Team Manager - Social Care Qualified - Children's Services
Salary: PAYE: £32.97 per hour
Location: Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, BS23 3ST
Hours: Full time 37 hours
Contract: Temporary for 12 weeks
Start date: 21st April 2025
Job outline and Purpose of role
This role requires team managers to meet all the fundamental professional standards as set out by Social Work England and ensure that the protection of children is adhered to ensure that children and young people are safe, and their outcomes enhanced. The main duties and key responsibilities of this role is commensurate across Children's Services applying the skills and competencies in different areas across the service.
Purpose of Role
The Team Leader will support and enable their team to build purposeful and meaningful relationships with families and protect children who are at risk of harm.
This job description is not a complete list of duties but gives a general indication of the range of work undertaken. It will vary over time as demands and priorities change. The management team structures within Children's Services operate with a high degree of collaboration and flexibility, and post holders are expected to undertake any other duties commensurate with the general level of responsibility of the post.
Main Duties and Key Responsibilities
Ensure statutory childcare duties are met, national minimum standards and regulations are complied with, high standards of recognised professional practice are delivered, and operational staff and supervisors work effectively with partners from other agencies to support individual children and families and improve their life chances.
To provide professional leadership, decision making advice, supervision and support of social workers and ensure appropriate decision making in line with delegated responsibilities.
Ensure there is an effective duty system (where appropriate) within the team.
Deliver the area of responsibility assigned to the postholder through the effective deployment of staff and other resources to meet the standards required and ensure children and young people have a positive experience in the care system and successful outcomes.
To implement the Council's policies in relation to HR issues including equalities, discrimination and harassment and health & safety.
Manage and supervise a team of staff, being responsible for the appropriate allocation of work and promotion of a manageable workload including an expectation that all staff undertake a caseload and project work (e.g. group work, consultation, student supervision as required), utilising a range of interventions.
Ensure regular staff supervision and performance appraisal, coaching and facilitation to enable staff to work effectively.
Work with the Principal Social Worker to manage recruitment, retention and selection of staff, foster carers and adopters, ensuring a high-quality staff group and carers through appropriate training and development.
Promote good attendance and conduct within the service and compliance with professional codes of practice and information security, confidentiality and accurate record keeping.
To manage delegated budget within agreed financial limits and authorise, monitor and control expenditure of team budget to ensure effective provision of service.
To prioritise and monitor workload to ensure the appropriate levels of service provision by staff to make the best use of resources available.
To assist in developing, implementing and auditing the quality of services and performance managing staff to ensure effective and efficient service provision.
To ensure that the team contributes effectively to safeguarding children and young people by following the Working Together Guidance, all relevant legislation and implementing government recommendations in line with NSC strategic direction and vision.
To investigate complaints, disciplinary allegations as required in conjunction with departmental or corporate guidelines and legal requirements, ensuring the appropriate senior managers are kept informed, where necessary.
Understand the delivery of Children's Services in North Somerset and promote the use of Early Help across all partner agencies.
To continually monitor and improve services ensuring that they embed new ways of working in line with research, developments and evidence based good practice; to extend the knowledge base of professionals within the team and to make improvements to service delivery.
To work in partnership with the Police and other agencies to ensure investigations are completed within statutory timescales and to provide professional advice and guidance to service users and partner agencies thus ensuring effective triage of, and response to, referrals from the public and other agencies.
To chair strategy discussions and legal planning meetings as may be required in respect of child protection matters, where children may need to come into care, or proceedings need to be initiated.
To lead preparation for and response to all areas of inspection standards.
To ensure close working relationships with the provider of the call handling service, offering professional advice and support to the service managers to ensure effective service delivery and first contact information gathering and appropriate response to need at the first point of contact.
Ensure children and young people and carers are actively involved in the assessment of their needs, service delivery and review, gathering user feedback on the effectiveness of services delivered and use this information to support service improvement.
Attend North Somerset's Performance Monitoring Board or such forums as required to maintain standards.
QUALIFICATIONS - ESSENTIAL AND EVIDENCED
Registered as a social worker with Social Work England.
Social Work Qualification, i.e. Social Work Degree or Diploma in Social Work.
Achieved or commitment to study for a specialist PQ award or equivalent
Social Work qualification, i.e. social work degree, management qualification NVQ level 4 or working towards level 4 and 5 years post qualifying experience as a social worker.
Specialist knowledge of childcare across the range of work procedures and practices underpinned by theoretical knowledge and relevant practical experience.
Understanding and recognition of professional boundaries
Significant post qualification experience in relevant work area to give knowledge and understanding equivalent to a further advanced qualification in the service area, especially in management and leadership.
Ability to communicate effectively in person, by phone and in writing.
Demonstrate an ability to lead and manage staff through significant changes, an ability to motivate and lead staff and an ability to supervise/appraise.
Knowledge and understanding of safeguarding protocols and the threshold levels for service user groups to make decisions about service needs.
Barker Ross Group values diversity and promotes equality. No terminology in this advert is intended to discriminate against any of the protected characteristics that fall under the Equality Act 2010. We encourage and welcome applications from all sections of society and are more than happy to discuss reasonable adjustments and/or additional arrangements as required to support your application.
For the purposes of the Conduct Regulations 2003, when advertising permanent vacancies we are acting as an Employment Agency, and when advertising temporary/contract vacancies we are acting as an Employment Business
