Children's Locality Team Manager

Our client is seeking an experienced and motivated Children's Locality Team Manager to lead a dynamic frontline safeguarding team. This is an exciting opportunity for a passionate social work leader to drive high-quality practice and deliver positive outcomes for children, young people, and families.

As a Team Manager, you will provide effective leadership and oversight to a team of Social Workers and Senior Practitioners managing complex Child in Need, Child Protection, Public Law Outline, and Care Proceedings cases. You will ensure that assessments, plans, and interventions are timely, effective, and child-focused while promoting a culture of continuous improvement and reflective practice.

Working within a supportive and ambitious children's service, you will play a key role in service development, workforce wellbeing, and achieving excellent outcomes for children and families across Sutton.

Benefits

• Competitive salary package.
• Local Government Pension Scheme.
• Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays.
• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements.
• Learning and development opportunities, including leadership programmes.
• Regular reflective supervision and management support.
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).
• Health and wellbeing support initiatives.
• Family-friendly employment policies.
• Staff recognition and reward schemes.
• Career progression opportunities within a high-performing children's service.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Lead, manage, and develop a team of Social Workers and Senior Practitioners.
• Oversee child protection, child in need, court, and care planning work.
• Ensure statutory duties and responsibilities are fulfilled in line with legislation and guidance.
• Provide regular supervision, support, and performance management to staff.
• Manage complex and high-risk cases, offering professional guidance and decision-making.
• Promote high standards of practice through quality assurance, auditing, and case oversight.
• Ensure assessments and plans are child-centred, evidence-based, and outcome-focused.
• Work collaboratively with partner agencies including education, health, police, and legal services.
• Monitor team performance against key service indicators and targets.
• Contribute to service improvement initiatives and support preparation for inspections.
• Champion restorative and strengths-based approaches to working with families.
• Support workforce development, recruitment, retention, and succession planning.

Required Qualifications

Essential

• Degree in Social Work (BA, MA, DipSW, CQSW, or equivalent).
• Current registration with Social Work England.
• Significant post-qualification experience within Children's Social Care.
• Experience of managing or supervising social work staff within a safeguarding environment.
• Strong knowledge of:
• Children Act 1989 and 2004
• Working Together to Safeguard Children
• Child Protection Procedures
• Care Proceedings and Public Law Outline (PLO)
• Relevant statutory guidance and legislation

Desirable

• Management qualification or leadership training.
• Experience within a Locality, Safeguarding, Assessment, or Child Protection service.
• Experience leading service improvement and quality assurance activities.

Why Join Sutton?

This is an opportunity to join a forward-thinking local authority committed to delivering excellent services for children and families. You'll be part of a supportive leadership team that values innovation, professional development, and creating an environment where social workers can thrive while making a real difference to the lives of children and young people.

Reasonable Adjustments:

If you consider yourself to have a disability or require any reasonable adjustment during the recruitment process or within the workplace, please highlight this at the earliest opportunity by contacting our team. With this information, we will provide appropriate support to you throughout the process and into your work placement.

We are unable to support or accept applications from candidates who are residents within the Red or Amber list of the Code of practice for the international recruitment of health and social care personnel in England, based on the World Health Organisation (WHO) Workforce Support and Safeguard List.

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