Service Manager: Care Leavers and UASC

Staffordshire County Council; Stafford; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Disability confident employer

Job summary

Staffordshire County Council is seeking an experienced 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 multi‑agency teams and drive continuous improvement across the service. You will work with housing, education, health, legal services and voluntary partners to deliver

Qualifications

• Qualified Social Worker with registration and active practising status.
• Substantial experience managing teams within children's social care.
• Experience working in a multi-agency environment and partnership working.
• In-depth knowledge of care leavers legislation, guidance and policy.
• Experience with performance frameworks, QA activities and reporting.

Responsibilities

• Provide inspiring operational leadership for Care Leavers, Belonging and Reunification and UASC services.
• Lead services to support care‑experienced young people towards independence and permanence.
• Drive continuous improvement, and strengthen partnerships with housing, education, health and other agencies.
• Oversee accommodation planning, transition planning and safe housing for young people.
• Manage budgets, resources and operational risks to ensure high quality and sustainability.
• Champion youth voice and co‑production in service development with strong corporate parenting.

Skills

Team management

Multi-agency collaboration

Budget & risk management

People leadership

Education

Qualified Social Worker

Job description

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.

Service Manager: Care Leavers and UASC

Company: Staffordshire County Council

Salary: Competitive

Hours: Full‑time

Location: Staffordshire Place 1, Stafford, ST16 2DH

Job type: Permanent

Posting date: 23 Oct 2026

Closing date: 6 Nov 2026

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:

• 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.

Don’t feel you meet all the requirements? We value transferable skills, experiences, and qualifications so consider applying anyway or for an informal chat about the role please contact Kelda Claire -

Our Recruitment Process: We anonymise applications during shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered. Please complete your application fully, especially the supporting statement, to highlight what you’ll bring to the role.

Please note: The minimum essential criteria in the ideal candidate section detailed above will be used if you are applying under one of our Interview Guarantee Schemes.

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.

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 yourapplication 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.

Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme

About Disability Confident

Disability Confident is a government scheme. It encourages employers to recruit and retain disabled people and those with long term health conditions.