At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead a team to support disabled children and ensure their independence.
- Company: Leicestershire County Council, dedicated to improving lives for families.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, childcare vouchers, free parking, and flexible working options.
- Why this job: Make a real difference in the lives of disabled children and their families.
- Qualifications: Professional Social Work Qualification and experience with children and families.
- Other info: Join a supportive culture focused on continuous learning and development.
The predicted salary is between 45000 - 50000 £ per year.
Organisation: Leicestershire County Council
Work Location: Leicestershire Countywide Services
Salary: £52,221- £56,826 per annum (pro-rata for part-time) (inclusive of market premia at £3,000)
Working Hours: 37 hrs per week
Contract Type: Permanent
Closing Date: 22nd March 2026
Interview Date(s): 2nd April 2026
About the Role
We are delighted to invite applications for a full time Social Work Team Manager within our Disabled Children's Service. This is a highly rewarding role for an experienced social work leader who is passionate about safeguarding, disability practice, and ensuring that children with disabilities have every opportunity to develop their independence and thrive within their families and communities. You will join us at a pivotal time as we refine our approach to supporting disabled children and their families. You will lead a team delivering high quality assessments and support using a Signs of Safety/Trauma informed model that focuses on building independence and supports progression within age and stage of ability. A core part of your role will be to ensure robust safeguarding practice, particularly given the specific vulnerabilities disabled children may face. You will provide leadership that promotes safe, timely, and child centred decision making.
Responsibilities include:
- Leading and managing a skilled team of social workers
- Using performance data and audit to drive quality
- Providing oversight of complex safeguarding work
- Ensuring excellent multi agency collaboration
- Supporting staff to deliver relationship focused practice
- Contributing to wider service development
About Us
At Leicestershire County Council, we are committed to delivering outstanding outcomes for children and families. Our Disabled Children's Service comprises two social work teams supported by strong, experienced leadership. We are a Trauma Informed Service and strive to improve the experience of families who often tell us how challenging it can be to navigate health, education, and social care pathways. We are proud to promote a culture of continuous learning and reflective, evidence-based practice through:
- Three annual practice conferences
- Monthly protected team learning sessions
- Reflective and group supervision
- Senior leadership practice weeks
- Three additional CPD days for all SWE registered social workers
- A refreshed annual training programme
- Dedicated practice excellence support
- A clear and embedded practice framework
- Signs of Safety practice across social care and early help services
- Independence-building and pathway to adulthood preparation.
Why Join Us?
Our staff tell us our values, supportive culture, and commitment to learning make Leicestershire a fantastic place to work. Benefits include:
- Childcare vouchers
- Employee counselling services
- Free car parking
- Cycle to Work scheme
- Paid SWE registration
- Lease car scheme
- Option to purchase additional leave
- Retail and supermarket discounts
- Leisure and gym membership offers
An enhanced with barred list DBS check is required for this post. For information on our approach to the recruitment of ex-offenders, please see our policy statement.
About You
To apply for this post, you must respond to and evidence the following 7 essential criteria within your personal statement:
- Hold a Professional Social Work Qualification and be Social Work England Registered with qualifying experience of working with children and families
- Have excellent safeguarding knowledge and best practice in the delivery of quality services
- In depth knowledge of disability practice and lived experiences of disabled children
- Strong supervisory and coaching skills i.e staff supervision, continuing professional development and performance management.
- A reflective, research informed approach
- A collaborative mindset with the ability to analyse information to reach sound decisions, often under pressure, and to take responsibility for their outcome and regular reporting to the Service Manager with a positive mind set, can do approach
- Ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of people, using skills of negotiation and persuasion
In addition, we also expect you to share our commitment to our values and to delivering accessible and inclusive services which meet the needs of all of our residents. You will be asked to demonstrate your understanding of these commitments as part of the selection process. Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability. We are a Disability Confident Employer.
Interested in Flexible Working?
We are open to discussions about flexible working, which may include part time working, job sharing, term-time working, flexible start and finish times, and hybrid working, depending on the requirements of the role and the service. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below.
For more information or an informal discussion, please contact: Helen Middleton, Service Manager Tel: 0116 305 9230 Email: Helen.Middleton@leics.gov.uk
How to Apply
At Leicestershire County Council we're looking for top talent from all walks of life. Whoever you are, wherever you're from, and whatever your background - we care about what you bring to our organisation, not just what's on your CV. That's why we've designed a recruitment process that's fair, accessible, and focused on potential. And with benefits that support people at every age and stage of life, we make sure you can thrive - both personally and professionally. If you share our passion to make a difference for the people of Leicestershire, we'd love to hear from you. Click the apply button to submit your application, ensuring that you upload a supporting statement that explains how you meet the criteria listed in the About You section above. Without this information, we won't be able to assess your suitability for the role, and your application will be rejected. For tips on how to write your statement, see the How to Apply section on our career site. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible. If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post or you want to request an application pack in an alternative format, please contact our Employee Service Centre by telephoning 0300 3030222 (select option 2) or raising a ticket via our online portal: https://emss.org.uk/support. By applying for this post, you agree to our Terms and Conditions.
Team Manager-Children\'s Disability Service employer: Leicestershire County Council
Contact Detail:
Leicestershire County Council Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Team Manager-Children\'s Disability Service
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to your connections in the social work field, especially those who have experience with children's disability services. A friendly chat can lead to insider info about job openings or even a referral.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for the interview by researching Leicestershire County Council's values and recent initiatives. Show us you’re not just passionate about safeguarding but also about how you can contribute to our mission of supporting disabled children and their families.
✨Tip Number 3
Practice your responses to common interview questions, especially around safeguarding and disability practice. We want to see your reflective and research-informed approach in action, so think of examples that highlight your skills and experiences.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to follow up after your interview! A quick thank-you email can leave a lasting impression and shows us you’re genuinely interested in the role. Plus, it’s a great chance to reiterate why you’d be a perfect fit for our team.
We think you need these skills to ace Team Manager-Children\'s Disability Service
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your Personal Statement: Make sure to customise your personal statement to highlight how you meet the essential criteria listed in the job description. We want to see your passion for safeguarding and disability practice shine through!
Showcase Your Experience: Don’t just list your qualifications; share specific examples of your experience working with children and families. We love hearing about real-life situations where you've made a difference!
Be Clear and Concise: Keep your writing clear and to the point. We appreciate well-structured applications that are easy to read. Remember, less is often more when it comes to written applications!
Apply Early!: Don’t wait until the last minute to submit your application. We might close the vacancy early if we get enough applications, so get yours in as soon as you can through our website!
How to prepare for a job interview at Leicestershire County Council
✨Know Your Stuff
Make sure you’re well-versed in the key responsibilities of a Team Manager within a Children's Disability Service. Brush up on safeguarding practices, disability knowledge, and the Signs of Safety model. This will show that you’re not just familiar with the role but genuinely passionate about making a difference.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Skills
Prepare examples that highlight your leadership and supervisory experience. Think about times when you’ve successfully managed a team or driven quality improvements. Be ready to discuss how you support staff development and foster a collaborative environment.
✨Understand the Organisation's Values
Familiarise yourself with Leicestershire County Council’s values and commitment to inclusive services. Be prepared to discuss how your personal values align with theirs and how you can contribute to their mission of delivering outstanding outcomes for children and families.
✨Ask Thoughtful Questions
Prepare some insightful questions to ask at the end of your interview. This could be about their approach to multi-agency collaboration or how they measure success in their service delivery. It shows you’re engaged and genuinely interested in the role and the organisation.