Senior Manager - EmPower Contextual Safeguarding

Lancashire County Council; Preston; Hybrid; GBP 68,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Lancashire County Council is seeking a Senior Manager, EmPower Contextual Safeguarding Education and Children’s Services to lead across specialist teams and work with the Head of Service to drive performance.

You will ensure high-quality practice, manage risk and safeguarding, oversee resources and budgets, and champion partnership working with children, families and partner agencies to shape services across Lancashire.

Qualifications

• Professional qualification and registration as a Social Worker.
• Minimum 4 years’ management or leadership experience in children’s social care.
• Management qualification or equivalent significant training.
• Strong ability to lead across organisations and safeguard practice.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic and operational leadership across specialist teams.
• Drive performance, quality and continuous improvement.
• Oversee safeguarding, risk management, budgets and resources.
• Lead partnership work with professionals and agencies around children and families.
• Influence the future of youth justice services across Lancashire.

Skills

Leadership

Children's Social Care

Contextual Safeguarding

Strategic Planning

Budget Management

Education

Qualified Social Worker

Job description

Job-ID: 21347 Category: Social Care

Transform Futures. Some leadership roles are about managing services.

About the Role

You’ll provide strategic and operational leadership across specialist teams, working closely with the Head of Service to drive performance, quality and continuous improvement. You’ll lead high-quality practice, ensure risk and safeguarding are managed effectively and oversee performance, resources and budgets. Partnership working will be central to your role, bringing together professionals and agencies around children and young people while ensuring their voices and those of their families shape the services they receive. It’s a significant leadership opportunity to influence the future of youth justice across Lancashire.

About You

You’ll be an experienced children’s social care leader with a strong understanding of Contextual Safeguarding, and a track record of leading high-performing teams through change and improvement. You’ll be confident making complex decisions, managing risk and performance and building strong relationships across organisational boundaries. Most importantly, you’ll be a leader who can bring people with you while keeping children and young people at the heart of your decisions. You’ll need a minimum of four years’ management or leadership experience within children’s social care and must be a professionally qualified and registered Social Worker, meeting Social Work England professional standards. You’ll also hold a management qualification or have undertaken significant management training.

Why Join Us?

A workplace built on trust, balance and flexibility. We want our leaders to have the support and flexibility they need to perform at their best. You’ll join an organisation where trusted leadership, wellbeing and collaboration are central to how we work. Development that grows with you: You’ll have the opportunity to influence a critical area of Children’s Services, working alongside senior leaders and partners while helping shape future services, practice and workforce development across Lancashire. A culture grounded in inclusivity. Our values are supportive, innovative, respectful and collaborative. We want leaders who create inclusive teams, listen to children and families and empower people to deliver their best work.

Additional Requirements

• If successful you will be required to apply to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) for a 'disclosure'.
• You will be required to provide a car for use in connection with the duties of this post and must be insured for business use.
• However, we may consider you if you cannot drive because of a disability.

Local Government Reorganisation

The Government has confirmed that local government across Lancashire will be reorganised, with the current 15 councils being replaced by four new unitary councils covering North, South, East and West Lancashire from April 2028. If you are successful in your application, you will initially join Lancashire County Council. However, as part of the planned transition, your employment will transfer to one of the new unitary councils from April 2028, subject to the implementation of the reorganisation and relevant employment legislation. Throughout this period, our focus remains on delivering excellent services to our communities.

Job Details

• Job-ID: 21347
• Category: Social Care
• ChildrenLocation: Lancashire, United Kingdom
• Schedule: Full time
• Posted: 2026-10-09
• Closes: 2026-11-01
• Senior Manager, EmPower Contextual Safeguarding Education and Children’s Services – Lancashire County Council
• Salary: 68,225 – 74,531
• Location: Lancashire, Countywide (Hybrid)
• Lead With Purpose.

Closing & Interviews

Closing Date: Sunday 1st November. Interviews: TBC. The post you are applying for is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013).

We reserve the right to close down a vacancy early, before the closing date, if we receive sufficient applications.