Head of Data Management & Insight

Social Work England are the specialist regulator for social work in England, focused on enabling positive change in social work. Every day, social workers support millions of people to improve their chances in life. We are taking a new approach to regulating social workers in their vital roles. We believe in the power of collaboration and share a common goal with those we regulate – to protect the public, enable positive change and ultimately improve people’s lives.

The head of data management & insight leads Social Work England’s data insight, data management and data engineering capabilities as part of an integrated DDaT function.

The role ensures data is securely managed, well-governed, and effectively engineered, and that high quality insight and analytics are available to support our regulation, organisational performance and decision making.

Working closely with senior leaders and stakeholders across the organisation, the role translates organisational and regulatory needs into a clear data strategy, overseeing the development of data platforms, analysis and reporting. It ensures data is treated as a strategic asset underpinned by robust governance.

With a focus on delivering value and building data maturity, the role sets clear data priorities, develops insight and delivers a wide range of reporting including self-service dashboards.

It puts strong data management and engineering foundations in place so that people across and beyond the organisation can make better decisions.

• Provide leadership and set clear direction for data management, data engineering, performance reporting and insight, ensuring high-quality delivery and continuous improvement across the full data lifecycle.
• Maintain and enhance own professional knowledge and awareness of best practice through participating in relevant learning and networks.
• Develop and deliver a strategy and forward plan for data management and insight, coordinating the delivery of priorities including data governance, data literacy, performancereportingand analysis.
• Provide strong, visible and inclusive leadership to the data and insight function, setting clear objectives and expectations while building a high performing, engaged and resilient team.
• Drive a culture of continuous learning by identifying and addressing capability gaps and supporting ongoing professional development.
• Lead the development of high-quality management information, insight and analysis, embedding best practice and consistent methodologies that ensure strong validation, clear documentation and quality assurance.
• Ensure the delivery of accurate and consistent performance reporting that supports organisational confidence and strategic decision making.
• Provide strategic leadership for the development and ongoing management of data platforms, pipelines and data infrastructure, ensuring scalable, secure and resilient data management and engineering solutions with clear ownership, architecture standards and long-term sustainability.
• Establish and maintain robust data governance, ensuring data is managed as a strategic organisational asset and complies with legal and regulatory requirements.
• Work collaboratively with finance, people and development and operational teams to develop and maintain forecasting models, performance and efficiency metrics which support organisational planning, budget-setting and resource decisions.
• Promote the further development of self-service reporting and data literacy across the organisation to foster a data driven culture, enhancing organisational capability to use data and insight effectively.
• Provide strategic leadership and expertise for data related change across core systems and digital platforms, ensuring data capabilities are aligned with organisational priorities and deliver long term value.
• Act as data workstream lead for our DDaT improvement programme, coordinating and delivering priority projects to make Social Work England a more digitally mature, service-oriented regulator.
• Collaborate effectively as a member of the wider directorate and organisational leadership team, prioritising what is most important for the organisation as a…