JOB PACKSelection Officer

OUR MISSION

Each year, over 700,000 children in England rely on the support of a social worker. These children and their families face some of the worst life chances, but we know that great social work has the power to change this. That’s why we recruit and develop outstanding individuals to be social workers and leaders to transform the lives of the most vulnerable children and families.

We recruit and develop outstanding individuals to be social workers and leaders to transform the lives of the most vulnerable children and families. We also develop first line managers through Firstline, our leadership programme for those directly managing practitioners. The Frontline Fellowship is a movement of outstanding individuals who are applying themselves to address social disadvantage in different ways, and who have completed one of our programmes.

We are looking for outstanding people to join our organisationto lead and support the running of these core areas of work to achieve fantastic results for children and families. We want to achieve this whilst striving to achieve a culture of freedom and responsibility. Read on to find out more about this culture and what we are looking for in this role.

FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY:OUR CULTURE

To become an outstanding organisation, we need to both let go of control and expect much more of one another. If we can manage this feat, you will be surrounded by a team who can solve problems, speak with candour, communicate expectations and give one another the space and support to achieve fantastic results for children and families. This is what we call a culture of freedom and responsibility.

How do we make it happen? Freedom without responsibility results in chaos – confusion, frustration, a lack of accountability. Responsibility without freedom breeds a rigid focus on following rules and process, even when professional judgement and creativity would produce better results. It can result in people doing things right without doing the right thing. Because of this, we need to have huge levels of both freedom and responsibility. The most important word is not freedom, nor responsibility, but and.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

We believe that the strongest performing teams have a lot of difference in them and we are actively seeking to diversify and to create a workplace that is welcoming for all, regardless of ability, religious belief, sexuality, gender or ethnicity.

Our employees come from a range of backgrounds and with various expertise. We voluntarily complete a gender pay analysis, which demonstrates that our approach to pay and reward is fair irrespective of gender. We are committed to taking an inclusive approach to recruitment.

We use a system called Applied, which helps to remove bias from the selection process by anonymising applications. We ask for a CV but will only use it at the interview stage and not to shortlist. We are proud to have won the Pink News Third Sector Equality Award 2019.

We are committed to ensuring all employees have the relevant knowledge to support this. We design and deliver workshops and training around diversity, inclusion and belonging.

THE ROLE

The team you will be working in:Selection Team

Closing date: 9am, 16 June 2020

Interviews: First round: 23 and 24 June 2020

Second round: 29 June 2020

Reports to:Selection Manager

Salary:£30,000 or £33,000 (inclusive ofLondon weighting) plus competitivepension. Salary dependent onexperience.

Contract:Full Time, Permanent

Location: London

The purpose of your role:We are looking for someone who has experience of facilitating groups ofindividuals, delivering information in a clear and professional way, alongsidestrong attention to detail and exceptional organisational skills. You will need tobe experienced in managing a large and varied workload. You will be passionateabout helping us to select the social workers of the future.

The Selection Officer will be responsible for selecting applicants who have thepotential to make outstanding child protection social workers. You will bedesigning and delivering best practice selection models and processes for theFrontline Leadership Development Programme. You will be involved in screeningapplications, assessing at our assessment centres, overseeing elements of theselection process, supervising assessment centres and contributing to thedesign and development of selection materials and the monitoring andevaluation of the selection activities.

This role involves some longer days from September-February when attending assessment centres (8.30am-6.30pm), and occasional weekend work in support of recruitment events.

THE ROLEJob description:

Select high quality graduates and career changers• Work towards the department goal of hiring the target number of participants (circa

452) to join Frontline programme• Screen applications and assess applicants at Frontline assessment centres in

multiple activities, including a meeting with a young person who has care experienceand a role play. You will assess applicants in line with the Frontline competencies toensure consistency and robust assessments

• Alongside the Selection Manager, lead on the delivery of assessment centres,ensuring smooth delivery of the day, a positive assessor and candidate experience,and robust outcome decisions

• Support the selection manager to train new screeners and assessors and supportwith ongoing

Plan, monitor and evaluate• Support the Selection Manager with designing new assessment and training materials.• Lead on planning specific elements of the assessment centres, including hiring of

external assessors and stakeholders• Ensure maintenance of detailed records and databases to continuously evaluate and

improve the recruitment campaign• Evaluate successfulness of selection stages, constructing detailed reports with

accurate data which outline plans of action• Continuously reflect and evaluate success of selection to ensure we deliver value for

money, effective use of resources, and a positive candidate experience• Support the development of new selection tools and systems to improve candidate

management as well as monitoring and evaluation

Develop Frontline Selection expertise and wider support• Line manage and/or support selection interns through six-month internship

programme• Understand key trends within selection and act as a champion for selection best

practice• Stay up-to-date with new and innovative selection developments through training,

research and the opportunity to benchmark the work of external organisations• Champion safer recruitment and ensure selection work adheres to GDPR, the Equality

Act and safeguarding policies• Champion selection best practice by acting as a role model to all assessors and

members of the selection team

THE ROLEPerson Specification

Values and alignment• Prepared to work in line with our values• Committed to creating a culture of freedom and responsibility• A willingness and ability to be fully aligned to, and be an advocate for, Frontline’s

purpose and theory of change across all areas of work including a:o focus on having the highest standards for recruiting top talent into social worko approach to our Fellows (alumni) that celebrates, encourages and recognises

individuals who are improving safety and stability for children whether theyremain in social work or work outside of the profession

o and a commitment that every child should have a safe and stable home andthat this is best supported by social workers who work alongside families

Characteristics and skillsEssential• Highly organised and detail-orientated, with proven ability to implement a plan

efficiently and effectively• Excellent inter-personal, customer service and influencing skills at all levels • A team player, who is willing to support and share their skills and experience on

other projects• Solution focused, willing to be hands on with sound problem-solving skills• Outstanding written and verbal communication to a range of audiences• Excellent decision maker, able to evaluate a range of evidence to make fair and

objective decisions • Sound analytical skills, including knowledge of Excel and reporting software • Excellent administration, organisation and time management skills with an ability to

manage a large and varied workload Proactive and open to innovation as the recruitment team establishes and develops

• Resilient, with the ability to maintain a positive attitude in challenging situations• Regularly evaluates own performance to build on strengths and identify areas to

improve• Ambition to continuously improve Frontline’s selection strategyDesired • Line management or team leader experience • Knowledge and understanding of selection best practice and competency based

assessment, including experience of making hiring decisions • Experience of designing and developing selection tools• Experience and understanding of analysis, monitoring and evaluation

THE ROLE

Requirements of the role:• Right to work in the UK• This post is subject to a police check of previous criminal

convictions with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)

How to apply:If this sounds like the right role and organisation for you, apply by following this link.

Want to find out more?Please contact:Madeleine Auer, Selection Manager at madeleine.auer@thefrontline.org.uk