Service Manager Provider Services (Fostering)

Barnsley Council; Cirencester; On-site; GBP 57,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Generous annual leave

Training & professional development

IT equipment for agile working

Employee discounts

Parking permit

Social Work England fee reimbursement

Pension scheme

Lifecycle of rewards program

Job summary

Barnsley Council is recruiting a Service Manager – Fostering to lead and develop our in-house fostering service. The role focuses on supervising two teams including Mockingbird and Kinship, plus recruitment and panel advisory duties, ensuring the continuity and quality of support for children in care.

The post requires strong leadership, strategic vision, and substantial experience in fostering services at a management level, with a commitment to safeguarding and to delivering positive outcomes

Qualifications

• Strong leadership skills to lead and motivate staff.
• Significant experience in a fostering service in a management capacity.
• Ability to obtain Enhanced DBS check and comply with safeguarding requirements.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for Supervisory Teams x 2 including Mockingbird, Recruitment Team and Kinship Team, and Panel Advisor.
• Lead and motivate staff to deliver high-quality fostering services; oversee recruitment, retention and supervision of in-house foster carers.

Job description

Position reference: 50007868

Directorate: Children’s Services | Service: Children in Care

Salary: 63,375

• 68,707Working Arrangements: Mon
• Fri, Agile, min 3 days in the officeThis is a full-time role.

We are committed to supporting work–life balance, and requests for flexible working, including job share, will be considered in line with the needs of the service.

Given the requirement for continuity of support to service users, any flexible working arrangements would need to ensure consistency in case management.

Hours per week: 37

Contract type: Permanent

We are happy to talk flexible working arrangements with you, please get in touch. See our range of Employee Rewards: Employee rewards and benefits

Closing date: 02/10/2026 at 23:59

The successful candidate will be required to speak English to an appropriate standard.

This post requires an Enhanced DBS Check

If you are currently living overseas or have lived overseas in the last five years please be aware, if you are the preferred candidate for the post, you will be required to apply for an overseas criminal records check from the country/countries you have resided in.

If you experience difficulty in obtaining an overseas criminal record check please email applying, please ensure you are prepared to start work with all the necessary legal documents, such as a valid visa, relevant to the type of work you will be undertaking.

Please be aware that our organisation does not possess a Home Office license and, as a result, is unable to provide sponsorship for anyone seeking a visa as a skilled or temporary migrant worker.

Pensions Regulations have provisions to reduce pension payments in certain circumstances of those who return to work within local government service. If you are in receipt of a pension upon commencing employment with the authority, this may affect your pension entitlements and you should therefore seek advice from the relevant Pensions Authority.

At Barnsley Council you can start a career that makes a real difference to people’s lives, helping our council and residents to be the best they can be.

We’re an award-winning council and one of the biggest employers in the borough, supporting around 243,000 people.

We put people at the heart of everything we do, and that includes our employees.

As part of the team, we offer lots of benefits and rewards to support you to thrive and grow, like flexible working, employee discounts, support for your health and wellbeing, and opportunities for training and development to grow your career and develop your skills.

There’s so much happening in our thriving borough, and now’s the perfect time to join our excellent Children in Care team as we work to make Barnsley the place of possibilities.

We’re an award-winning team and one of the biggest employers in the borough supporting around 243,000 people.

Working at Barnsley Council means being part of a team that makes a real difference to people’s lives, where you can develop the skills you need to make change happen.

If you join the team you’ll receive great pay alongside an excellent pension scheme.

With flexible working we’ll also support your work/life balance, helping you to adjust your hours and take time off when you need it.

We’ll help you to develop your career and grow your skills with opportunities for training and development.

There’s so much happening in our thriving borough and your talent and skills will help us make Barnsley the place of possibilities.

Key to our success is working with our residents, partners, businesses and organisations and building these partnerships to bring about change in Barnsley.

About the Post:

Service Manager Fostering

Be the Champion our Children, Young People and their Foster Carers need!Responsible for: Supervisory Teams x 2 including Mockingbird, Recruitment Team and Kinship Team, and Panel Advisor

We are looking for an individual with strong leadership skills to lead and motivate staff.

The post holder will be solution focused and have significant experience of working in a fostering service in a management capacity.

The Fostering Service is a dedicated team responsible for the recruitment, retention and supervision of our in house foster carers.

A key priority within our revised sufficiency strategy is the continued increase in recruitment, to respond to the needs of our children in care.

This is an exciting time in the service with opportunity to develop innovative solutions to better meet the needs of our children and support our growing in house service including the number of Mockingbird Constellations in Barnsley.

If you can provide visionary leadership and want to work in an environment which enables you to focus on the things that matter most to children and young people, and that made you want to become a social worker in the first place……then Barnsley could be the place of possibilities for you.

If you are committed to the highest standards of Social Work practice in supporting our foster carers to achieve the best outcomes for children, young people and families we want to hear from you.

We have tremendous ambition for our children and young people in Barnsley as a place of possibilities and are making multi million pound investment into their future.

Whilst we are proud of our current Ofsted rating of ‘Good’, we are far from complacent and recognise the increasingly challenging context in which we operate.

Barnsley’s real political and corporate commitment to children’s services has been recently demonstrated by a multi-million recurring investment into the service to further develop our workforce, improve our model of practice, create a new social care academy and deploy greater use of technology.

As well as that we offer:

• A highly competitive salary
• A visible, friendly and supportive senior management team
• Regular supervision
• Generous annual leave entitlement including the option to buy even more, as well as flexible working arrangements
• IT equipment and technology to support agile working
• Professional development with a clear Social Work Career Pathway
• The full range of benefits including cycle to work, parking permit, reimbursement of Social Work England fee’s, mileage expenses and employee discounts
• A culture where we recognise and celebrate our colleagues’ achievements
• Free refreshments

Interview Date: To Be Confirmed

Job Profile: Service Manager Job Profile.pdf

Vacancy Exposure Profile: Exposure Profile.pdf

Help with your application form

Why work for us?

Please ensure you view the job profile for this role, as you will need to demonstrate in your application form how you meet the required criteria.

We welcome the opportunity to have a chat about the role and are happy to address any questions you may have about flexible working arrangements, including as a result of caring responsibilities.

We're committed to creating a workplace where differences are valued and everyone truly feels able to be themselves.

If you have any support needs during the recruitment process, please let us know.

CV's are not accepted for this role.

At Barnsley Council, we believe in second chances and value diversity.

Our recruitment process is inclusive, and we welcome applicants with past convictions.

We're committed to fairness and do not discriminate.

Join us in building a future where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

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