Head of Service (Youth Justice and Leaving Care)

Salary details: £ - £

Head of Service - Care Leavers and Youth Justice
12-Month Secondment / Fixed-Term Opportunity
Grade 15 Chesterfield/Matlock base

Ready for your next leadership challenge?

This is a rare and exciting opportunity to lead two of the most impactful and successful  services within Derbyshire Children's Services: Leaving Care and Youth Justice.

We are looking for an ambitious, child-focused leader who is passionate about improving the lives of care-experienced young people and children involved in the youth justice system. This 12-month opportunity offers the chance to shape practice, influence strategy, lead high-performing teams and make a lasting difference to some of Derbyshire's most vulnerable young people.

As Head of Service, you will provide strategic and operational leadership across both service areas, ensuring children, young people and families receive the right support at the right time. You will work closely with senior leaders, partners, elected members and young people themselves to drive excellence, innovation and continuous improvement.

Why this role matters

Our care leavers and children in the youth justice system deserve leaders who are ambitious for their futures.

You will lead services that:

• Support care-experienced young people to thrive into adulthood
• Improve outcomes in education, employment, training, housing and health
• Reduce offending and reoffending through effective intervention and partnership working
• Champion participation and ensure young people's voices shape services
• Deliver high-quality practice that is inspection-ready and evidence informed
• Strengthen relationships with key partners across health, police, education, probation and the voluntary sector

About the role

Drawing on the responsibilities within our leadership profiles for Head of Service and Youth Justice leadership roles, you will:

• Provide visible and inspirational leadership across Leaving Care and Youth Justice Services
• Lead strategic service development and transformation
• Drive performance, quality assurance and outstanding practice
• Ensure statutory responsibilities are met and services are responsive to emerging needs
• Lead and develop managers and practitioners to achieve their full potential
• Work collaboratively with the Youth Justice Partnership Board and Corporate Parenting structures
• Promote innovation, learning and a culture of continuous improvement
• Ensure young people remain at the heart of decision making

This role offers a unique opportunity to influence both operational delivery and strategic direction across services that are central to Derbyshire's ambitions for children and young people. Based on the Head of Service and Youth Justice leadership profiles, the role includes responsibility for service performance, safeguarding, partnership leadership, workforce development and delivering positive outcomes for children and young people

We are looking for someone who:

• Is an experienced and values-led leader
• Has a strong track record of delivering excellent outcomes for children and young people
• Can build effective partnerships and influence across complex systems
• Brings energy, creativity and ambition to service improvement
• Understands the challenges and opportunities within care leaving and/or youth justice services
• Can inspire and support teams through change
• Is committed to listening to young people and promoting their voice
• An exceptional commitment to corporate parenting

What's in it for you?

This is an exceptional development opportunity for an existing senior manager who wants to broaden their leadership experience and contribute to key strategic priorities across Children's Services.

You'll have the opportunity to:

• Lead high-profile services with significant impact
• Influence strategic developments across Derbyshire
• Work alongside a committed and supportive senior leadership team
• Further develop your leadership skills and experience
• Help shape the future of services for care-experienced young people and children in the youth justice system

Join us

If you are passionate about making a difference, ambitious for children and young people, and ready to take the next step in your leadership journey, we would love to hear from you.

Together, we can ensure Derbyshire is the best place for children in care to grow up, thrive and successfully move into adulthood, whilst ensuring children who enter the youth justice system receive the support they need to achieve positive futures.

Provisional Interview Date: 2 November 2026

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Due to this post having access to children and/or vulnerable adults, the successful candidate will be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service check. The possession of a criminal record will not necessarily prevent an applicant from obtaining this post, as all cases are judged individually according to the nature of the role and information provided. Click here to see our policy on criminal background checks.

Apply now and take the first step towards a fulfilling career with us! By joining Derbyshire County Council you will have access to a range of amazing rewards and employee benefits, including our generous annual leave scheme, excellent local government pension and fantastic employee discounts. To discover more detail about the rewards and benefits available to you, click here

CS1

We welcome applications from individuals who share our values — being Collaborative, Innovative, Empowered and Accountable. These values describe who we are and what we stand for as a council. They help shape our culture, encourage consistent behaviour and guide how we work together to make a positive difference for both our employees and the residents we serve.