Team Manager - Assessment Service

WMJobs; Brierley Hill; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council is seeking a confident Team Manager to lead one of our Assessment Teams within Dudley Children’s Services. You will steer timely, robust, child‑centred assessments at the front door, influencing outcomes from the outset and managing demand in a fast paced environment.

You will lead a team of social workers, drive performance, and work with partners in a coordinated multi‑agency response. Hybrid working with 3 days in the office is expected.

Qualifications

• Qualified, experienced social worker with front-line practice in children’s services.
• Proven ability to lead teams and manage high caseloads.
• Strong risk assessment and decision‑making skills.
• Ability to work under pressure and drive service improvement.

Responsibilities

• Lead and support a team of social workers delivering high‑quality assessments.
• Oversee timely decision‑making at the front door, ensuring right responses.
• Provide clear direction on complex and high‑risk cases with risk management.
• Drive performance and quality of practice across a busy front-line service.
• Support staff to maintain high professional standards under pressure.
• Ensure analytical, child‑centred, outcome‑focused assessments.
• Collaborate with partners for a coordinated multi‑agency response.
• Work with senior leaders to manage demand and embed best practice.

Skills

Social work leadership

Front-line safeguarding

Staff development

Risk assessment

Education

Qualified social worker

Job description

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council,

Ready to lead at the front door of children’s services?

We’re looking for a confident, driven and inspiring Team Manager to lead one of our Assessment Teams—a critical service that sits at the front of Dudley Children’s Services, making timely decisions that shape the journey of children and families from the outset. This is a fast-paced and influential leadership role where your decisions and oversight will directly impact how we safeguard children and support families at the earliest point of intervention. You will lead a team managing high levels of demand, ensuring assessments are robust, timely and focused on achieving the right outcomes.

If you thrive in a dynamic environment, enjoy leading under pressure, and are passionate about high-quality practice—this could be the role for you.

As Team Manager, you will:

• Lead and support a team of social workers delivering high-quality assessments
• Oversee timely decision‑making at the front door, ensuring children receive the right response at the right time
• Provide clear direction on complex and high-risk cases, ensuring effective risk management
• Drive strong performance and quality of practice across a busy and demanding service
• Support your team to work effectively under pressure, maintaining high professional standards
• Ensure assessments are analytical, child‑centred, and outcome-focused
• Work closely with partners to ensure a coordinated multi‑agency response
• Collaborate with senior leaders to manage demand, improve services, and embed best practice

About You

You’re someone who:

• Is a qualified, experienced social worker with a strong track record in children’s services
• Has a sound understanding of front‑line services, thresholds, and assessment processes
• Brings strong skills in risk assessment, decision‑making, and service leadership
• Is confident leading in a fast‑paced, high‑pressure environment
• Can motivate, support and develop staff to achieve high standards
• Is organised, resilient and able to manage competing priorities effectively
• Is committed to delivering timely, high‑quality interventions that improve outcomes for children

Why join Dudley?

At Dudley Children’s Services, we are committed to innovation, improvement, and putting children first.

In this role, you’ll have the opportunity to:

• Lead at a critical point in the child’s journey, shaping outcomes from the start
• Develop your leadership in a challenging and rewarding front‑line service
• Be part of a supportive and collaborative leadership team
• Play a key role in driving service improvements and managing demand effectively
• Benefit from hybrid working, with an expectation of 3 in-person office‑based days per week

This is more than a management role. This is your opportunity to lead at the front line of safeguarding, ensuring children and families receive the right help at the right time, and setting the standard for high‑quality assessment practice across the service.

If you’re ready to lead with confidence, make critical decisions, and drive meaningful change—we’d love to hear from you.

So that we can demonstrate Dudley’s commitment to diversity and inclusion and to improve bias in the recruitment process that could create barriers for candidates. Your personal data will be anonymised when you apply, to ensure that you comply with our anonymisation process, please ensure you have removed your name and date of birth from any attachments prior to uploading them to your application.

All applicants must be able to provide documentation to prove their right to work in the UK.

Please note: Dudley MBC does not currently offer sponsorship for candidates without the Right to Work in the UK.

We check and cross‑match applicant information within the council and with external organisations to protect public funds and prevent or detect crime, only where the law allows us to do so.