The Role

Would you like to improve the outcomes for young people who have been in care?

Would you like to support young people to build bright and stable futures for themselves?

Would you like to spend every day at work knowing that you have made a difference in the lives of marginalised young people?

If yes, we have the perfect role for you!

Our Future First Care Leavers Service are looking to recruit full-time permanent Team Manager to join our Wandsworth leaving care team at Wandsworth Children’s Social Care and play a central role in achieving positive outcomes for young people!

What does the team do?

The Wandsworth leaving care team support young people aged 16-25 who have been in the care of Wandsworth Borough Council, under the Leaving Care Act 2000. We support them to build stable and successful independent adult lives by supporting them to access housing, education/employment, health, leisure activities, stable relationships, and support networks. We also support them to achieve financial stability.

We work with over 440 young people in a team which includes over 30 staff members. We are a vibrant and enthusiastic team looking for new people to join us! This year over 13% of our Young People went to University- we want to build on our successes!

What will your role be?

In this challenging but rewarding role, you will lead and co-ordinate a fast-paced, high quality leaving care service for young people aged 16 to 25 years currently in the care of Wandsworth. You will be responsible for the overall performance of the service as well as being an excellent and experienced people manager.

Leading, supporting and developing your team to create a skilled, motivated, and effective workforce, you will also contribute to and deliver a service plan that has clear targets that improve outcomes for care leavers. As Team Manager you will use your proven social work experience to have overall responsibility for two Assistant Team Managers and a wider team of 22+ Personal Advisors, overseeing quality assurance and performance management. Your team responsibilities will include recruitment, retention, development, and the allocation of workload, as well as supervision to ensure consistently high standards of casework. You will lead investigations into any complaints from service users, relatives or carers and take financial responsibility for the budget allocated to the team.

Your wider remit will be to highlight areas of best practice, provide professional advice and support on casework and undertake a range of performance and quality assurance activity.

Most importantly this is a great opportunity to make a difference to young people at a crucial time in their lives.

To be shortlisted your CV and personal statement will demonstrate:

• You are an experienced and dedicated Qualified Social Work Manager with experience of managing a team working with Looked After Children and Care Leavers
• That you can handle challenges and that you are committed to achieving positive outcomes for young people who have been Looked After
• You must have strong assessment and report writing skills and must have experience of working with Safeguarding and Child Protection procedures.
• You must have 2+ Years’ Experience supervising staff in a Management Role
• That you are motivated innovator who is committed to anti-discriminatory practice and who has experience managing challenging adolescent behaviours.

Benefits

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working including, working from home, compressed or part-time hours, term time only, job shares and other arrangements. Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you’d like to explore. We also offer a generous holiday allowance of 39 paid days (pro rata) including bank holidays and a wide range of learning and development opportunities.

In addition, we offer a comprehensive range of staff benefits such as membership of the Local Government pension scheme, childcare vouchers, new technology scheme, interest-free loans on annual travel cards, discounts with many leisure activities, restaurants, shops and other establishments.

Indicative Recruitment Timeline

• Closing date: 11:59pm on Sunday 4^th April 2021
• Shortlisting date: Week commencing 5^th April 2021
• Interview date: Week commencing 12^th April 2021

Useful Information: The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. We strongly advise you to complete your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Please note that the advertised dates for interviews may change due to the current Covid-19 situation. If they do, we will let you know as soon as possible. Your health and wellbeing is our top priority. Should you become unwell due to Covid-19 during the recruitment process we would very much appreciate receiving an update from you as soon as possible.

Equality statement

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.

Important Information

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. It replaces the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA).

How to apply

To be considered for interview your CV and supporting statement must highlight your knowledge, skills and experience listed in the Job Profile located at the bottom of the advert.

For an informal discussion about the vacancies please contact the Service Manager, Nora Dudley at nora.dudley@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils