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Are you a passionate Social Worker with experience of senior leadership in the field of Social Work and Social Care? Do you have a vision for transforming and improving the lives of babies, children , young people and their families? If so, we invite you to join our dedicated team as a Senior Leader in Barnardo’s.
You will play a pivotal role in shaping our organisational strategy and ensuring the delivery of exceptional care. You will lead a team of professionals, foster a culture of excellence and collaborate with stakeholders to drive continuous improvement.
In order to achieve our purpose we require Senior Managers who are able to work within the complexity and uncertainty of commissioning and tendering in the voluntary sector and who are able to display business insight in a social care setting.
If you are ready to take on a challenging and rewarding role that makes a difference, we would love to hear from you.
While the post will be based in Belfast, ADCS’s are expected to be able to travel throughout Northern Ireland and on occasion to the UK.
Full shortlisting essential criteria is outlined in the Candidate Briefing Document.
Salary: £54,457 – £70,016 per annum
Hours: 36.25 per week
Closing date: Midnight, 14 September 2025
Testing for shortlisted candidates: Issued on 25 September, to be completed by Midnight, 28 September 2025
Interview date: 30 & 31 October 2025
A waiting list will be held in the event that similar vacancies arise during the next 12 months
Contact details:
Please note due to the high volume of applications for some posts, this advert might close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role as soon as possible.
Pay & Reward Framework
We know that our colleagues go above and beyond in delivering our vital work, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo’s values. We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people.*
For all these reasons, we are committed to a new approach to pay and reward, to ensure it is fair, attractive and progressive, which was rolled out in April 2023. This is a positive change for the charity, and a part of our People & Culture Strategy. It will assist us in supporting colleagues to belong, thrive and grow in their colleague journey at Barnardo’s and in time will offer clear routes of progression for colleagues in both their career and their pay.
Whilst the full pay band and salary range is advertised, our approach to starting salaries is to appoint between the minimum to mid-point of the pay band – this ensures that pay steps are available to reward our colleagues annually based on their contribution to excellence and alignment to our values and behaviours. More details on Barnardo’s pay framework can be found upon application.
Benefits
Workplace Offer: What it means for you
The world of work has changed. We are understanding of what works best for our colleagues both current and future as we look to embrace this new way of working. Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or any combination of these.
- Barnardo’s believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.
Annual Leave entitlement for full-time colleagues is 26 days per annum, increasing to 27 days per annum, after 3 years Barnardo’s service, 29 days per annum, after 5 years Barnardo’s service and 30 days per annum, after 7 years Barnardo’s service. Those working less than full time are entitled to the same level of holiday pro rata
The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our HolidayPlus scheme
A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options
Service related sick pay from day 1
Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo’s. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution
Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension
Cycle2work scheme
Interest free season ticket loans
Discounts and cashback from at high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal
20% discount at Barnardo’s stores
Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc
Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support
Access to Barnardo’s Learning and Development offer
*T&C’s apply based on contract
About Barnardo’s
We are committed to being an inclusive employer and cultivating a culture where everyone can belong and thrive through inclusion and connectivity. We want our workforce to be reflective of the communities we work with, and for equality, diversity and inclusion to be embedded in everything we do. We are a Disability Confident Leader, are progressing our ambition to be an anti-racist organisation with Anti-Racism Commitments and actions in place and have networks for colleagues who are disabled, LGBT+, Black and Minoritised Ethnic and Women. We particularly encourage applications from Black and Minoritised Ethnic and/or disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. For disabled applicants, we offer reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.
Our basis and values
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Reference number:
21564
Job Title:
Assistant Director of Children’s Services
Location:
Northern Ireland Regional Office
Contract type:
Permanent
Hours:
36.25
Salary:
£54,457.18 – £70,016.23
Closing Date:
14 September 2025
Interview Date:
30 & 31 October 2025
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Benefits
Discounts at 100’s of retailers
Employee suggestion scheme
Company pension
Employee Assistance Programme
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Additional Info
Documents
- Barnardo’s Workplace Offer Visual (27.58 KB)
Assistant Director of Children’s Services – Job Description and Person (0.56 MB)
Recruitment of Ex-Offenders Policy Dec 2024.pdf (164.07 KB)
Access NI Revised Privacy Notice 3 May 2018.pdf (341.30 KB)
AccessNI Revised Code of (67.70 KB)
NI Disclosure and Storage Policy – updated May 2018.pdf (53.07 KB)
Assistant Director Children’s Services Candidate Briefing Document Aug 2025.pdf (0.70 MB)
