Hackney is one of the most dynamic and progressive local authorities in the UK. We are a resilient, vibrant, and creative borough in the heart of London, with strong, diverse communities and a powerful set of shared values.

Over the past twenty years, the Council has built up first-class services, outstanding public infrastructure, and a reputation for excellence, innovation, and ambition. We are leading the way on essential work such as our fight for equity in Hackney with a particular focus on becoming an actively anti-racist borough. But the work doesn’t stop there, we are proactive in our approach to bringing fairness to all aspects of life including gender, neurodiversity and across the poverty divide.

Hackney is redesigning how we support families. As a Parenting Plus Team and Partnership Lead, you will transform the Parenting Plus vision into a seamless, non-stigmatising Universal+ pathway.

We need a strategic thinking lead to navigate the Parenting Plus service through a period of post-restructure transition, turning change into an opportunity for service excellence. You will act as a System Leader, building robust partnerships across Hackney’s Children and Family Hubs Partnership to dismantle barriers to access for our most underserved communities. By merging data-driven insights with a deep commitment to STAR principles, you will ensure that the Parenting Plus service in Hackney is an impactful, non-stigmatising, and child-centred reality.

Key Responsibilities

Translate the Best Start in Life parenting plus team vision into measurable service delivery.
Use data to reallocate resources and reach underserved communities.
Implement a ‘high-challenge, high-support’ model to develop practitioners to manage short term universal plus interventions
Embed Systemic, Trauma-Informed, and Anti-Racist principles into everyday clinical work.
Act as the strategic gatekeeper for families referred to MASH that do not meet the thresholds for targeted Family Help support, challenging thresholds from a universal perspective to ensure child safety.
Lead the delivery of evidence-based programs, with the parenting plus team, ensuring they hold validity and achieve outstanding outcomes to support children to achieve their good level of development
Develop and manage formal co-delivery agreements with Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) partners. You will ensure these partners are supported to deliver evidence-based programs that are culturally competent and rooted in Hackney’s diverse communities.
Develop and manage a robust Quality Assurance (QA) framework that tracks distance traveled
Facilitate high-level systemic supervision that encourages practitioners to view the family as a system

About You

You are a qualified social worker, with a background in early help, who is a resilient, data-savvy leader with deep experience in evidence-based parenting programmes. You will have significant leadership and change management experience. You will lead a team through the transition of a restructure with empathy and clear direction. You are committed to anti-racist practice and aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo to improve outcomes for children.

Why Hackney?

Join a high-performing borough where systemic practice is the norm. We offer flexible working, a generous pension, and the chance to lead a service that truly prevents statutory intervention.

As a Council, our most outstanding asset is our staff, who are highly dedicated to serving our residents and committed to our goals as an organisation.

If you want to work in a place where you can represent our values so we achieve the best for our residents, please click on the apply button below.

We operate a fair and open anonymous selection process. Therefore, we do not accept supporting statements or CV’s.

To proceed with your application, you will need to create an account and submit your application.

As part of the application process, you will need to complete a number of competency based questions. These questions allow you to demonstrate your suitability for the role and provide examples of your skills, knowledge and experience outlined in the job description.

We understand the benefits of using AI in the workplace. However, if you are thinking of using this tool to submit your application, we ask you to think about what value it will add. AI tools tend to lack the personal touch and authenticity we value in candidates. We encourage you to showcase your unique knowledge and skills using your own voice.

Closing date for applications: 30 April 2026 (22.59)

Interview date: 15 May 2026

We are also working towards our vision, which is to be a place for everyone; where residents and staff can be proud; a place that celebrates diversity and where everyone can feel valued, included and involved. In order to achieve this, we look for people who are: Proud; Ambitious; Pioneering; Open; Proactive; Inclusive.

Hackney Council works to eradicate discrimination on the basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. We also recognise that people can be disadvantaged by their social and economic circumstances, so we will also work to eliminate discrimination and disadvantage caused by social class. We also welcome those interested in flexible working. We particularly welcome applications from disabled people, as this group is currently under represented in our workforce.

The Council has a dedicated employment support service (Hackney Works), which offers Hackney residents guidance in relation to applying for jobs. If you are thinking about applying for a job, please contact the Hackney Works team to find out what support is available: hackneyworks@hackney.gov.uk