration with the relevant Social Work regulatory body.  
• Significant senior leadership experience within social care, children's services or a related field. 
• Strong knowledge of social care practice, statutory responsibilities and Ofsted inspection frameworks.  
• Experience leading service improvement or transformation across multiple agencies.  
• Experience of leading large, multidisciplinary teams and managing complex budgets.  
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills with senior leaders, elected members, partners, staff, children, young adults, families and carers.  

You can view a full list of requirements in the Job and Person Profile (JPP), which you can find in the ‘How to apply’ section towards the bottom of this advert.   

Empowering Everyone  

We’re big believers in potential, possibility and the power of different ideas. We’re always searching for ways to encourage, respect and enable everyone to be the best they can be. We want to represent the diverse communities we serve. We welcome applications from all individuals, especially those from groups that are currently underrepresented in the organisation, as shown in our Workforce Equality Report. 

For more information  

Please contact Hayley Griffin for a conversation about the role. You can reach her by emailing [email protected].  

How to apply 

Step 1 - Read the Job and Person Profile (Word) and Role Addendum (Word). 

Step 2 - Click ‘Apply Now’ to start your online application. 

Step 3 - Upload an up-to-date CV and supporting statement: 

Please upload an up-to-date copy of your CV together with a supporting statement explaining your motivation for applying for the role and demonstrating how your experience, achievements and leadership approach equip you to deliver the role's key priorities and responsibilities. Please use specific examples to demonstrate the outcomes and impact of your work. 

• You should use the Supporting Statement template (Word). 
• Please use Arial font size 11 and keep your statement to a maximum of two sides of A4. 

For guidance on completing your application, please see our How to Apply page. 

Planning to use Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Please ensure your application still reflects your own skills, experience and ideas. If used inappropriately, your application may not be processed. Please read our guidance for using AI to understand what’s acceptable. 

Do you need any reasonable adjustments to help you to apply? If you are disabled and/or have additional support needs, you can request reasonable adjustments. You can do this by contacting our Recruitment Team at [email protected] or 03456 014412.  You can find examples of possible adjustments on our Reasonable Adjustment pages.  

Closing date: 12:00pm, 14 August 2026

This authority 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. DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks or police vetting will be required for relevant posts.