Service Manager

Halton Borough Council; Runcorn; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

34 days holiday

LGPS pension

Life cover 3x salary

Personal development

Free car parking

Flexible working

Wellbeing hub

Employee Assistance Programme

Discounted shopping

Car leasing

Gym memberships

Job summary

Halton Borough Council in Cheshire seeks an experienced Service Manager to provide operational leadership across the Family Hubs and Early Help Services, delivering early intervention and support to children and families. You will lead multidisciplinary teams, champion innovation, manage budgets and safeguarding, and collaborate with health, education and social care partners to achieve strong outcomes.

A professional qualification and track record of leading change are essential, with a

Qualifications

• Experienced leader with a relevant professional qualification.
• Proven track record of leading change and developing high‑performing teams.
• Strong understanding of early help, safeguarding and Family Hubs.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic and operational direction for Team Around the Family.
• Lead multidisciplinary teams to deliver high‑quality support.
• Oversee budgets and commissioned services and safeguard practice.
• Collaborate with health, education and social care partners to achieve outcomes.

Skills

Leadership

Change management

Child protection

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Relevant professional qualification

Job description

Our Story

Halton is a vibrant local authority with a rich history and heritage, featuring three iconic bridges that connect communities across the River Mersey. Located in Cheshire, Halton boasts excellent transport links between Liverpool and Manchester, as well as close proximity to both Liverpool John Lennon and Manchester Airports. Our progressive community strategy aims to bring about meaningful, long-term improvements that enhance lives. It’s an exciting time to join us as we develop new policies and transform the way people access services. We are immensely proud that when asked what’s great about working for Halton, the most popular response from our workforce has been ‘our colleagues’.

Our Team

As a service manager you will lead services and manage staff across our family hubs and early support and prevention teams. Halton Family Hubs and Early Help Services support children and young people from birth to age 19 (or up to 25 for young people with special educational needs and disabilities). Bringing together council, health and community services, Family Hubs ensure that children, young people and families can access the right support, at the right time, in the right place.

Our Family Hubs and Early Help Services include maternity and health visiting support, early years development and play opportunities, family support, parenting programmes, speech and language development, emotional wellbeing support, and targeted help for children with disabilities, additional needs and their families.

Hours

37hrs

Your Contributions

We’re looking for an experienced and forward thinking Service Manager to provide operational leadership across staff and services working across universal and early support services. This is a fantastic opportunity to shape the future of Early Help in Halton, driving the continued development of our Family Hub model, delivering early support services to provide earliest intervention and to work closely with our family help model delivering services that make a real and lasting difference to local communities.

In this influential leadership role, you’ll provide strategic and operational direction for our Team Around the Family service, leading multidisciplinary teams to deliver high‑quality, inclusive and effective support. You’ll champion innovation and continuous improvement, oversee budgets and commissioned services, promote excellent safeguarding practice, and work collaboratively with partners across health, education and social care to achieve the best possible outcomes for children and families.

We’re looking for an experienced leader with a relevant professional qualification and a proven track record of leading change, developing high‑performing teams and delivering outstanding services within children’s services. You’ll have a strong understanding of early support and prevention, safeguarding and Family Hubs, alongside the ability to build trusted partnerships, influence across organisations and inspire those around you.

Our Offer

• A generous annual holiday allowance starting at 34 days per year (including bank holidays), increasing with long service
• Membership of our defined benefit, salary‑linked Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) with generous employer contributions
• 3 x Salary Life Cover via Local Government Pension Scheme
• Investment in your personal development
• Free Car Parking at HBC sites
• Flexible working arrangements
• Extensive employee benefits platform including discounted shopping, car leasing, gym memberships, wellbeing hub and Employee Assistance Programme

At Halton Borough Council we want to ensure that our communities are represented across our workforce and a vital part of this is to encourage diversity in all respects. We are committed to making our recruitment practices barrier‑free and tailored to best suit the needs and strength of the individual. This includes making adjustments for people with a disability, neurodiversity or with long‑term health conditions.

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