Head of Service (relocate to Cyprus)

Salary: £48,000 plus on-call payments

Specific Hours: 37.5 hours per week

Contract: Full time, permanent

Location: British Forces Cyprus (BFC)

Base Location: Episkopi, Cyprus

Reporting to: Head of Service, British Forces Social Work Service, Cyprus (BFSWS)

Benefits: 24 Days Annual Leave plus Bank Holidays as normally observed in Cyprus, Life Insurance x 2, Employee Discount Scheme, potential to earn up to an extra £2150 through out of hours payments as part of an out of hours duty manager rota.

About Us:

Polaris Children's Services is part of the Polaris Community of companies and delivers statutory and non-statutory social care services in the UK and to military communities overseas.

Since 2014 we have provided Social Work services to the Ministry of Defence in Germany, and in November 2019 expanded our overseas work with the British military, associated civilian personnel, and their families across Europe, Canada, Kenya, Belize, the United States of America and Saudi Arabia.

From 1^st July 2020 we expanded our services further to include The South Atlantic Islands.

On 1^st April 2021 included Singapore, British Indian Ocean Territories (BIOT) and Gibraltar.

From 1^st May 2022 the service expanded to include Brunei and Nepal.

On 1^st July 2022 we further expanded our services to include Cyprus.

While all services are under the management of Polaris Children's Services we are proud to have developed our own BFSWS brand with specific identities for each community of military social work service. As such we have a new opportunity in the Polaris Children Services, British Forces Social Work team in Cyprus for a Head of Service to join our team.

Responsibilities

• The Head of Service will work in accordance with the vision, aims and objectives of the BFSWS, Service Charter, Strategic and Service Delivery Plans, the Local Safeguarding Board Child Protection Procedures, the principles of the Children Act and requirements around services for adults at risk
• To provide an effective, high quality social work service that is fully compliant with UK statutory standards, regulations, the Armed Forces Act 1991 and accompanying regulations.
• To provide overall leadership and management to the British Forces Social Work Service in Cyprus. This includes overall management of staff, service provision at strategic level, and being the lead contact for partner agencies and Command Personnel within British Forces Cyprus (BFC).
• To operate in line with the Professional capabilities framework at strategic level.
• To lead, develop and deliver a range of integrated services under the current contract which meet the needs of service personnel, children, young people and their families as well as for any civilians and their families supporting British Forces Cyprus who fall under the chain of command responsibility.
• To ensure that the work of the team complies with statutory duties and KPI requirements.
• To review contract compliance, and report non-compliance to the key stakeholders. Assess and reduce risk in relation to contract compliance.
• To ensure consistent service standards of delivery against the agreed activity dataset and key performance indicators for the service.
• To identify and report to the appropriate authorities any gaps in service provision, unmet need, key themes and trends along with associated risks and how these will be mitigated.

Click 'Apply' for a full list of tasks and responsibilities.

Requirements

• Experience of working at a strategic level and an understanding of the military environment. Understanding of the structures and systems in place which provide the framework for undertaking all relevant duties as a Head of Service.
• Will require a Professional Social Work qualification (BA (Hons), DIP SW, CQSW, CSS) and must be registered with Social Work England or equivalent.
• To have successfully completed a Post Qualifying Award in Social Work
• Management qualification - desirable
• 5 years' post qualification experience within a social work management role
• Experience in a broad range of social work roles
• Computer literacy skills
• Experience of report writing to a high level
• A comprehensive working knowledge of relevant legislation and child /adult safeguarding procedures
• The willingness and ability to work flexibly, including travel across Cyprus and the UK. This may include some weekend and evening working.
• Full driving licence for manual cars
• Participate in the Out of Hours duty management rota - essential.
• The successful candidate if recruited from the UK will be supported to attain the legal right to reside and work in British Forces, Cyprus. Other benefits such as accommodation, education, health support and moving costs is negotiated and confirmed during 'on boarding' process.
• If recruited from within Cyprus it is expected you already have the right to residence (MEU1 or MEU3) and work permits are already in hand.