Team Leader

Portsmouth City Council; Portsmouth; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 63,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Market supplement

Professional development and coaching

Job summary

Portsmouth City Council's Family Help service is seeking a Team Leader to provide day-to-day leadership to social workers and lead practitioners, ensuring timely, proportionate and high-quality support for children and families. The role focuses on risk assessment, care planning and multi-agency collaboration within an integrated Family Help approach.

You will lead on practice improvement, supervise staff, and drive service transformation to meet statutory timelines and improve outcomes for

Qualifications

• You will be an experienced and qualified Social Worker, registered with a relevant professional body.
• Substantial post-qualifying experience within Children's Services.
• Knowledge of safeguarding, SEND Code of Practice and Family Help principles.

Responsibilities

• Provide operational leadership to a team of social workers and Family Help Lead Practitioners.
• Oversee allocation and progression of casework, risk, thresholds and care planning.
• Support improvements in practice standards, audits and KPIs.
• Lead multi-agency collaboration and co-production with children, families and carers.

Skills

Communication skills

Organisational skills

IT skills

Analytical skills

Education

Social Work degree

Registered Social Worker (Social Work England)

Job description

This is an exciting opportunity to join Portsmouth's Children and Families Services as a Team Leader within Family Help, helping to shape and deliver an integrated approach to supporting children, young people and families. This is a Fixed term Contract for up to 1 year to cover maternity Leave. About the Role Family Help brings together targeted early help and Child in Need support into a single, seamless offer, helping families receive the right support at the right time. Our approach is centred around the whole family, with a focus on family-led planning, evidence-based interventions and coordinated support that reduces duplication and helps prevent needs from escalating. As Team Leader, you will provide operational leadership to a team of social workers and Family Help Lead Practitioners. You will ensure that children and families receive timely, proportionate and high-quality support that meets statutory requirements and promotes positive outcomes. You will provide day-to-day leadership, reflective supervision, coaching and mentoring to practitioners, creating a positive and supportive environment where high-quality practice can thrive. You will oversee the allocation and progression of casework and provide confident leadership around risk, thresholds, care planning and decision-making. You will play an important role in maintaining and improving practice standards, monitoring performance against KPIs and statutory timescales and supporting audits, thematic reviews and improvement activity. You will also contribute to service transformation, inspection readiness and the continued development of Portsmouth's Family Help approach. Partnership working will be fundamental to the role. You will work collaboratively with colleagues across education, health, police, Early Help and the voluntary sector, lead multi-agency meetings and support effective co-production with children, young people, families and carers.

You will be an experienced and qualified Social Worker, registered with a relevant professional body, with substantial post-qualifying experience within Children's Services. You will have a strong understanding of safeguarding practice and relevant statutory frameworks, alongside knowledge of the SEND Code of Practice and Family Help and early intervention principles. You will be a confident leader who can provide reflective supervision and practice guidance while supporting colleagues through coaching and mentoring. You will be comfortable making decisions under pressure, assessing and managing risk and working effectively within complex, multi-agency environments. We are looking for someone who can model a restorative, relational and strengths-based approach, support colleagues through change and help create a positive culture in which staff feel supported to develop and families receive high-quality services. Strong communication, organisation, IT and analytical skills are also essential

• Be part of a service that puts families at the centre of everything we do
• Work within a supportive, learning-focused culture
• Access excellent professional development and leadership support
• Competitive salary and market supplement
• Make a real and lasting difference to children and families in the city, You will need to explain any gaps in your career history within the last 5 years - this is essential for all safeguarding roles

We are a disability confident employer and Armed Forces Covenant gold standard. More information can be found at Equality, diversity and inclusion - Careers portal. We are committed to offering an interview to all those candidates that qualify under one of our commitments and meet the minimum criteria, however for roles that receive a large number of applications, this is not always possible, and we will select the candidates that best meet the minimum criteria You will need to demonstrate that you have the Right to Work in the UK. No post will be offered without it.

About Portsmouth City Council

Portsmouth City Council is a unique organisation, committed to making a difference, and is guided by core values that set who we are as people, what we stand for, and how we act. We are committed to our values of respect, integrity, collaboration, inclusivity and being people‑focussed. These values set out how we can contribute to the success of the council and our own success as individuals. Learn more about our values and behaviours.