Service Manager in Dudley

To provide strategic and operational leadership across Dudley's Harm Outside the Home, Edge of Care and Emotional Wellbeing Services, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, safe and effective services that improve outcomes for children, young people and families. The Service Manager will have management accountability for a portfolio of services responding to complex adolescent need, including exploitation, missing episodes, serious youth violence, harm outside the home, family breakdown, risk of entry to care and emotional wellbeing. The postholder will lead and support Team Managers and Service Leads and will be accountable for service performance, quality of practice, safeguarding oversight, workforce management, effective use of resources and continuous service improvement. Working with senior leaders and key partners, the Service Manager will promote an integrated approach to adolescent safeguarding, family support and emotional wellbeing, ensuring children and families receive coordinated and timely support.

Leadership and Management

• Provide strategic and operational leadership across Harm Outside the Home, Edge of Care and Emotional Wellbeing Services.
• Provide effective line management, supervision and leadership to Team Managers and Service Leads.
• Set clear expectations for service delivery, professional practice, performance and outcomes.
• Ensure effective workforce planning, recruitment, retention, development and deployment of staff.
• Promote a positive culture of accountability, professional curiosity, reflective practice and continuous improvement.
• Contribute to the wider strategic leadership and development of Children and Young People Services.

Safeguarding and Practice

• Maintain senior management oversight of safeguarding, complex risk and high-risk situations across the service portfolio.
• Ensure effective responses to exploitation, missing children, serious youth violence and other forms of harm outside the home.
• Ensure Edge of Care services provide effective interventions to strengthen families, prevent family breakdown and reduce unnecessary entry to care where safe and appropriate.
• Ensure Emotional Wellbeing provision responds effectively to the needs of children and young people and connects appropriately with wider Health, Education and safeguarding services.
• Champion child-centred, trauma-informed, strengths-based and contextual safeguarding approaches.
• Provide professional challenge and ensure concerns are appropriately escalated where safeguarding responses require improvement.

Performance and Quality Assurance

• Be accountable for service performance, quality and outcomes across all areas of responsibility.
• Establish effective arrangements for management oversight, supervision, audit and quality assurance.
• Monitor demand, capacity, performance and outcomes and ensure timely action is taken where improvement is required.
• Use performance information, intelligence, audit findings and feedback from children and families to drive service improvement.
• Ensure learning from safeguarding reviews, complaints, audits and significant incidents is embedded in practice.
• Provide clear assurance regarding service quality, safeguarding and performance to the Head of Service and wider governance arrangements.

Partnership and Strategic Working

• Develop effective strategic and operational relationships with Children's Social Care, Family Help, Police, Health, Education, Youth Justice, Community Safety, Housing and voluntary and community sector partners.
• Represent Children and Young People Services at relevant multi-agency and partnership forums.
• Promote effective information sharing, joint planning and coordinated responses to children and young people with complex needs.
• Influence and challenge partners appropriately to strengthen safeguarding arrangements and improve outcomes.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of relevant local strategies, policies and service plans.

Service Development and Resources

• Lead service improvement, transformation and development across the portfolio.
• Develop an integrated approach across Harm Outside the Home, Edge of Care and Emotional Wellbeing, ensuring clear pathways and effective coordination between services.
• Identify opportunities for prevention and earlier intervention to reduce escalation of need and unnecessary entry to statutory services or care.
• Ensure resources are deployed effectively in response to service demand, risk and priorities.
• Manage delegated budgets and resources in accordance with Council requirements and contribute to financial and workforce planning.
• Use research, evidence, intelligence and performance information to inform service development and commissioning.
• Ensure services demonstrate value for money and measurable impact for children, young people and families.

Children, Young People and Families

• Ensure the voices and lived experiences of children, young people and families inform service delivery and development.
• Promote meaningful participation and engagement in the design and evaluation of services.
• Ensure services are accessible, inclusive and responsive to the diverse needs of Dudley's communities.
• Promote practice that builds on the strengths of children, young people, families and their wider networks.

General Responsibilities

• Work in accordance with Dudley Council policies, procedures, values and professional standards.
• Ensure compliance with statutory safeguarding responsibilities, information governance and data protection requirements.
• Promote equality, diversity, inclusion and anti-discriminatory practice.
• Provide reports, briefings and assurance to senior leaders and partnership arrangements as required.
• Maintain responsibility for identified service risks and ensure appropriate escalation and mitigation.
• Participate in supervision, appraisal and continuing professional development.
• Work flexibly in response to service requirements.
• Undertake other duties commensurate with the level and grade of the post.

Service Context

Dudley's Specialist Service brings together a Harm Outside the Home, Edge of Care and Emotional Wellbeing provision to provide a coordinated response to children and young people experiencing complex and interconnected needs. The Service Manager will provide leadership across these services to ensure Dudley delivers an integrated approach that:

• protects children and young people from exploitation and harm outside the home;
• strengthens families and prevents unnecessary entry to care;
• supports children and young people's emotional wellbeing;
• intervenes earlier where needs and risks are emerging; and
• delivers high-quality, evidence-informed services focused on improving outcomes.

The postholder will play a key leadership role in ensuring services work effectively together and with the wider partnership to improve the safety, stability, wellbeing and life chances of children and young people across Dudley.

About Dudley Council

It's an incredibly exciting time to work in Dudley Council as we embark on numerous multi-million pound regeneration schemes which will be real game-changers for the borough. In addition to the exciting schemes such as the Midland Metro we also have the ongoing and very serious challenges of ensuring vulnerable people across the borough receive the services they deserve. At Dudley Council we have a 'one council' ethos that builds an effective and dynamic organisation which grows the economy and creates jobs, creating a cleaner and greener place and supports stronger and safer communities. We are rightly proud to be the historic capital of the Black Country and, working with our partners, Dudley Council is also committed to looking forward and helping to deliver our borough vision of 'Forge a Future for all' www.dudleyboroughvision2030.org.uk We ensure communities influence council decisions and are committed to delivering services in partnership with communities. We provide flexible and responsive service in partnership and help communities help themselves. In joining a local authority that serves 320,000 residents you will become an integral part of a council that:

• is ready to embrace change, providing an environment in which you will be encouraged to make your mark
• is aware of its key challenges and the need for a new energy to innovate the council, in order to find cost effective ways of delivering services
• has aligned its political and managerial leadership structures and is committed to protecting, securing and transforming the lives of children, families, the vulnerable and older people
• wants borough residents to have their say through our community forums
• dedicates time to meaningful consultation and listen to the views of our residents
• is working with the community to encourage active involvement of our residents