HoS Principal Social Worker (PSW) & Strategic Lead for Quality Assurance & Safeguarding

Job description

Contract Terms

Contract Type: Full -Time, Permanent
Salary: HC3 £98,457 – £115,239 per annum
Interview: w/c 24th November 2025
Closing Date: Sunday 9th November 2025

About Haringey

Haringey is a fantastic place to live and work – the world in one borough. A place brimming with creativity, personality, radicalism, and community. It is a place where we stand up for each other. A place that is proudly distinctive. We’ll be celebrating all this and more as the “rebel borough” when we are the 2027 London Borough of Culture.

Our history champions change-makers and everyday rebels; revelling in our differences, battling discrimination, championing equality, and doing things our own way. Haringey’s people are a huge asset, with knowledge, expertise, and passion. Our staff members embody our organisational values: Caring, Creative, Courageous, Collaborative and Community-focused. These values keep us looking forward, ambitious for the future, and continuously striving to do our very best for all of our residents.

About the role

We are seeking an exceptional and visionary social care leader to take on the pivotal role of Head of Service – Principal Social Worker (PSW) and Strategic Lead for Quality Assurance & Safeguarding. This is a senior leadership position within Adult Social Care, responsible for ensuring excellence in Social Work practice, safeguarding (governance and development of the Safeguarding Adults Board), and quality assurance across the Service. You will play a key role in shaping policy, driving improvement, and embedding a culture of continuous learning, innovation, and accountability.

As Principal Social Worker, you will provide professional leadership to the Adult Social Work workforce, championing strengths-based and rights-focused practice aligned with the Care Act 2014 and CQC standards. You will also advise senior leaders on professional matters and ensure that Social Work practice remains person-centred, and focused on independence, choice and control.

As Strategic Lead for Quality Assurance and Safeguarding, you will oversee robust safeguarding governance across the service, lead the Safeguarding Adults Board, and ensure lessons from Safeguarding Adult Reviews translate into tangible service improvement and a more resilient workforce. You’ll foster strong partnerships with Health, Housing, the Police, with the voluntary and community sector and with our residents to ensure a joined-up approach to protecting vulnerable adults and improving outcomes for residents.

About you

You’ll be a credible, passionate Social Work professional who can inspire confidence and influence at all levels. You’ll have:

• Degree-level qualification in social work and registration with Social Work England.
• Extensive senior leadership experience within adult social care.
• Deep understanding of Care Act 2014, Mental Capacity Act 2019, Mental Health Act 2007, and related legislation.
• Proven ability to lead safeguarding governance and quality assurance functions.
• Strong skills in performance management, cultural change, and partnership working.
• Experience in leading workforce development and driving practice excellence.
• A collaborative, innovative and outcomes-focused approach.

Working for Haringey

At Haringey Council we are committed to creating a workplace culture where all our people feel valued, included, and able to be their best at work, and we recognise the benefits of a diverse workforce so welcome applications from all ethnicities and communities so that we continue to make a difference to our residents and community. 

Our benefits package includes a leave entitlement up to 31 days + bank holidays, potential hybrid working opportunities, health and wellbeing support, a generous local government pension scheme and a range of discount schemes across leisure and culture that provide both financial and money-saving discounts.

Please note: we reserve the right to end this advert before the noted deadline if we receive sufficient applications. If you wish to apply for this role please ensure that you do so as soon as possible.

Additionally, we are aware that automated emails may end be diverted through to junk email folders.  Please continue to check these through the application process.  If you have any questions about the status of you application please contact [email protected]