Deputy Team Manager - Family Support Team in Bristol

Fixed Term Contract (until 31/10/2026). If your passion is around collaborative work with families, centred on building relationships in order to help families develop resilience and make changes for their children, then we are the Local Authority for you. Working with families to keep children at home wherever possible, our dynamic teams work with families from point of contact through to long term support and intervention. Our practice model is underpinned by relationship-based, systemic approaches to facilitate change, alongside trauma informed practice. Bath and North East Somerset Children’s Social Care are an innovative small Local Authority focused on therapeutic assessment and support. Rated Good by OFSTED, with continued vision and drive to improve further.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Deputy Team Manager (with a Social Work qualification) to join one of our Family Support Teams, within the Safeguarding Outcomes Service. We are committed to being a dynamic and creative Local Authority, working hard to think differently about how we approach our work with families. We are deeply committed to providing tailored high-quality services and well thought out interventions to families to keep children safe. Our practice is values-driven with a strong ethos of child‑focussed interventions.

About the role

You will work in partnership with a Team Manager to lead an enthusiastic hub consisting of Senior Social Work Practitioners, Social Workers, Family Support Practitioners and Administrative staff. This rewarding role will see you leading, co‑ordinating and delivering a range of social care services to children, young people and families in the Bath and North East Somerset area for children subject to Child in Need Plans, Child Protection Plans, Children in Care, and children subject to legal proceedings. The role will include managing single assessments and section 47 child protection investigations. You will work closely with our colleagues across the service and have established partnerships with agencies across health, education, support services and adult services to ensure we can respond as effectively as possible to the needs of children, young people, and their families. This includes working alongside our Family Support Plus team who deliver extensive Family Group Conferences to utilise resources and support within families to keep children safe, as well as tailored interventions including the New Way domestic abuse service.

The post holder will manage one of two hubs within their team, offering monthly one‑one supervision, overseeing allocations, managing assessments, planning and care planning in conjunction with the allocated social worker. You will also be responsible for leading weekly group reflective supervision for your hub, to promote creative and thoughtful practice with families. You will be able to evidence a strong ability to analyse information and formulate outcome focused plans for children and families, as well as a commitment to driving forward care plans and legal work to protect children and promote children’s outcomes through permanency. You will be committed to understanding and promoting the performance of your hub to ensure children are receiving a consistent and high‑quality service. Ideally you will have management and supervisory experience or will have relevant experience of supporting less experienced workers in a social care setting.

About you

Applicants must be confident in writing and quality assuring professional assessments/reports as well as presenting their evidence verbally, including in court proceedings. Applicants need to have very strong organisational skills to manage their hub effectively and will be committed to working as part of a team to support colleagues in delivering optimum services to children and families.

You can expect

• A comprehensive induction
• Regular supervision – at a minimum of monthly one to one
• Monthly Peer Circles to ensure strong relationships and support between Deputy Team Managers across the teams
• Extensive training opportunities, which include SARI workshops around culturally sensitive practice, opportunities to join a 6‑month long training in Systemic Supervision delivered by the Centre for Systemic Social Work, attachment‑based workshops, and trauma‑informed workshops
• Excellent administrative support with 3 admin staff supporting each team
• Tri‑annual Social Work Conferences with guest speakers who are experts in the field.
• Paid Social Work England membership renewal
• Access to Research in Practice
• Access to coaching
• Laptop to promote flexible working, to enhance your work‑life balance
• Relocation Payments are available
• A stable leadership team
• A stable and committed team, with low rates of agency workers, and low vacancy rates

To apply you will have

• A relevant social work qualification
• Significant social work experience
• Ideally you will have supervisory experience, and/or a PEPS qualification
• Sound knowledge of the legislative framework and guidance that governs children’s services, and safeguarding children
• Knowledge of theory and practice applicable to social work
• IT skills to enable operation of standard electronic systems
• Well‑developed emotional literacy
• Passion, commitment, and motivation to support the most vulnerable families in our area

If you are interested in this post and require more details or just to chat through the role and what’s involved, please contact Bonnie Heselton, Head of Service Safeguarding Outcomes on 01225 396290 or email bonnie_heselton@bathnes.gov.uk