Service Leader - Fostering Support

Portsmouth City Council; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government body in the United Kingdom is seeking a Service Leader for Foster Care Support. This position requires a qualified social worker with experience in managing teams and fostering practices. The leader will oversee the Fostering Support Team, ensuring compliance with statutory requirements and promoting quality assurance. Successful candidates will possess excellent leadership, communication, and organizational skills, and be dedicated to safeguarding children’s welfare. This role involves a hybrid work arrangement, requiring 3-5 days in the office each week.

Benefits

Disability confident employer

Support for professional development

Qualifications

• Hold a Social Work qualification and be registered with Social Work England.
• Substantial post qualification experience in social work with children and families.
• Management experience at least at a team leader/manager level.
• Knowledge of statutory procedures and local standards/processes.

Responsibilities

• Lead a service of team leaders, social workers, and other staff.
• Ensure all team requirements are met regarding performance management.
• Work with a high level of autonomy and resolve conflicts restoratively.
• Model and promote a restorative, strengths based approach.

Skills

Leadership

Social Work experience

Communication skills

Organizational skills

Problem-solving skills

Education

Social Work qualification (Diploma/Degree/MSc)

Job description

The Service

Children's Social Care provides social work interventions to children in need (including children with disabilities and those subject to protection plans) and children looked after and care experienced young people.

The Role

As Service Leader for Foster Care Support, you will work closely with the Service Leader for Kinship, Adoption & Fostering Recruitment, and Service Leader, Home Finding & Commissioning, providing support and cover for each other when necessary. You will oversee, manage, and have responsibility for the following:

The Fostering Support Team who are responsible for the supervision and support of all foster carers. The team works closely with the children's social workers identifying any issues relating to the carer that may impact on placement stability and ensuring support is in place.

The Fostering Panel which is responsible for quality assuring all new foster carers, and review carers first year annual review. The panel also reviews any carers subject to a safeguarding issues and allegations regarding their care, as well as other areas of good practice.

Responsibilities include:

• Lead a service of team leaders, social workers, and other staff. Ensure all statutory requirements are met and delivered to a high standard. Lead quality assurance activity, which will include service audits and regulatory inspections.
• Ensure all team requirements are met regarding workforce development; performance management supervision and appraisal; compliance with statutory guidance and local policies and procedures; quality improvements; and budget management.
• Work closely and collaboratively with other managers in the service and a range of partner agencies. Work creatively and flexibly within the resources available, ensuring standards and best practice are applied. Work with a high level of autonomy and will be expected to resolve conflict and respond restoratively to complaints.
• Model and promote a restorative, strengths based approach to work.

The ideal candidate

You will need to:

• Hold a Social Work qualification (Diploma/Degree/MSc) and be registered with Social Work England.
• Have substantial post qualification experience in social work with children and families. This will include fostering experience. This will include management experience at least at a team leader/manager level.
• Be a confident and inspirational leader, motivated to further shape and develop practice in Portsmouth.
• Have knowledge of statutory procedures and local standards/processes to inform good practice.
• Be curious and creative and above all have a 'can do' attitude. You will be able to work as part of a team and ensure that practice contributes to strategic priorities.
• Demonstrate a level of authority and to be able to support, challenge and scrutinise professional practice.
• Have the skills to develop strong relationships, working in a relational way where person-centred values and restoring relationships are at the heart of all your activities.
• Have excellent organisational, communication (written/verbal), IT, and financial skills.
• Manage stress and assist others in developing strategies for prioritising work and balancing competing demands/pressures in which to achieve good outcomes for children.
• Have good working knowledge and be able to practice anti-discriminatory practice, addressing equality of opportunity issues.

Please ensure that you read the full job profile attached for the details and expectations of this role, paying particular attention the section 'Who is the person' as you will need to refer to this when completing your Personal statement.

Working Arrangements:

You will be required to work 3-5 days in the office each week.

Contact for informal discussion or questions about the role:

Please email Mark Jowett - [e-mail]

Application process

We anonymise applications during application & shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered.

As part of your application, we ask that you complete a personal statement, this statement is crucial and is where you must demonstrate how you meet the requirements of the job against each of the points described in the 'Who is the Person' points on the Job Profile using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work / personal experience.

We are a disability confident employer and Armed Forces Covenant gold standard. More information can be found at Equality, diversity and inclusion - Careers portal

We are committed to offering an interview to all those candidates that qualify under our corporate commitments and meet the minimum criteria, however, for roles that receive a large number of applications, we will select the candidates that best meet the minimum criteria.

You will need to demonstrate that you have the Right to Work in the UK. No post will be offered without it.

About Portsmouth City Council

What we can offer you:

Portsmouth City Council is a unique organisation, committed to making a difference, and is guided by core values that set who we are as people, what we stand for, and how we act.

Read more about working at Portsmouth City Council and our benefits on our careers portal homepage: Careers Portal - Find jobs with Portsmouth City Council

Portsmouth City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and young people, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

DBS Disclosure at Enhanced level will be required prior to any offer of employment and this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

Every post is subject to PCC and Portsmouth Safeguarding Children Partnership safer recruitment procedures.

Should you require any support in completing the application form please contact [e-mail] . or call the recruitment team on 023 92 616800