Service Manager - Duty & Advice Service

Kirklees Council; Kirklees; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 105,000; Full time

Job summary

Kirklees Council is seeking an experienced Service Manager to lead the Front Door service for children, young people and families. This pivotal role provides visible leadership across a busy, multi‑agency system to ensure the right response at the right time.

You will shape safeguarding decisions, drive continuous improvement and work across organisational boundaries to deliver a high‑quality, child‑focused service. Provisional interviews 9th November.

Qualifications

• Qualified Social Worker with Social Work England registration and substantial post-qualification experience.
• Strong leadership capabilities with a track record of management in children’s social care.
• Experience across organisational and professional boundaries, with ability to influence at all levels.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the Front Door service including the Emergency Duty Team, setting clear expectations for safe, timely and child‑focused decision‑making.
• Ensure all new contacts are screened, assessed and responded to consistently with effective management oversight and clear rationale for decisions.
• Strengthen multidisciplinary and multi‑agency working, building trusted relationships with social care, police, health, education and other partners.
• Use performance information, quality assurance and feedback to improve practice and outcomes.
• Provide professional leadership to managers and practitioners, fostering a supportive, accountable, learning‑focused culture.
• Manage resources effectively, maintain oversight of demand and capacity, and ensure delivery within budget.
• Contribute to the wider Children and Families leadership team and shape strategic service development and improvement.
• Ensure safeguarding responsibilities are fulfilled with risk identified, escalated and managed appropriately.

Job description

Service Manager – Front Door Service

We are looking for an experienced, confident and inspirational Service Manager to lead our Front Door service—the first point of contact for children, young people and families who may need support or protection. This is a key leadership role within Children and Families, offering the opportunity to shape how concerns are understood, decisions are made and families receive the right response at the right time.

Our Front Door is a busy, multidisciplinary and multi-agency service that deals with all new contacts into Children’s Services. Social care professionals work alongside key partners to gather and analyse information, identify need and risk, and make timely, proportionate decisions. As Service Manager, you will provide visible leadership across this complex system and ensure that children and families experience a consistent, responsive and high-quality service.

About The Role

• You will lead and manage the Front Door service including the Emergency Duty Team, setting clear expectations for safe, timely and child-focused decision-making.
• You will ensure all new contacts are screened, assessed and responded to consistently, with effective management oversight and clear rationale for decisions.
• You will strengthen multidisciplinary and multi-agency working, building trusted relationships across social care, police, health, education and other partner services.
• You will use performance information, quality assurance and feedback from children, families and partners to improve practice and outcomes.
• You will provide professional leadership to managers and practitioners, creating a supportive, accountable and learning-focused culture.
• You will manage resources effectively, maintain oversight of demand and capacity, and ensure the service delivers within budget.
• You will contribute to the wider Children and Families leadership team and help shape strategic service development, transformation and improvement.
• You will ensure safeguarding responsibilities are fulfilled and that risk is identified, understood, escalated and managed appropriately.

About You

You will be a qualified and Social Work England-registered Social Worker with significant post-qualification experience and a strong track record of management in children’s social care. You will bring specialist knowledge of safeguarding and family support, sound professional judgement and the ability to lead confidently in a fast-paced environment where information may be incomplete and decisions must be timely and defensible.

You will understand the opportunities and challenges of leading across organisational and professional boundaries. You will be able to influence at all levels, communicate complex information clearly and create the conditions for constructive professional challenge. You will also have experience of employee, budget and resource management, service improvement, performance management, quality assurance and managing change.

You will have a strong understanding of what excellent practice looks like and be passionate about inspiring others, improving children’s lives and supporting the continuous professional development of practitioners. A creative and flexible approach, together with the drive and motivation to continuously improve our services, will be key to helping us make a positive and lasting difference to children, young people and their families.

Why Join Us?

This is an opportunity to lead a pivotal service at the centre of our safeguarding partnership and to make a direct difference from the moment a child or family first comes to our attention. By joining Kirklees, you will become part of an ambitious Children and Families service that values strong relationships, professional curiosity, purposeful partnership working and learning that leads to sustained improvement.

We are committed to creating the conditions in which practitioners can do their best work and children and families receive thoughtful, timely and effective support. You will be supported to bring forward ideas, influence service development and work alongside committed colleagues and partners who share a clear ambition to improve outcomes for children and young people across Kirklees.

Provisional interviews 9th November.