Head of Independent Review
| Posting date: | 19 September 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | Not specified |
| Additional salary information: | Competitive |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 19 October 2025 |
| Location: | Oldham, OL1 1HD |
| Company: | inploi |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 75743713 |
Summary
People and Place
Head of Independent Review
Ref: 001046
Contract: Permanent
Salary: £60,000 - £63,305 per annum (SM2)
Hours: 36.66 per week
Based: Spindles and Rock Street
Closing Date: Sunday 5th October 2025
Shortlisting: Monday 6th October 2025
Interview: TBC
Informal Enquiries: Anthony Decrop, Director Children’s Social Care and Early Help
Email: Anthony.decrop@oldham.gov.uk
Why should you work in Oldham?
Officially rated as a ‘Good’ by Ofsted, we are proud of our relentless approach in seeking the very best outcomes for our children and families, and there’s never been a better time to join the team and be part of our success story.
Oldham is a wonderful place of diversity, where people of all cultures come together. This is one our greatest strengths and our social workers enjoy using a breadth of skills and gaining a variety of experiences whilst supporting children and families from diverse backgrounds.
We use systemic practice as our chosen practice model, focusing on building relationships with children and families, understanding the context and family dynamics, and reflectively learning together. 2024 has seen the launch of our new systemic reflective hubs, as our Social Work Academy continues to offer reflective supervisions and tailored support through an innovative 2-year ASYE programme.
We have a strong ethos of ‘Growing our own’, providing a great environment to excel in your social work career.
You will be rewarded with great benefits:
- Hybrid working giving flexibility for you to manage your diary and offer a better work/life balance.
- Reimbursement of Social Work England professional registration fees, currently £90 per year
- 25 days annual leave with the option to purchase additional days, and which increases after 5- and 10-years’ service.
- Attractive defined benefit pension scheme with a market leading AVC option for additional retirement savings
- Discounted gym membership
- Staff discount scheme for shopping, entertainment, eating-out, eating-in, travel, motoring and more.
- Salary sacrifice scheme, including Cycle to Work
- Wellbeing support, including an Employment Assistance Programme that provides 24 hours access to advice and support.
- Staff recognition and celebration events
Our employees say
“One of the reasons I’ve worked here for so long is because it’s like a family and a listening organisation, where people are encouraged to participate and get involved”.
“Our Social Worker teams are friendly, approachable and professional”.
“We all want to make a difference to the families and children that we work with”.
“Oldham values the person, the families, and the inclusive culture”.
Hear more from our employees and explore our Social Work Academy offer here
Ofsted says
“Children are well supported by social workers, who ensure that their health, education and emotional needs are met”.
“Staff are tenacious”.
“Children and families in Oldham benefit from a comprehensive range of early help services”.
“There is strong partnership working”.
“Senior leaders promote the participation of cared for children and actively seek their voice in developing and shaping service delivery”.
“Relentless focus on improvement by a strong and stable leadership team, with progress made across many areas of practice,”
About the Role:
The role will provide direct line management to the Safeguarding Unit which consists of an IRO team and a Conference and Review team. The successful applicant will play an integral role in supporting the delivery of Families First Partnership Programme in Oldham with involvement in our approach to multi agency child protection. We are committed to achieving excellence across our services to meet the highest standards for Children’s Social Care.
The successful applicant will need to deliver effective safeguarding assurance functions through the IRO and Conference and Review service, communicating practice intelligence about the effectiveness of safeguarding services internally to senior managers.
You will have experience of social work management and a strong track record in delivering quality services. The role delivers a quality assurance function across children’s services and your experience will reflect this.
With a thorough working knowledge of Children’s Services best practice, you will have a detailed understanding of the range of issues and challenges facing Children’s Social Care both operationally and strategically.
You will understand the key principles of good social work practice, with the ability to link theory to practice to justify interventions and outcomes of the staff you have management responsibility for.
We want all children in Oldham to thrive and therefore if you feel you can support, develop and implement this ambition, we would love to hear from you.
If you join us, we will develop and reward you for your expertise. We will make sure you have access to support and professional development opportunities to continually improve your practice and advance in your career.
