Career opportunities Team Manager - Children & Families

Team: Family Help

Job Family: Enabling (M) - CBG13

Salary: £51,471 - £55,585 per annum plus MRS £4,600 per annum and Enhanced MRS £8,000 per annum

Hours: 37 hours per week

Location: You will be expected to attend a CBC office location as often as needed to carry out your role, which will be no less than twice per week. There is an expectation that Team Managers will usually be office based at a minimum of twice weekly and on all duty days, or as required.

Contract Type: Fixed Term/Secondment - 12 months

Closing Date: 11th May 2026

Interview Date: 18th May 2026

About the role: Are you an experienced and compassionate social work team manager, ready to take the next step in a supportive, innovative, and ambitious Children & Families team? Do you want to be part of a service rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted in March 2025 that genuinely values your contribution and puts children and families at the heart of everything we do?

At Central Bedfordshire Council, we work like a family - supporting each other, sharing knowledge, and creating a collaborative environment where you can grow your career and make a lasting impact on the lives of our residents. Families come in all shapes and sizes - and sometimes, they need extra support. As a social work team manager in Central Bedfordshire, you’ll be part of that extended family, offering guidance, care, and stability when it’s needed most.

In Central Bedfordshire's Children and Families directorate, we put our children and young people first in everything we do. We work as one team close to our communities and partners to make a difference in the lives of children and young people, help keep them safe and inspire them to achieve.

As a Team Manager with our Family Help Service, you will support a multi-disciplined team of Social Workers and Family Practitioners delivering assessment, care planning and intervention to families being supported under targeted early help, child in need and child protection pathways.

You will be a qualified social worker, who holds a Social Work England registration. You will have post qualifying experience in statutory social work in the child protection area. You are expected to attend the office base (Priory House) at least twice weekly and additionally in line with service needs - we encourage the teams to have once weekly in-person contact as a whole team/service.

You will have experience of working in a multi-disciplinary environment. You will be confident and competent at making decisions to safeguard and protect young people. You will be able to take a key role in planning, developing, and improving services whilst being empathetic and sensitive to the needs of those reporting to you. You should also know how to measure and monitor practice and performance to ensure individuals and the service as a whole operates to a consistently good standard. Diplomatic, fair and robust enough to deal with complaints and challenges are vital to being successful in this role.

You will be an influential negotiator when dealing with potential and actual conflict and will have excellent communication skills and be able to convey complex messages in a straightforward way, both verbally and in writing. It is essential you will not be afraid to think creatively to solve problems. This role requires excellent management and leadership skills and ability to work effectively in partnership with young people, families, and other professionals. You will have significant experience in working in statutory services, safeguarding services and regulated services.

The Team Manager will report directly to the Service Manager and will be making day to day safeguarding decisions, HR actions and any other tasks as required. As part of this role you will have regular and “at point of need” supervision and support from either the Service Manager or Head of Service. You will work with a dynamic and motivated management team who are passionate about our children and young people being the best versions of themselves and about supporting and promoting the professional development of our colleagues.

Essential requirements for the role include a Social Work Degree and Social Work England registration, as well as a minimum of 2 years experience as a manager or leader of people.

We know children’s social work is both challenging and rewarding, which is why we’re here to support you. With manageable workloads, space to do meaningful work with children, strong peer support, and plenty of opportunities to grow you’ll have what you need to thrive. Our competitive benefits package includes external supervision for complex cases and comprehensive wellbeing programs. So while you’re looking after others, we’ll be looking after you.

Our aspiration is to be a truly flexible employer. We welcome discussion on location, hours and working pattern as part of the application process.

Safeguarding: Central Bedfordshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all employees, volunteers and contractors to share this commitment. This post is subject to the disclosure of criminal records.

To maintain a fair and consistent approach for applicants, it is Central Bedfordshire Council's policy to only consider applications made via our online application system.

Please note we are unable to offer sponsorship for our roles. Successful applicants that may require a visa will need to consider the options for obtaining and/or maintaining the legal right to live and work in the UK for the duration of the contract offered.