Service Manager: Care Leavers and UASC

Wollborg Michelson Personnel Service Inc; Stafford; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Staffordshire County Council is seeking a Service Manager for Care Leavers, Belonging and Reunification and Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC). You will provide inspiring operational leadership to ensure high‑quality, safe, person‑centred support as young people move toward independence.

You will lead services that help care‑experienced young people and those seeking asylum achieve positive outcomes, drive improvement, and ensure permanence and reunification while strengthening

Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent in social work or related field.
• Social Work qualification and current registration required.
• Experience leading teams within children's social care in a multi‑agency environment.
• Strong knowledge of care leavers legislation and policy.
• Experience with Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children and related immigration considerations.
• HR guidance familiarity and staff performance management experience.

Responsibilities

• Provide inspirational operational leadership for Care Leavers, UASC and belonging/reunification services.
• Drive service improvement, QA and performance management using data and feedback.
• Collaborate with housing, education, health, legal, voluntary sector to deliver joined‑up support.
• Oversee accommodation and transition planning for young people moving to independence.
• Manage budgets, resources and operational risk to maintain high quality and sustainability.
• Champion voice of young people and embed co‑production in service development.

Skills

People management

Budgeting

Strategic leadership

Multi‑agency collaboration

Data‑driven service improvement

Participation and co‑production

Education

Qualified Social Worker (social work degree)

Registered Social Worker

Job description

Staffordshire County Council,

Our Children and Families services and our vision here in Staffordshire is rooted in four core principles that underpin everything we do:

• Families first – network and community always
• Right help, right time – proportionate, timely and co-produced with children and families
• Whole-system responsibility for supporting children and families to be happy, healthy and safe
• Permanence as belonging from day one

To achieve our ambition, we have taken a bold decision to transform our service structure and we’re looking for talented, values-driven leaders who can champion these principles, inspire others and help shape the future of Children and Families services in Staffordshire.

We want to create a more resilient, child-centred and future-focused system that enables children, young people and families to receive the right help at the right time.

Through this redesign, we are strengthening leadership, increasing capacity and creating clearer lines of accountability across our services. These changes will support high-quality practice, stronger partnerships and better outcomes for children and families, while ensuring we are well positioned to respond to national reforms and future challenges.

Main Responsibilities

As Service Manager for Care Leavers, Belonging and Reunification and Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC), you will provide inspiring operational leadership to ensure young people receive high-quality, safe and person-centred support as they move towards independence. You will lead services that help care-experienced young people and young people seeking asylum achieve positive outcomes, and support opportunities of permanence and reunification while driving continuous improvement, partnership working and excellent practice across the service.

You will:

• Lead and develop Care Leaver and UASC services, ensuring young people receive effective support that promotes safety, stability, independence and positive life outcomes.
• Drive service improvement, quality assurance and performance management, using data, feedback and learning to continually enhance practice and service delivery.
• Work closely with partners including housing, education, health, legal services, the voluntary sector and other agencies to deliver joined-up support for young people.
• Oversee accommodation and transition planning, helping young people access safe, suitable housing and supporting successful moves into adulthood.
• Manage budgets, resources and operational risks effectively, ensuring services remain high quality, sustainable and compliant with statutory responsibilities.
• Champion the voice of young people, embedding participation and co-production in service development while promoting strong corporate parenting principles.

The Ideal Candidate The minimum criteria that will be used to shortlist for this role will be:

• a degree or equivalent level qualification.
• Qualification and registered Social Worker.
• Substantial experience of managing teams within children's social care in a multi-agency environment.
• In-depth knowledge of legislation, statutory guidance and national policy relating to care leavers.
• Significant understanding of statutory duties and guidance relating to Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children, including age assessment, transition planning and immigration-related considerations.
• Supervisory and management experience, including knowledge of relevant HR guidance and procedures.
• Experience of developing and monitoring performance frameworks, quality assurance activity and reporting processes.

Interviews will be held in person - date to be confirmed. About Staffordshire County Council We are no ordinary county council: Our Values:

The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.

Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:

We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.

We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.

Our benefits

We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to Our rewards and benefits - Careers at Staffordshire

Our recruitment process

As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all background and communities

As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

As you’ll know safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children and young people/vulnerable adults is important to us and that’s why this position is subject to a criminal record check from the Disclosure and Barring Service. If applicable you should disclose details of unspent and unfiltered spent reprimands, formal warnings, cautions and convictions in your application form.