Service Manager - Children in Care Team

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council; Dudley; On-site; GBP 61,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council is seeking a Service Manager for the Children in Care Team based in Dudley. You will provide strategic and operational leadership across Children in Care services, ensuring stability, timely care planning, and positive outcomes for looked-after children.

Reporting to the Principal Service Lead, you will lead Team Managers, drive service improvements, champion the voice of children, manage budgets, and collaborate with education, health, and partner agencies.

Qualifications

• Must have a recognised Social Work qualification and be registered with Social Work England.
• Proven experience leading Children’s Social Care services.
• Strong ability to drive service improvement and manage performance.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and management oversight of Children in Care teams.
• Lead and support Team Managers to deliver high-quality services and achieve excellent outcomes for children and young people.
• Drive improvements in practice, performance and service delivery within budget and resources.
• Promote permanence and stability through robust care planning and partnership working.
• Champion the voice of children and ensure their views shape service delivery and decisions.
• Collaborate with colleagues across social care, education, health, commissioning and partner agencies.
• Lead on quality assurance, service development and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Ensure statutory responsibilities are met and services operate within budget.

Skills

Leadership

People management

Performance management

Partnership working

Corporate parenting

Education

Social Work qualification

Job description

Service Manager - Children in Care Team

LocationCable Plaza, Waterfront West, Brierley Hill, Dudley

Salary £60,913 to £64,869 - salary subject to experience

Are you passionate about improving the lives of children in care and care experienced young people?

We are looking for an exceptional and inspiring leader to become our next Service Manager for Children in Care.This is an exciting opportunity to lead a dedicated and committed service that is ambitious for children and determined to achieve the very best outcomes for every child and young person in our care.

As Service Manager, you will provide strategic and operational leadership across our Children in Care services, ensuring that children experience stability, achieve permanence at the earliest opportunity, and are supported to thrive in all aspects of their lives.You will champion high-quality, relationship-based practice and ensure that children's voices remain at the heart of everything we do.

We are seeking a leader who is a passionate advocate for children in care, understands the responsibilities of effective corporate parenting, and can inspire others to maintain high aspirations for the children and young people we serve.

About the Role

Reporting to the Principal Service Lead, you will:

• Provide leadership and management oversight of Children in Care teams.

• Lead and support Team Managers to deliver high-quality services and achieve excellent outcomes for children and young people.

• Drive improvements in practice, performance and service delivery, ensuring children receive timely and effective support.

• Promote permanence and stability through robust care planning and partnership working.

• Promote reunification and safe returns home to family where appropriate.

• Champion the voice of children and young people and ensure their views shape service delivery and decision making.

• Work collaboratively with colleagues across social care, education, health, commissioning and partner agencies.

• Lead on quality assurance, service development and continuous improvement initiatives.

• Ensure statutory responsibilities are met and that services operate within budget and resource frameworks.

About You

We are looking for an experienced and motivated social care leader who:

• Is passionate about achieving the very best outcomes for children in care and care experienced young people.

• Demonstrates a strong commitment to corporate parenting and understands what excellent corporate parenting looks like in practice.

• Has significant experience of leading and managing Children's Social Care services.

• Can motivate, inspire and support a passionate and hardworking workforce.

• Has a proven track record of driving service improvement and delivering positive outcomes.

• Is confident in managing performance, quality assurance and complex operational challenges.

• Builds strong relationships and partnerships to improve the experiences and life chances of children and young people.

• Holds a recognised Social Work qualification and is registered with Social Work England.

Why Join Us?

This is an opportunity to join an ambitious Children's Service that places children and young people at the centre of everything it does.You will work alongside a committed leadership team and a passionate workforce who are dedicated to making a real difference to the lives of children in care.

We are committed to supporting our staff through a strong learning and development offer, reflective supervision, and opportunities for career progression.Most importantly, you will have the opportunity to shape services, support talented practitioners and help ensure that every child in our care has the opportunity to succeed and achieve their aspirations.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Principal Service Lead (Head of Service) – Steven Orchard

[e-mail] 07484587165 for an informal discussion.

Together, we can be the corporate parent our children deserve and help them achieve brighter futures.

So that we can demonstrate Dudley’s commitment to diversity and inclusion and to improve bias in the recruitment process that could create barriers for candidates.Your personal data will be anonymised when you apply, to ensure that you comply with our anonymisation process, please ensure you have removed your name and date of birth from any attachments prior to uploading them to your application.

Online application forms will only be accepted for this vacancy, online facilities for jobs are available at public libraries within the Dudley Borough.

All applicants must be able to provide documentation to prove their right to work in the UK.

Please note: Dudley MBC does not currently offer sponsorship for candidates without the Right to Work in the UK.

If you require support completing an online or paper application form and or interview techniques, please contact Dudley Adult and Community Learning on 01384 818 143 or [e-mail] who can support with Digital Skills and Job Applications.

If you have a disability and require assistance in making an application please contact the HR Resourcing Team via [e-mail]