Principal Children's Auditor

Are you passionate about improving outcomes for vulnerable children? Do you have the expertise to evaluate and elevate social work practice? Swindon Borough Council is seeking two exceptional Principal Children's Auditors to join our newly created Practice, Performance and Quality Assurance team.

Your Mission

As a Principal Children's Auditor, you'll be at the forefront of our commitment to excellence. You'll evaluate the quality and impact of our social work practice, ensuring that every interaction makes a positive difference in children's lives. Through in-depth auditing, coaching, and analysis, you'll help shape a service where high-quality practice isn't just an aspiration—it's the standard. 

Your Impact

In this vital role, you will:

• Conduct comprehensive case audits that place children and young peoples’ voices and experiences at the heart of everything we do
• Work alongside practitioners and managers to assess practice quality and impact
• Coach social workers and managers to build on strengths and address areas for development
• Analyse audit findings to identify patterns and trends across the service
• Present clear, compelling insights to leaders that drive meaningful improvement
• Train and mentor others in effective auditing techniques
• Ensure that our Family Safeguarding Model is being implemented to the highest standard and consistently throughout the service

About You

You are a very experienced qualified social worker with a passion for excellence and a keen eye for detail. You bring:

• Social work qualification with current Social Work England registration
• In-depth knowledge of what outstanding social work practice looks like
• Extensive experience with audit methodologies and quality assurance processes
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to identify themes and trends
• Experience in the Family Safeguarding Model (ideally)
• Exceptional communication skills—both written and verbal
• The ability to deliver constructive feedback that inspires improvement
• A collaborative approach that builds strong relationships across all levels

Candidates must be fluent in the English language (as a requirement of Part 7 of the Immigration Act – for the effective performance of a customer-facing role).

Why Join Us

This role offers a unique opportunity to influence practice across our entire Children's Services. Your work will directly impact the quality of support provided to our most vulnerable children and families. You'll be part of a team committed to continuous improvement, working in an environment where your expertise is valued and your insights drive real change.

At Swindon Borough Council, we're committed to being 'At our Best'—demonstrating accountability, customer care, continuous learning, and valuing one another's contributions.  It’s an exciting time to join us.  We are on a journey to transform service delivery and have been shortlisted for the ‘Most Improved Council’ at the Local Government Awards (LGA). We want our town to be the best it can be. Our ambitious vision in the new Swindon Plan is supported by realistic transformation programmes, with the people of Swindon at their heart. Because that’s who we’re doing it for – the communities and businesses that make our town great. As part of the Council, you’ll support a friendly local authority making decisions with real impact. It’s all for better public services. Better processes. And a better quality of life, for everyone. Join us, and Swindon will be better with you.

If you're ready to help shape a service where excellence is the expectation and children's lives are transformed through outstanding practice, we want to hear from you.

Please see our Vision and Values page for more details

Apply today and be part of our journey to excellence.

Your next package

Please see our Rewards and Benefits offer for more details.

Your next steps 

To be eligible for this role, you must be a qualified Social Worker with Social Work England registration.

As an inclusive employer, we welcome applications from a diverse range of communities, and in particular disabled people and people from ethnic minorities. Read our statement of commitment to equality & inclusion.

Read the role profile and select the Apply button where you will be redirected to the Swindon Borough Council website to complete our online application process. Clicking the ‘Apply’ button on this job website is not an application, you must register on the Swindon Borough Council website in order to be considered for the role.

A satisfactory enhanced DBS disclosure will be required for this role.

For a confidential conversation about this post please contact Nicola Hannaford, Head of Service Practice, Development and Quality Assurance via email on NHannaford@swindon.gov.uk

If you are experiencing technical issues submitting your application please email resourcing@swindon.gov.uk