What we need from you:
All applicants must meet the relevant criteria, including the right to work in the UK. We do not accept applications from candidates who require sponsorship.
Oldham Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. All roles require strong commitment to securing good outcomes for children, operating in a supportive environment focused on effective delivery, including identifying and responding appropriately to any safeguarding concerns, ensuring the immediate decision making reflects an analysis of risk and protective factors.
Diversity and Inclusion:
We are committed to creating a fair and inclusive workplace that is as diverse as the communities we serve. We aim to develop a culture of respect, where differences are recognised regardless of background. We aim to be an employer of choice by engaging in fair and open recruitment processes and applications are encouraged from all communities across the borough to create a workforce that represents the diversity of our population.
If you would like support with this application, an interview or interested in looking at any courses that could help with this position please get in touch with Get Oldham Working.
If you have completed the GM Elevate (Leadership Development) Programme, please indicate this within the ‘About You’ or ‘Supporting Statement’ section of your application.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and therefore expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
About Us:
We want Oldham to have vibrant, safe neighbourhoods where people are proud to live with opportunities for healthier, more fulfilled lives; and a sustainable, thriving economy. As we look to the future, the challenges may be significant, but so are the opportunities. We’ve identified three missions with our residents and partners, focusing on what will deliver the biggest impact:
A Great Place to Live, Healthier, Happier Lives, and Green and Growing.
We’re looking for candidates who will support us to achieve our ambitions and we encourage you to download our Corporate Plan: Ready for the Future and our Oldham Plan for further information.
Our Values and Behaviours:
By driving innovation, investing in our people, and championing our communities, we will ensure that Oldham continues to be a place where everyone can live their best life. To support this, we have three core values which define who we are and how we operate. These are ‘Proud, Ambitious, and Together’, and they shape our culture, inform our decisions, and inspire us to deliver on our commitments to the people of Oldham.
We have translated these values into five behaviours which guide our actions and are the standards we hold ourselves to, day in and day out:
- Work with a resident focus
- Support local leaders
- Committed to the borough
- Delivery high performance
- Take ownership and drive change
You can find out more about our values and behaviours on our greater.jobs Oldham page
Our Benefits Package:
At Oldham Council we offer a great benefits package for our employees, which includes the following:
- 25 days annual leave which increases after 5 and 10-years’ service
- The option to purchase additional annual leave.
- An attractive LGPS benefit pension scheme with the option to make shared cost additional voluntary contributions.
- Discounted gym membership with Oldham Active.
- Staff discount scheme for shopping, entertainment, eating-out, eating-in, travel, motoring and more.
- Salary sacrifice scheme for home and electronics and Cycle to Work.
- Wellbeing support, including a Mental Health First Aider network and an Employment Assistance Programme that provides 24 hours access to advice and support.
- Staff recognition and celebration events.
- Peer support groups
Inclusive Recruitment:
We work closely with employees to help them work at their best, including making adjustments such as flexible working, describing available working patterns, providing equipment or making changes to the workplace.
If you’re an applicant with disabilities and have previously been in or currently in care, a carer or someone who has served in the Armed Forces and you meet the essential criteria of the role, you are guaranteed to reach the first stage of assessment under our Guaranteed Assessment Scheme.
Data and Privacy:
For details of how we use your data please see our privacy notice.
Important Information:
Please note that should a vacancy that has been released for internal or external recruitment be deemed suitable for a current employee at risk of redundancy, it can be pulled back at any point, up to the post being formally offered to a candidate who is not at risk of redundancy.
While we embrace the use of AI as an innovative tool to maximise our services at Oldham Council, we are looking for authenticity in applications we receive. We therefore ask you to think carefully if choosing to use AI when completing your application and ask that you ensure you read all instructions carefully and that your application is written by you and reflects your skills, knowledge and enthusiasm.
↗ Right To Work
Calculate your take home pay. Use this service to estimate how much Income Tax and National Insurance you should pay for the current tax year.
Employment could affect your benefits, find out more here. Turn2us Benefits Calculator.