Children's Social Care - Team Manager - Children Looked After

Knowsley Council; Knowsley; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A local authority in Knowsley is seeking a qualified social worker to join their Children's Services team. This role offers flexible working with manageable caseloads and aims to improve social care for children and families. The ideal candidate should have a strong understanding of child care legislation, be able to lead teams, and invest in their professional development. A supportive and inclusive workplace is promised to assist you in making a real difference for children and young people.

Benefits

Generous Holiday Entitlement

Flexible working options

Local Government Pension Scheme

Cycle to Work Scheme

Discounted Gym Membership

Free Refreshments

Qualifications

• Able to lead, direct, and motivate teams effectively.
• Committed to making a difference in children's lives.
• Invested in continuous professional development.

Responsibilities

• Support children and families through effective social care.
• Work with a friendly team and improve social care services.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Child care legislation understanding

Education

Qualified social worker

Registered with Social Work England

Job description

This job is brought to you by Jobs/Redefined, the UK's leading over-50s age inclusive jobs board.

Are you a highly experienced social leader? Do you want to make a difference to the lives of Children and Families through effective Social Care? Do you want to be part of a team that cares and will value your knowledge, experience and you as a person? Then Knowsley Children's Services could be the place for you.

Be part of what we are building

Following our recent Ofsted inspection, our Children's Social Care Services (CSC) department are on an improvement journey – one we would love you to join us on!

Want to work with:

• a friendly, supportive team who genuinely cares about their employees?
• a smaller local authority in easy commuting distance from across the North West with hybrid working options?
• Somewhere you can really make a difference to the lives of our Children and Young People

Then this may be the role for you…

We have high aspirations for our children and young people and are determined to work together to make the necessary improvements and get to "good" whilst always aiming higher. This is an exciting time to join our service – improving CSC is one of the Council's main priorities; there's significant investment in the service, expertise on‑hand and opportunities for you to make a real difference; helping to shape the future delivery of CSC for the benefit of our children and young people.

If you choose to join us, you will be coming to an inclusive, supportive, and friendly team. We have a new engaging and ambitious leadership team in place, who will ensure that you work in an environment where you feel recognised, valued, and listened to. As a service we offer flexible working, manageable caseloads and a vast array of employee benefits details of which can be found below. We welcome you to come and join us on this exciting journey – in return we promise to support, develop, and help you achieve your goals.

Don't just take our word for it though, see what our current social workers have to say. – Here

Who we are looking for:

To be successful you will be a qualified, experienced social worker and you will be professionally registered with Social Work England. You will have excellent understanding of child care legislation and social work principles, with the ability to lead, direct and motivate teams and you will be committed to making a difference for Children, Young People and their families and you'll be a great communicator able to quickly build good relationships. It's important you actively invest in your continuous professional development, and we will support you to do this.

Our offer to you:

• We are a Disability Confident Employer, meaning we offer Inclusive & accessible recruitment, offering an interview to disabled people, providing reasonable adjustments, & supporting existing employees.
• Flexible working, Hybrid working arrangements & family friendly initiatives;Our flexible working scheme allows you to manage your hours & plan your life more easily. We will consider requests for flexible working. For most roles, the following types of flexibility are usually possible: flexible hours, working from home, compressed hours, part‑time.
• Generous Holiday Entitlement: starting at 28 days leave with an option to buy additional 10 days leave
• Manageable Workloads – directors of our service work closely with the Heads of Service & Team Managers to ensure caseloads are manageable & you are supported.

• Differentiated sickness absence for individuals living with a disability.

• Menopause policy supporting women in the workplace.

• Local Government Pension Scheme

• Newly Developed Bespoke Four‑Week Induction Programme

• High Quality IT Kit supporting agile working arrangements

• Learning & Career Development:We have a wide range of blended learning opportunities available to all employees, which will be relevant to your job & progression
• Supportive Practice Improvement Team - we have a team of experienced staff who build positive working relationships with staff to work alongside you to embed learning from audits or reviews.

• A range of Workers Groups, g., Black & Minority Workers' Group, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Forum, Neurodiverse Staff Support Group.

• Well‑being Support:We want to improve the well‑being of our employees both in & out of the workplace

• Apprenticeship Offer

• Secondment Opportunities

• MyTime – our monthly supervisions scheduled with you. This is your one‑to‑one time solely focused on your career development

• Reflective Supervision – 4 weekly

• Access to Signs of Safety Group Supervision

• Newly Developed Progression Pathway

• Learning at Work Week: A yearly celebration awards to recognise & celebrate individual practice across the council

• Visible and accessible Leadership including Monthly Principal Social Worker (PSW) drop‑in sessions

• Themed Practice Learning Week: Providing a range of bitesize learning opportunities.

• Currently Offering Free Parking

• Cycle to Work Scheme:We are committed to greener transport solutions. Our scheme entitles you to significant discounts on the price of a new bike & safety equipment.

• Bank Holidays.

• Eye Tests:We provide all display screen users with a free eye test on request. We have a corporate eye care scheme which includes a contribution to the cost of glasses

• Free Refreshments – Tea, Coffee and Milk
• Discounted Gym Membership
• Credit Union Membership
• VIVUP Discounts & Savings – The program offers a staff discount scheme.

We are an Accredited employer under the Liverpool City Region Fair Employment Charter, demonstrating that we are committed to the principle of fair employment and we are dedicated to providing a healthy, fair, inclusive and just workplace.

At Knowsley Council we will consider requests for flexible working. For most roles, the following types of flexibility are usually possible: flexible hours, working from home, compressed hours, part‑time.

We welcome applications from residents and beyond, regardless of background, belief, or identity, recognising the value that diversity brings to our organisation. We particularly welcome applications from individuals from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds and candidates with disabilities as we acknowledge their underrepresentation in our workforce.

See the benefits of working for Knowsley MBC https://www.knowsley.gov.uk/yes.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy earlier than the specified date should we receive sufficient applicants.

At Knowsley we value our applicants and want them to feel well‑informed and welcomed. If you have any questions about this specific job role or what it is like to work at Knowsley, please contact: Joanne Sheridan on Tel: [phone]

Interview date: 20 January 2026

If you are interested in this vacancy, please upload your CV along with a supporting statement as one document in PDF or Word format. Your CV and supporting statement should be tailored to reflect the competencies within the person specification.

Please note if a CV and supporting statement does not reflect the person specification it is unlikely to be shortlisted.

How to apply

To upload your CV you will need to click on the link below and create an account with Jobs Go Public if you have not already done so.

You will also be required to input your name and email address and will be invited to complete an equal opportunities questionnaire.