Corporate Parenting Service Manager

Buckinghamshire Council; Aylesbury; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A local authority organization in Aylesbury is seeking a passionate Corporate Parenting Service Manager to lead services for children in care and care leavers. The role involves driving service improvements, managing teams, and ensuring exceptional outcomes for young people. Candidates should be qualified social workers with strong leadership abilities and a commitment to relationship-based practice. This position offers a chance to make a meaningful difference in the lives of children and young adults.

Benefits

Health and well-being initiatives

Employee Assistance Programme

Flexible working arrangements

Qualifications

• Extensive experience working with children in long-term care.
• Passionate and dedicated to relationship-based practice.
• Ability to manage Corporate Parenting teams effectively.

Responsibilities

• Drive service improvement and embed best practices.
• Lead teams responsible for Children in Care, Leaving Care, and UASC.
• Manage casework and ensure timely outcomes for children.

Skills

Leadership in social work

Effective communication

Budget management

Creative problem-solving

Education

Qualified social worker

Registered with Social Work England

Job description

Are you passionate about making a real difference in the lives of children and young people? We’re looking for a Corporate Parenting Service Manager to lead and shape services that support children in care, care leavers, and unaccompanied asylum‑seeking children. This is a pivotal role within Children’s Services, where you’ll drive excellence, champion best practice, and ensure every child and young adult has the opportunity to thrive.

Buckinghamshire Council is a relatively new organisation that combines the strengths and expertise of the previous five councils in the county to create positive change for local people, communities, and businesses. We are firmly focused on the future and have made a clear commitment to serve residents better and to provide stronger representation for Buckinghamshire, both locally and nationally.

We are looking for motivated, ambitious and inspiring people to join us on our journey. You will be entitled to a range of different benefits to make sure you are happy both at work and at home.

About the role

We are looking for a dedicated and passionate Service Manager to join our Corporate Parenting Service in our drive to achieve outstanding. In Buckinghamshire, we recognise the importance of being the best Corporate Parent possible to our children in care and care‐experienced young adults and to achieve permanence for all of your children who cannot live with their parents via long‑term care. We are committed to developing robust teams and services to provide nurturing and positive relationships with our children, young people and their carers, whilst managing the complexities that arise for many of our young people in alternative care arrangements.

We are passionate about achieving the very best for the families and young people that we work with across our community. As a Service Manager your role will be central to providing exceptional and creative leadership for the Corporate Parenting part of our Service and making a positive difference to children, young people and their families. You will be required to plan, organise and manage your teams, providing effective operational management and support, as required, delegating to your Team Managers as necessary, and driving high performance and timely outcomes for children. You will support your Head of Service to deliver on the Service improvement plan. In addition to this, you will oversee recruitment, service development, quality assurance and individual casework undertaken by your teams.

Your work will include:

• Driving service improvement and embedding best practice.
• Leading teams responsible for Children in Care (Under 16), Leaving Care (16‑25), and UASC.
• Building strong partnerships across agencies to deliver seamless support.
• Managing budgets effectively and identifying efficiencies.
• Championing safeguarding and ensuring a proactive culture across the service.

This is a role where your leadership will directly impact outcomes for children and families, helping them feel supported and empowered.

Please see the job description attached for a full list of duties and responsibilities.

About you

You are a social work qualified manager with extensive experience in working with children in long‑term care and Care Leavers, who is passionate, caring and dedicated as well as being someone who is able to think outside the box and develop creative solutions. You are committed to relationship‑based practice in all your interactions with staff and service users. As a skilled communicator you will have the ability to work with a broad range of people and partners, including working respectfully with children, young people and their families/carers to ensure that children remain stable and nurtured.

You will consistently ensure the views, wishes and feelings of our children, young people and their families/carers are used to inform their care plans. You will have a strong record in managing Corporate Parenting teams and meeting improvement outcomes. You will know how to provide management oversight in order that all cases are safely managed in a timely way and to agreed practice standards. You will have an acute appreciation for the Council’s budget and associated pressures on spend, and will know how to work within a budget envelope and provide best value for money.

You will need to be a qualified social worker and registered with Social Work England. This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and a comprehensive screening process will be undertaken on successful applicants including an Enhanced Children’s Department of Barring Services check.

If you share our vision and have the enthusiasm and commitment to succeed despite the challenge of high demand and complex needs, then this job is for you.

Closing date: Midnight on Friday 16th January

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

Buckinghamshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent convictions and conditional cautions
• All spent convictions and adult cautions that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020 and 2023).

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

• a fair and inclusive culture
• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well‑being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

At Buckinghamshire Council, we know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation.

From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments.

We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like‑minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work‑life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements.