Service Manager - Regional Adoption Agency (Internal) - CMB2684i

Cumberland Council; Carlisle; On-site; GBP 68,000 - 71,000; Full time

Job summary

Cumberland Council's Children and Family Wellbeing Directorate seeks an experienced Service Manager to lead the Regional Adoption Agency. You will provide strategic leadership, ensure child‑centred, outcome‑focused services, oversee performance, budgets, teams, and partnerships to improve outcomes for children across Cumbria.

This permanent, pro‑rata role (22.2 hours per week) in Carlisle carries on‑call responsibilities and DBS requirements.

Qualifications

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership for the Regional Adoption Agency.
• Oversee service performance and delegated budgets.
• Lead and support teams and develop partnerships.
• Provide expert advice to senior colleagues and participate in the leadership team.
• Manage on-call and service cover responsibilities.

Job description

• Internal Applicants Only*

Salary: £68,047 to £71,045 pro-rata per annum

Hours: 22.2 hours per week

Location: Carlisle

Contract: Permanent

About The Job

This role sits within the Children and Family Wellbeing Directorate at Cumberland Council and forms part of the Regional Adoption Agency, a hosted service delivering adoption services across Cumberland and Westmorland & Furness. Working closely with children, young people, families, carers and partner organisations, you will lead the service in delivering high-quality adoption support and improving outcomes for children across Cumbria.

As Service Manager, you will provide strategic leadership for the Regional Adoption Agency, ensuring services are child-centred, outcome-focused and delivered in line with legislation, regulation and best practice. You will oversee service performance, manage delegated budgets, lead and support teams, develop partnerships, provide expert advice to senior colleagues, and contribute to the wider leadership team, including on-call and service cover responsibilities.

Who We’re Looking For

We’re looking for individuals who embody our organisation's core values: ambitious, collaborative, compassionate, empowering, and innovative. We believe in the power of these values to drive positive change, deliver excellent public services and shape a better future for our communities.

We’re also about potential over perfection and we can help you grow in the role and thrive in your career.

Be sure to take a look at the post specification (below) for the essential criteria for this role.

DBS Checks

This role requires a DBS check. The level of check for this role is: Enhanced DBS check with a Children’s and Adults Barred List check.

Please note this role involves working in regulated activity with adults and Children. It is an offence for people who are barred from working in regulated activity to apply for roles that require them to work unsupervised with adults and Children.

Guaranteed Interviews

We offer a guaranteed interview to the following applicants as long as your application can demonstrate you meet the essential criteria for the role.

• Those who consider themselves disabled as defined by the Equality Act 2010
• Those in care or who have left care and are aged 24 and under
• Those who identify as a member of the British Armed Forces community (service leavers, veterans, their partners or spouses, reservists, cadets).

Diversity, Inclusion & Adjustments

We’re dedicated to enhancing the diversity of our workforce and we encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds. That’s why we’re a proud Disability Confident Leader and also an Age Friendly Employer – to provide opportunities for everyone to thrive.

If you need any reasonable adjustments

to participate in the recruitment process, please let either the hiring manager or our Resourcing Team know by emailing [e-mail]. While adjustments aren’t always guaranteed, we’ll always listen and we’ll try our best to accommodate your needs.

Contact

For more information about the role or to arrange an informal chat prior to your application, please contact Elizabeth Curtis by email at [e-mail]