Children with Disabilities Team Leader

Stockport Council; Stockport; Hybrid; GBP 53,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Stockport Council’s Children with Disabilities Service seeks a Team Leader to co‑lead a mixed team of Social Workers and Short Breaks Coordinators, shaping practice within a continuing period of investment and ambition.

Based mainly at Stopford House with some home working as agreed, the post requires strong leadership in safeguarding and disability, with the ability to manage risk and drive service improvement for vulnerable children.

Qualifications

• Proven leadership experience within Children’s Social Care, with ability to inspire, challenge, and develop practitioners.
• Strong expertise in safeguarding children and understanding vulnerabilities of children with disabilities.
• Confidence in leading complex decision-making and managing risk in high‑stakes situations.
• Passion for championing the voice of the child, ensuring every child is seen, heard, and understood.
• Commitment to multi‑agency working and strong collaborative partnerships.

Responsibilities

• Co‑lead a mixed team of Social Workers and Short Breaks Coordinators shaping practice.
• Drive high standards of practice and ensure risk is understood and responded to with confidence.
• Provide strong, visible leadership and support professional curiosity.
• Lead change and continuously improve service delivery.
• Collaborate with another Team Leader to provide leadership and continuity.

Skills

Leadership

Safeguarding

Decision making

Voice of the child

Multi‑agency

Relationship‑based practice

Change leadership

Job description

Children with Disabilities Team Leader
MB3 (£53,051 - £60,084)
37 Hours, Full Time
Permanent
Stopford House majority of time office based with some home working as agreed

Application Deadline: 8th October 2026, 11:59pm
Shortlisting Date: 9th October 2026
Interview Date: 13th and 14th October 2026
Interview Type: Face to face at Stopford House

Join us at Stockport Council Best for Inclusion winner at the Greater Manchester Good Employment Awards 2026

Your Role

This is a unique opportunity to take on a leadership role within Stockport’s evolving Children with Disabilities (CWD) Service at a time of real investment and ambition.

As a Team Leader, you will co‑lead a mixed team of Social Workers and Short Breaks Coordinators, shaping practice for children who sit at the intersection of disability and safeguarding. This role is ideal for someone who thrives in complexity, where high‑quality child protection work must be delivered with a deep understanding of disability, communication needs, and family dynamics.

Working in close partnership with another Team Leader, you will provide strong, visible leadership, driving high standards of practice, supporting professional curiosity, and ensuring that risk is understood and responded to with confidence and expertise.

About You

We are looking for an experienced and values‑driven leader with a specialist skillset in child protection and disability. You will bring:

• Proven leadership experience within Children’s Social Care, with the ability to inspire, challenge, and develop practitioners
• Strong expertise in safeguarding children, including understanding the additional vulnerabilities and barriers that children with disabilities may face
• Confidence in leading complex decision‑making and managing risk in high stakes situations
• A passion for championing the voice of the child, ensuring every child is seen, heard, and understood, regardless of communication needs
• A commitment to multi‑agency working, recognising that the best outcomes are achieved through strong, collaborative partnerships
• Drive and vision to embed excellent, relationship‑based practice and continuously improve service delivery
• You will be someone who not only understands the challenges of this work, but is motivated by the opportunity to lead change and make a lasting difference to some of our most vulnerable children.

About Us

Stockport’s Children with Disabilities Service is on an exciting journey. We have made significant investment to strengthen leadership, develop specialist practice, and ensure our children receive the right support at the right time.

You’ll be part of a supportive, and highly skilled service, working alongside another CWD Team Leader, with access to:

• A dedicated and experienced CWD Service Lead and DSCO
• A strong focus on practice development and leadership growth
• Opportunities to shape our commissioning strategy and influence service design
• Clear strategic priority on Preparation for Adulthood, ensuring better long‑term outcomes for young people

This is a role where your expertise in disability and safeguarding will be truly valued, and where you can play a key part in shaping the future of the service.

At Stockport Council we are one ambitious team on a mission to create opportunities for everyone who lives, works and spends time in the borough. Working at Stockport Council means contributing to one of the most thriving towns in the North. We’re keen to recruit people with the right values and behaviours that can help us ensure our workplace values are at the heart of everything we do.

We are proud to be recognised under the Good Employment Charter as an organisation committed to the wellbeing of our colleagues. As members of the charter, we have been recognised as a great place to work for all colleagues and pledge to pay the real living wage, engage staff in key decisions and endorse fair and flexible working conditions.

The successful applicant’s appointment will be subject to satisfactory pre‑employment clearances including a Disclosure and Barring Service check.

Stockport Council holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not currently qualify.

Please note that we have made a commitment to improve the employment opportunities for people with disabilities, care leavers and ex‑military personnel. As part of the Guaranteed Assessment Scheme you will therefore be guaranteed to be shortlisted for Assessment if you meet both the criteria for the scheme and the essential job role criteria.

Find out if you meet the criteria here: https://www.greater.jobs/our-guaranteed-assessment-scheme

Privacy Notice

Stockport Council is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive workforce culture - a place where we can all be ourselves and succeed. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and communities to join our workforce.

We want our employees to have a good work life balance and in many job roles we can offer a range of flexible/hybrid working arrangements. We also have inclusive employment policies and staff engagement forums to support our diverse workforce. We will listen to, learn from, and develop our workforce.

Supporting Documents

Job Profile