4048 - HEO Inspectors for Childcare & Play - Welsh Essential

Job summary

Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) is the independent regulator of social care and childcare. CIW registers, inspects, and takes action to improve the quality and safety of services for the well-being of the people of Wales. Inspection and enforcement are key functions in the delivery of safe, high quality regulated services to the citizens of Wales.

Job description

The primary task of an Inspector is to ensure that regulated care services provide good quality, safe care and to encourage and drive improvement. Inspectors can use their knowledge and skills to safeguard and protect the wellbeing of people using regulated services and to gather information about outcomes for people. This can be used by CIW in its evaluation of local councils and for informing policy development.

Inspectors will be responsible to a Team Manager. They will have a critical function to perform to ensure the effective and timely delivery of CIW’s core responsibilities across the full spectrum of Regulated Care Services.

Person specification

• Maintaining oversight and management of a caseload of regulated services, ensuring the required inspections take place, monitoring levels of risk, assessing incoming concerns, and ensuring all records are kept up to date.
• Carrying out inspections in line with an agreed programme (including joint inspections with Estyn in childcare and play), observing and reporting on the well-being of people using the service, identifying, and monitoring areas of non-compliance, raising and responding to safeguarding concerns.
• Taking responsibility for following and progressing actions in relation to services of concern and liaising with other key stakeholders including commissioners, other regulatory bodies and safeguarding leads.
• Preparing and undertaking enforcement activity including drafting statutory notices.
• Collating, providing evidence to and attending Care Standard Tribunal hearings.
• Working with managers to contribute to the setting and achieving of organisational performance objectives, including both quantitative and qualitative measures.
• Ensuring effective communication across the team to ensure that good practice is shared, and areas of concern reported.
• Contributing to the development and improvement of practice to ensure robust, consistent regulatory standards where issues of diversity and equality are fully addressed and integrated.
• Keep up to date with changes in legislation, guidance, and policies, procedures and best practice development.
• Ensuring the development of, and ongoing effective engagement with other stakeholders including people who use services and carers.
• Preparing correspondence in relation to specific issues raised about services.
• Maintaining accurate records management including the use of CRM database (CaSSI).
• Take responsibility for own performance management and own professional development and seek appropriate development opportunities in accordance with the Welsh Government/CIW performance and development / management support process and in discussion with the team manager.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• What relevant qualification do you hold in social care, health or education and what relevant experience in childcare, play sector, health or social care do you have?
• Sound knowledge/experience of safeguarding and best practice in relation to work in the early years, childcare or play sector.
• Significant understanding of relevant legislation and statutory guidance in relation to work in the early years, childcare or play sector

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Technical skills.

Assessment Stages: all assessment stages will be conducted in the medium of Welsh

There will be a 2-stage assessment process.

• Stage 1 – Application
• Stage 2 – Interview/Presentation (based on a scenario)

Stage 1: Application form only the Technical criteria will be tested at this stage, please submit evidence in Welsh

In the event of a large number of applications, an initial sift will be conducted against the lead assessment criterion: TECHNICAL 1 What relevant qualification do you hold in social care, health or education and what relevant experience in childcare, play sector, health or social care do you have.

Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

Stage 2: Candidates who pass stage 1 will be invited to attend an interview and give a presentation in Welsh. All behaviour and technical skills will be assessed during the interview in Welsh.

For the presentation topic you will be emailed a scenario 5 working days prior to your interview. The scenario will be based on a situation you can expect to find yourself in whilst out on Inspection. The presentation will be assessing candidates’ reaction in line with CIW values and the behaviour ‘Communicating and Influencing’.

The presentation will be no more than 5 mins and will be timed. Visual slides will not be accepted; this will be a verbal presentation only although candidates can read from prompt cards.

Behaviour questions will be shared with the candidates prior to interviews.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settl