We are seeking experienced, inspirational leaders who can demonstrate:

• Significant senior leadership experience within Adult Social Care or the wider health and care system.
• A track record of leading strategic change and service improvement within complex organisations.
• Strong systems leadership skills and the ability to influence across organisational and professional boundaries.
• Experience of effective partnership working across health, local government and the voluntary and community sector.

You will bring the ambition, leadership and professional credibility to make a lasting difference to residents, communities and services across Kent.

Assistant Director Practice and Quality (Principal Social Worker)

Kent is one of the largest and most ambitious Adult Social Care systems in the country, supporting over 34,000 residents across diverse communities. As we deliver our refreshed Making a Difference Every Day Adult Social Care Strategy, we are seeking exceptional Assistant Directors to help lead system-wide transformation, improve outcomes and shape sustainable services for the future.

Our strategy sets out a renewed and ambitious direction for Adult Social Care in Kent. It reaffirms our commitment to strengths-based practice, prevention, partnership working and continuous improvement, making this an exciting time to join our leadership team.

As an Assistant Director, you will be part of the Adult Social Care and Health Senior Leadership Team, to provide both strategic leadership and oversight, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, safe and sustainable services that meet our statutory duties and improve outcomes for Kent residents. These are critical roles leading key areas of delivery at a time of continued transformation and increasing demand.

Assistant Director Practice and Quality (Principal Social Worker)

As Kent's statutory Principal Social Worker, you will provide visible professional leadership across Adult Social Care and Health, championing excellence in practice, workforce development, quality assurance and continuous improvement.

You will:

• Lead the development and implementation of the Directorate's approach to quality assurance, practice development and continuous improvement.
• Lead regulatory assurance and improvement activity arising from CQC assurance, audits, reviews and performance information.
• Strengthen professional standards and workforce development, ensuring excellent social work practice across the organisation.
• Ensure the voices of people with lived experience are at the heart of service development and improvement.

Applicants must hold a recognised Social Work qualification and be registered with Social Work England.

You will bring the ambition, leadership and professional credibility to make a lasting difference to residents, communities and services across Kent.

Why Join Us?

These are rare opportunities to influence the future of Adult Social Care in one of the country's largest local authorities. You will join an ambitious leadership team committed to delivering outstanding outcomes through innovation, collaboration and professional excellence.

At Kent County Council, our values matter. We are Brave, Curious, Compassionate, Accountable and Stronger Together and we are looking for leaders who share these values and can inspire others to deliver their very best every day.

Further information

This post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure application to the Disclosure and Barring service and registration as a qualified Social Worker with Social Work England.

This post is considered by KCC to be a customer-facing position. The Council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English/Welsh sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements.

This role is subject to holding a Full UK Driving Licence – The Council is committed to making reasonable adjustments so whilst this job requires the jobholder to drive your application will still be considered if you are unable to drive due to a disability.

The selection process will include psychometric assessment, Director interview including presentation and an interview with people with lived experience.

Psychometric testing – week commencing 7 September 2026

Lived experience interviews – week commencing 14 September 2026

Director interviews – week commencing 21 September 2026