Early Help Team Manager in Horsham

West Sussex County Council is a diverse organisation that provides services to more than 850,000 residents every day. Through our Early Help Service, we work with children, families, and young people to help ensure that every person is supported to achieve their potential. The foundations for mental health, emotional control, doing well in education, and parenting ability are all set in place in the early years; the home surroundings, family life, and parenting are all important factors in determining positive outcomes for children as they grow and develop.

Early Help ensures that children and families receive accessible and co-ordinated support when they need it. This support ranges across a continuum from early identification and preventative approaches through to more targeted help where families are experiencing more complex or multiple difficulties. At every level, support is designed to address and reduce the problems or challenges and prevent them from getting worse.

As an experienced Manager, you will lead, supervise, and provide strategic oversight to a team delivering direct targeted interventions and support to children, young people, and families. You will be expected to demonstrate a proven track record in managing teams, including oversight of complex caseloads, multi-agency working, and delivering measurable outcomes for families. Flexibility is essential, as you may be required to lead across service areas in response to business needs, ensuring consistent, high-quality practice and performance across all teams, including supporting the Early Help Hubs.

You will play a key role in the Early Help leadership team in bringing your knowledge and expertise into the development of services. You will be responsible for ensuring policies and practice are adhered to through a number of quality assurance processes. You will work alongside peers across the directorate to work collaboratively to ensure the needs of children are met.

Key Skills:

• Ability to anticipate problems, plan solutions, and make sound pragmatic problem-solving decisions which will have a wider service impact.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to influence the actions of others and communicate complex information.
• Effective people and performance management skills and the ability to motivate and inspire the team to deliver quality professional practice.
• Able to manage self, is self-aware, and understands the impact of work on self and others.
• Thorough understanding of the range of needs presented by children and families.
• Ability to organise/prioritise work, co-ordinate a variety of tasks, and meet agreed deadlines without supervision.
• Analytically minded with the ability to judge, analyse, and interpret varied and highly complex situations.

Qualifications and/or experience:

• Post graduate professional qualification relevant to management or a professional service specialism (e.g. Social Work, Health, Early Education and Childcare, Community Development, Family Support); or equivalent level of significant experience.
• Relevant chartered status of a professional body or equivalent high-level experience.
• Advanced theoretical knowledge of systems, procedures, and policies in specialist areas.
• Valid and full driving licence and access to a vehicle/ability to travel around the county independently.

As an employer, we recognise that our employees are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and a healthy work-life balance. We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check, 5 years referencing, and a health check. Equity, inclusion, and accessibility are very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce that reflects the communities we serve.