Are you passionate about the protection of children, promoting their welfare and supporting family justice?

Thank you for taking an interest in this fabulous opportunity and for your time reading this short letter of introduction.

My name is Jacky Tiotto. I am the Chief Executive here at Cafcass and have been since September 2019. I am lucky enough to have spent my career as a social worker with children, having a few exciting detours along the way with central government, the local government association, the Audit Commission and Ofsted. I am as drawn now to promoting the protection and welfare of children as I was when I qualified in 1989.

Cafcass is England’s largest children’s social work employer, typically supporting 130,000 children each year in public and private law proceedings and with the expertise of some 1700 qualified social work practitioners and managers.

We are an arm’s length body of Government, sponsored by the Ministry of Justice and as the Chief Executive, I am accountable through the Cafcass board, to the Lord Chancellor, Secretary of State for Justice and ultimately to Parliament.

We are inspected by Ofsted, under His Majesty’s Chief Inspector’s (HMCI) duty to inspect, as set out in sections 143-145 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 and all my social work colleagues are required to be registered by Social Work England on an annual basis.

Our explicit intention, set out in our strategy, ‘Ambitious for Children’(Cafcass Strategic Plan 2023-2026), is for every child who needs our support to say that that they have had an exceptional experience, every time they engage with us and wherever in the country this happens.

The role of the National Director, as a core and senior member of the corporate leadership team is to make our ambition possible and to be the leader of our national operational services directorate, inspiring and supporting 19 operational service areas (and 1700 social workers) across England to do the same. You will need to have a deep sense of the privilege that this position offers because you will be helping all children who find themselves in family court proceedings.

You will be an exceptional leader yourself with a long and effective track record of running high quality services for vulnerable children.  You will need to be able to demonstrate that you can lead a national service with consistency, high standards and a deep accountability for relentless practice and leadership improvement.

Children’s safety and welfare must be your deepest professional interest, alongside a willingness to work with the senior judiciary, government officials and a large team of some 300 social work managers.  You will need substantial experience of working with local politicians and/or board member as well as being able to negotiate national policy developments for children and families and major change programmes. Experience of working alongside legal services, managing a large budget of in excess of £100m, analysing and developing performance data and leading significant recruitment campaigns will be essential.

The challenges associated with the work that Cafcass does are complex. The level of work held by our colleagues at any one time is high and constantly demanding of attention and energy.  Many children come into proceedings as victims of domestic abuse and other harms. We try to prioritise well – being and resilience and as the National Director, I will look to you to help us to maintain a balance between what is possible and what must be done to achieve our ambitions.

The family justice system is characterised by strong local, regional and national partnerships. It is on the cusp of significant reforms in the way private law proceedings are arranged. If your strength is in partnership, holding yourself and others to strong account for children, if the prospect of working in a close and creative senior team sounds exciting, then talk to Jonathan or Rebecca who are leading this campaign for us. 

I am grateful to you for your interest and hope that you will take the next step to apply. Thank you again for your time.