Team Manager, Children & Families Social Work

This is a full time permanent position which will be available at offer stage. If the postholder requires a Standard or Enhanced DBS disclosure the candidate is required to declare full details of everything on their criminal record unless the conviction/s and/or caution/s are considered "protected" in line with filtering rules for DBS checks.

We are looking for dynamic and enthusiastic Team Managers to join Hull. We are seeking managers with drive and passion who can operate with integrity and ambition for our service. You should have significant knowledge and experience of working with children and young people, including an in-depth understanding of the legislation and guidance which directs how the service is delivered.

We are looking for someone who has the skills to be a strong and capable manager who can support and supervise a team of staff to deliver consistent and creative services to children, young people and carers. You should be able to evidence that you are able to deliver change and work effectively within a performance framework to ensure high quality social work.

At Hull City Council we are committed to our children and young people and we are passionate about how we deliver services to them. That’s why we are developing and nurturing a culture that puts our children and young people at the heart of everything we do - by empowering our workforce to work together to find solutions, to be open, honest and respectful, to take responsibility and listen and learn from others.

Hull Children's Services has recently achieved its strongest ever Ofsted judgement, being rated Good overall, with Outstanding judgements for the impact of leaders on social work practice and for the experiences and progress of care leavers. Inspectors recognised the significant progress made across the service, describing it as "safer, stronger and more consistent" for children and families. Ofsted highlighted Hull's strong workforce culture, effective early help services, strong management oversight, and a commitment to ensuring children's voices are central to decision-making. This is an exciting time to join Hull. We are a service with a clear vision, ambitious plans for the future, and a workforce committed to improving the lives of children, young people and families every day.

The post of Team Manager will ensure that standards of practice are high and that quality, including the delivery of evidenced based systemic practice, is a consistent focus for the whole team.

Why it’s great to work for Hull City Council

• A competitive salary of up to £53,460
• An excellent pension through the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
• Up to 229.4 hours per annum annual leave depending on grade and length of service. You will also get eight public holidays per year, and three additional days off, one in May/August and one during the Christmas/New year period
• Career development and learning experiences from a range of training courses and learning methods
• A generous relocation package available
• Supportive and forward thinking culture
• Great career development opportunities
• Flexible working hours

Role and Purpose

Team Managers will be based in one of the following service areas:

• Early Help and Safeguarding Hub (EHASH) & Assessment
• Locality Based Safeguarding Teams
• Children and Families Disability Team (CFDT)
• Permanence Teams

The role will manage a team of Social Workers (and other staff) within a social care service and a wider Children, Young People and Families Directorate. The key purpose of the role is to ensure high quality social work practice which achieves the best possible outcomes (and progress) for children and young people in need of social work support, assessment and intervention.

The post of Team Manager will ensure that standards of practice are high and that quality, including the delivery of evidenced based systemic practice, is a consistent focus for the whole team. Importantly, the Team Manager role will model key elements of Systemic Practice including:

• A strengths and relationship based approach
• Different perspectives and collaboration
• Family & Goal orientated plans which are SMART
• The value of systemic tools such as; genograms

Principal Accountabilities

Strategy – Team Managers are responsible for the performance and practice of the team. Teams Managers will prioritise the quality of practice balanced alongside a focus on a set of agreed performance measures, based on statutory and inspection requirements. Team Managers will drive key service and directorate wide priorities and ensure that the team is fully informed and engaged within its wider context – a directorate, a council and a wider partnership.

Customer Focus – The Team Manager will lead and drive key aspects of partnership working. The role will work in partnership with colleagues, parents and carers to ensure that child centred, purposeful systemic practice is the standard for all social work and related practice. Team Managers will routinely seek feedback from children, young people and families through Quality Assurance work, learning from complaints and compliments received. Team Managers will set a tone which listens and values user feedback, whilst ensuring that feedback is shared and escalated when appropriate, in order to influence service design and improvement.

Performance Management – Team Managers will complete routine Quality Assurance work in order to ensure that learning is embedded within team culture and practice. Quality Assurance includes; case audits, observation of practice & Feedback from Children, Young People and Families. Team Managers will monitor practice and individual / team performance using a Performance Dash Board and other Performance Reports. Importantly, Team Managers will prioritise performance management tasks and approach them in a way which sets a tone of continuous improvement, learning and development.

Leadership – Team Managers will be responsible for the allocation of work to team members and the transfer of work between other parts of the social care system. Team Managers will have a sound knowledge and oversight of the team caseload at any point, whilst promoting a set of system wide priorities and standards around work flow and a transfer process. Importantly, Team Managers will achieve a balanced focus between the team caseload and a priority to ensure workflow/ transition through the system in a timely way. Team Managers will make and record their decisions around case work, ensuring that all work is well planned and purposeful in order to effect positive change for children. Where possible, the goal will be to support children safely with the minimum of statutory intervention possible, promoting a principle of "normality", family based care and early help community based services which are local and accessible. Team Managers will prioritise decision making which is predicated on a high degree of systemic and reflective thinking.

Statutory Obligations – Team Managers will be required to understand, and present to their teams, a set of statutory requirements which apply to the whole social care system. In addition, Team Managers will have a higher level of understanding and directly manage a set of statutory requirements which specifically relate to the service area in which they work. Statutory requirements, whether timescales or an explicit process, will be a key priority and accountability of the role. Team Managers will routinely make and review decisions around complex casework, including high levels of risk. In addition, Team Managers will play a key and important role in preparing the team for inspection and supporting team members through an inspection process, ensuring that identified learning and key recommendations are taken forward.

Supervision – Team Managers will provide regular formal and individual supervision for all team members. The two key elements of supervision will be; case supervision and individual supervision. Team Managers will prioritise the supervision of staff and follow the local supervision policy. Formal supervision and other case discussion will focus on the assessment of risk and outcomes at any given time. Team Managers will be required to provide support, challenge and direction to staff and make decisions in relation to complex and high risk cases. Team Managers will facilitate routine, reflective team supervision.

Management Tasks and Accountabilities – Team Managers will be responsible for a number of management tasks and accountabilities, following local policy and procedure, including; Complaint investigations, Sickness monitoring, Individual Employee Performance (IEP), Staff recruitment.

Partnership Development – Team Managers will lead and develop effective partnerships with schools, other services and agencies in order to achieve "a coordinated approach to ensure effective safeguarding arrangements" (Section 10, the Children Act 2004) and support other organisations and individuals to ensure their functions and practice has sufficient regard to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.

People Development – The role will maintain a continued focus on developing people and systemic practice within the team, contributing to a wider team and single service. In addition to supervision, Team Managers will prioritise staff development and skill sharing within the team, in order to deliver the best possible practice and service for children and families. Team Managers are required to set a tone that the team as a learning system, providing support and (constructive) challenge, promoting a culture which learns, is clear about accountability but does not blame. Team Managers will work with colleagues, and their managers, to plan and deliver team and service development time, involving team members and Clinicians.

System Inter-calibration – Team Managers are required to work closely with peers, their managers and within a wider system. Team Managers will attend and contribute to routine decision making panels and have oversight of all court work managed by the team.

Benefits of Working at Hull City Council

• A competitive salary
• An excellent pension through the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
• Initially 23 days annual leave depending on length of service. You will also get eight public holidays per year, and three additional days off, one in May/August and one during the Christmas/New year period
• Career development and learning experiences from a range of training courses and learning methods
• Supportive and forward-thinking culture
• Great career development opportunities

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

We are committed to increasing the diversity, equality, and inclusion within our workforce to represent the people we serve and build an environment in which everyone can feel like they belong. We encourage people from all backgrounds to apply.

We adopt a 'name blind' approach to shortlisting. Recruiting managers will not have access to personal information, including your name and contact details, until a shortlisting decision has been made. Equality monitoring information is not accessible by recruiting managers at any stage.