Service Manager Exploitation Services North East

The Children's Society; Newcastle upon Tyne; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

36 days leave

Enhanced parental leave

Pension match

Free counselling

Skills development

Volunteer days

Job summary

The Children’s Society in the North East is recruiting to lead exploitation services and oversee a team delivering tailored, person-centred support to vulnerable children and young people at risk of exploitation. The role also drives workforce development for professionals and stakeholders across the region.

The ideal candidate will have substantial experience with safeguarding, multi-agency collaboration, and leading teams through complex cases to improve outcomes for young people.

Qualifications

• Substantial experience of working with vulnerable children and young people.
• Substantial experience of multi-agency working/partnership working.
• Substantial experience of dealing with complex safeguarding concerns.

Responsibilities

• Lead exploitation services across the North East of England, overseeing practitioners delivering tailored, person-centred support to children and young people at risk or experiencing exploitation.
• Lead workforce development for professionals and stakeholders to raise awareness and upskill practitioners and partners.

Skills

Experience with vulnerable children

Multi-agency working

Safeguarding leadership

Team leadership

Job description

Permanent Contract with funding ending March 2028

30 hours per week

Location: Newcastle / Gateshead with an expectation that the role will be onsite in the Newcastle or Gateshead office minimum 3 days a week

Benefits include but not limited to:

• 36 days’ annual leave[full time roles only], inclusive of flexible bank holidays, increasing with length of service
• Enhanced maternity/paternity leave
• We match up to 8% pension
• Free counselling service
• Opportunities to develop and widen your skills
• 2 days of paid volunteering time per annum to support another part of the organisation

About us:

The Children’s Society has been helping children and young people in this country for over 140 years. We deliver essential local services that provide safe, trusted support to children and young people during times of significant need.

Our Youth Impact domain creates impact for children and young people. With highly skilled and experienced staff working across England and Wales, we provide direct support to children, young people, parents and carers, as well as conduct research and influence Government to make changes. We also provide training for professionals. Our value driven team change the lives of children in this country for the better — and with your help and expertise, tomorrow we can support even more.

About the role:

You’ll play a key part in leading our exploitation services across the North East of England overseeing a team of practitioners delivering tailored, person centred support to children and young people who are experiencing criminal or sexual exploitation, or who are identified as being at risk. In addition you will lead on our workforce development for professionals and stakeholders across the North East of England to raise awareness and support the upskilling of other practitioners and local stakeholders.

We’re looking for someone who is passionate about supporting children and young people who are experiencing exploitation or who may be at risk with the ability to lead a team of practitioners to make a real impact in the lives of children and young people.

Key skills and experience:

The required skills and competencies for this role are:

• Substantial experience of working with vulnerable children and young people.
• Substantial experience of multi-agency working/partnership working.
• Substantial experience of dealing with complex safeguarding concerns.
• Managing, leading and supporting individuals and teams who are dealing with complex and sensitive issues.

Work based knowledge:

• Understanding of a range of evidence based interventions and therapeutic ways of working with children and young people to promote resilience and wellbeing.
• Understanding of the issues and challenges facing children and young people who have been exploited or who are at risk of exploitation, and evidence based interventions to promote resilience and wellbeing.
• Understanding of the personal, social and cultural issues that affect children and young people and challenges faced by specific vulnerable groups of children and young people.

Closing date:

Midnight on Sunday 23 rd of August

*Please note if we receive a high volume of applications we reserve the right to close the vacancy from the 21st August onwards*

Interviews:

Tuesday 1 st of September

The Children’s Society is committed to safeguarding and protection of the children and young people we work with. As such, our safer recruitment process includes a Basic or Enhanced DBS check, 5 years of references, and additional vetting checks relevant to the role. We have a comprehensive range of policies and procedures in place to promote safeguarding and safer working practices across all areas of our organisation.
In support of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, shortlisting is carried out on an anonymised basis. Personal details are hidden from the shortlisting panel, and candidates are referenced by a candidate number only. As part of this process, we ask that your CV is anonymised before submission - this means removing personal information such as your name, contact details, age, and any other identifying details.

AI tools can support your application but only when used appropriately. You’re welcome to use them to improve clarity, structure, and research. However, overuse or misuse (e.g. inventing experience or using AI during assessments) may lead to rejection at any stage. We want to hear the real you - authenticity matters.