About Us

Team Manager – Kinship
Up to £60,515 per annum
Fixed Term/Secondment (12 months)
Full Time (36 hours)
Ofsted Rating: ‘Good'

Are you an energetic and passionate Social Work Team Manager with inspiring leadership skills? Our Family and Friends (Kinship) team works with family and friends of children and their families, offering a variety of assessment and support. Leading a group of Social Workers as we continue to develop and evolve the service, you will be working collaboratively with your colleagues across the department and with other partners. Your team will deliver high-quality and responsive social work to kinship / connected persons, carers and Special Guardians. 

About the role

Leadership and Management: You will make a major contribution to the delivery of the vision and strategic priorities, in line with the social care reforms, by leading high-quality social work provision to children and their families across the team.

Regulatory Compliance and Quality Assurance: You need to demonstrate a thorough understanding of good quality assessment / intervention, as well as the application of fostering regulations to kinship care arrangements.

Experience: Do you have proven experience in leading a team, assessing connected persons and Special Guardians during care proceedings, and offering ongoing support to approved connected person carers and Special Guardians?

Qualifications and Skills:

• Having a Social Work qualification and current registration with Social Work England.
• Experience of supervision within children’s social care services with specific knowledge and interest in Special Guardianship and connected persons.
• Excellent written, verbal, communication and analytical skills as well as an ability to build relationships with practitioners, families and partners.
• Enthusiasm and tenacity to lead, shape and develop a committed team of social workers.

We value each staff member in the service and want each and every one to be a leader and champion of exemplary practice. Find out more about our goals, vision, and Outstanding Practice Framework: https://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/childrens-social-care-jobs/

If you are a social work leader passionate about making a positive impact on the lives of children and their families, and possess the required qualifications, we invite you to apply for this opportunity to join our Kinship Team.

How to apply 

To be shortlisted your application and personal statement (no longer than 2 sides of A4) will clearly address the criteria in the person specification of the job profile located at the end of this page. 

Contact details

If you would like to have an informal chat about the role, please contact the current post holder Caitilin Dowling on Caitilin.Dowling@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk or Director of Children’s Social Care Elizabeth Souter on Elizabeth.Souter@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk

Closing Date: Sunday 3rd August 2025
Shortlisting Date: Monday 4th August 2025
Interview Date: Friday 8th August 2025 PM

We may close this vacancy early once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Please submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Richmond & Wandsworth Better Service Partnership 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. If you require any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment and selection process, please let us know.

We are also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Some posts may be exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to these posts will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

We offer a wide range of benefits designed to attract, develop, and reward our employees such as 40 days annual leave (including Bank Holidays), flexible working and a generous pension plan.  

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils