Adult Social Care Lead – Promoting Independence, Choice and Control

Adult Social Care Lead – Promoting Independence, Choice and Control Salary: £76,597 - £81,370 pa

Location:

Dudley, West Midlands

Contract:

Permanent, full time This is a significant opportunity for a registered, experienced social care professional to shape how Dudley delivers assessment and support planning, helping people exercise real choice and control over their care. As Adult Social Care Lead for Promoting Independence, Choice and Control, you will oversee the development of assessment practice across Dudley, working closely with the Principal Social Worker and Principal Occupational Therapist to ensure assessments are person centred, holistic and strengths based.

You will champion proactive, preventative approaches that reduce or delay the need for formal care, and support assessors to develop these skills through supervision, reflection and personal development. You will also head up the new Self-Directed Support Team, building on the growth of direct payments in Dudley and strengthening relationships between the team, commissioning and providers.

This role offers a genuine strategic seat on the Management Team, with the chance to deputise for the Associate Director and shape how Dudley enables independence and personalisation across adult social care. If you want a role with real impact and genuine potential for career development, we encourage you to apply. Who we’re looking for:
We are looking for a qualified Social Worker or Occupational Therapist, registered with Social Work England or the HCPC, with significant senior management experience in a complex, multidisciplinary organisation. You will bring demonstrable experience of assessment and support planning practice, ideally including strengths-based approaches, personalisation or self-directed support, together with a track record of leading service transformation, managing budgets and demand, and turning strategy into effective operational delivery.

You will be a credible, resilient and politically astute professional, an effective communicator and influencer who can build trust across organisational boundaries and with elected members. Why join Dudley MBC? Dudley Council is building a modern, community-focused, financially resilient and sustainable organisation, with collaboration and better outcomes for residents at its heart. For Adult Social Care, this is an opportunity to join at an important point of change and have genuine influence over how services develop – helping create support that gives people greater independence, choice and control.

To find out more and to apply, please click the apply button. The closing date for applications is 11th September 2026. The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable groups and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.