Team Manager Children in Care

Southampton City Council

  • Southampton
  • £57,755-65,222 per year
  • Permanent
  • Full-time
  • 20 days ago
We are the difference for Children in CareTEAM MANAGER FOR CHILDREN IN CARE£57,755 - £65,222 PA PLUS Market Supplement of £2,000 per annum.Southampton City Council, Pathways Through Care Team is a service passionate and striving to achieve the best outcomes for our children we care for. We work closely with partner agencies, building strong relationships between practitioners and their families enabling systemic and reflective work with our children.The children in care service consists of an entire cohort of permanent staff, and within this service a unique opportunity has arisen to create a third team. This has been in recognition of the current teams increasing workforce and wanting to provide excellent management oversight and support to our staff. This post will offer strong developmental opportunities for experienced and or aspirational managers who thrive on helping staff and children to be the best they can be. They will be part of an established permanent management team who work collectively and in unison with one another.This will be an opportunity to help support social workers to build meaningful and influential relationships with the children we care for. Our service offers strong and resilient practitioners alongside supportive and flexible management enabling you to make decisions, drive plans and change lives for our children making you remember the real reasons you came into social work.In June 2023, Ofsted saw strong evidence that: “The experiences and progress of children in care are good. Improvements to the quality of support provided to children in care have accelerated recently. Careful and successful workforce recruitment, a comprehensive strategy to improve children’s placement stability and an impressive level of meaningful engagement by senior leaders with children in care all provide a firm foundation for further improvements”.Permanence is a priority for our Children in Care, and within this focus there is a robust review mechanism to ensure that we are providing stability to children in their care journey with us. Ensuring permanence that promotes identity and sense of belonging is key. Whilst making strong and memorable relationships, this service gives creative and restorative practitioners opportunities to make the difference and to utilise sound assessment skills in working with birth families to always consider whether the right permanence is in place for our children. There are strong reunification drivers that help support children and young people to recognise their potential and make stronger links with immediate, extended family and significant others. Southampton are strongly invested in the development of their staff and offers opportunities for gradient development with senior social workers and assistant team managers.The Service:The Children in Care Team supports children and young people who are looked after in foster care, cared for by connected carers or family, and specialist care which includes residential or semi-independent provisions. Within the overarching service are managers who support Personal Advisors and our care leavers. We share the same office space and the relationship between the two service areas is interactive and enables the journey to independence to be streamlined and young person focused. Young people from 16 are allocated Personal Advisors and there is strong focus on joint working in the last 12 to 18 months of a young person’s time in our care.The service continues to benefit from a permanent management team who have a wide range of experience from different service areas as well as two service managers who are visible and approachable. There are 5 teams within the one service and this post will be the sixth– 2 teams are for young people who are care experienced, 1 team is specifically working with unaccompanied children in the UK and two other teams with respective managers where they support social workers who work with our children in care under the age of 18. There is also a Staying Connected Team which provides floating support to young people over 18 in accommodation that we are responsible for. The service prides itself on having a cohesive and friendly feel who offer support to team members.The Role:The Team Manager appointed will spend their time supporting social workers and family coaches who are supporting Children in Care who live in fostering, residential or semi-independent homes. This exciting opportunity for a full time Team manager will allow any experienced manager or an aspiring manager to utilise their social worker skills and core values whilst they support staff to support children and young people in their plans for permanence and to prepare them for young adulthood.Who are we looking for?We are looking for a social work manager who cares about delivering aspirational parenting to our children. Services for children in care and care leavers go way beyond statutory responsibilities, delivering care at a level where all our children and young people are the best that they can possibly be, where they are engaged in all aspects of their care and are not only cared for, but know they are cared about. Ofsted also observed: ‘Practitioners are supported by energetic and responsive frontline managers who maintain clear, confident and close oversight of children’s progress’. We are looking for someone to join this team to ensure good performance and support is provided to children in care as their Corporate Parent. The service enthusiastically engages in the corporate parenting community in delivering services which truly meet the needs of all our Ofsted rating: Good for Children in Care and Care leavers with Outstanding Leadership. June 2023. children in care and care leavers. Advocacy and participation are central to the service’s core values. We are looking for a team manager who cares passionately about children in care and care leavers and who will continue to build a service where permanence, acceptance and lasting, trusting relationships matter.Come Join Us:Southampton City Council and its partners have made a collective commitment to run well managed services, ensure manageable workloads for social workers, provide high levels of support and expert guidance to help with complex situations. We would like to warmly welcome those who live in or near to the city, and those who are looking to relocate to the area.We are committed to equal opportunities and welcome a broad diversity of talent to apply.What we can offer you:Salary: The salary band for this role is £57,755 - £65,222 The starting salary is £57,755 with annual progression through the salary bands.Here at SCC we have a range of different perks and benefits, a few examples can be found below.
  • Excellent
with 16.8% employer contribution * Death in service benefit of x3 salary, and optional salary sacrifice shared cost AVC (additional voluntary contribution)
  • Generous holiday 25–31 days, based on role and service
  • Flexible working options (role-dependent)
  • Family-friendly policies - Maternity, Paternity, Adoption, Shared/Unpaid Parental Leave, Time off for Dependents
  • Training and development, including coaching and mentoring
  • Health and wellbeing support - Employee Assistance Programme, Menopause Pledge, Mental Health First Aiders and access to a variety of staff networks
  • Veteran-friendly employer with the Armed Forces Covenant
  • Retail discounts and savings through the Southampton City Council benefits platform
  • Discounted memberships at local sports and fitness centres
  • Sustainable travel benefits - low emission car scheme, cycle to work, season ticket loans
  • Employee volunteering scheme with 2 paid days leave to volunteer
For further information on our benefits package please visit:Contact details for informal discussion:For further information and details regarding the role, please contact Service Lead Ellie Steel: or Nikky Brown: .Interview Information:Please note that interviews are scheduled for Wednesday 24th September 2024Recruitment contact details:Email:
Tel: 023 8083 4033For more information about SCC please visit
Follow us on social media for regular updates on our featured jobs and latest news.OrganisationSouthampton City CouncilService AreaPathways Through Care & ResourcesJob LocationCivic CentreContract LengthPermanentWork HoursFull time 37 hours per weekSalary£57,755 - £65,222 per annumSpecial RequirementsEnhanced DBS will be requiredJob Reference15965Documents(PDF, 199.69kb)

Southampton City Council