Service Manager - Independent Reviewing Officers in Bexleyheath

An exciting opportunity has arisen for the role of Service Manager within the Independent Reviewing Service at the London Borough of Bexley. This is a full-time permanent position for an experienced manager or practitioner ready for their next challenge, responsible for Fostering Independent Reviewing Officers and Independent Reviewing Officers for children in our care. Bexley is looking for an innovative individual who can help to further develop the service and ensure all children have the best possible experience while living in alternative arrangements, whether for a brief period or long term.

The successful candidate will be responsible for ensuring advocacy on behalf of children and ensuring there are good quality plans and support in place for any child in our care. The successful candidate can expect a good induction, ongoing supervision, peer support, and ongoing training. Please note that the successful candidate will be required to be office based at least three days a week.

Key responsibilities include:

• Ensuring advocacy on behalf of children in care, including those living in foster care and residential settings
• Overseeing practice standards and ensuring good quality plans and support for all children in care
• Supporting learning from the lived experience of children and carers to drive practice, training, and service development
• Leading on quality assurance and managing a team of Independent Reviewing Officers
• Supporting children in care and those preparing for independence to achieve and reach their full potential

Bexley welcomes applications from experienced team level managers or equivalent who have a passionate interest in ensuring children in our care and those preparing for independence are given the best possible chances to achieve and reach their full potential. We are particularly keen to hear from those with experience of partnership working and a commitment to learning from the lived experience of children and carers.

The ideal candidate will:

• Be a registered, qualified Social Work practitioner or manager with extensive post-qualifying experience within a safeguarding or children looked after service
• Have proven experience of working with children in care at team manager level or equivalent
• Demonstrate strong leadership skills and a proven track record of managing a team and overseeing practice standards
• Have experience of managing advocacy, particularly for children living away from their families including in foster care or residential settings
• Demonstrate experience of supporting learning, practice, training, and service development
• Have strong quality assurance skills and experience of driving service improvement
• Have experience of partnership working across relevant agencies and settings

As a disability confident employer, Bexley welcomes applications from people with all disabilities, including hidden disabilities and mental health conditions, and will interview any disabled applicant who meets the minimum criteria. If you require reasonable adjustments to any part of the recruitment process, please contact recruitment@bexley.gov.uk.

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Appointment to this post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

Bexley is well connected, there are good transport links to central London, the Kent countryside and the Coast! It is the best of both worlds. Our residents and workers can benefit from the new high-speed Elizabeth Line which goes from Abbey Wood, here in Bexley and all the way to Reading, Southeast England. We are a diverse and growing borough.

Our Approach to Children’s Social Care in Bexley:

• We believe that everyone in Bexley Children’s Social Care should have the opportunity to grow and develop, in every role and at every stage of their career and offer a wide variety of social work roles, both for qualified and unqualified practitioners.
• Bexley Children’s Social Care offers the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge in different areas of Children’s Services: we offer a comprehensive range of professional development opportunities and are committed to ensuring that Bexley is a welcoming and enjoyable place to work.
• The children and families we work with are always kept at the centre of our practice.

We believe:

• Children should stay with their families whenever it’s in their best interests and safe to do so.
• Where it’s not, we must act quickly through the courts to help children find a safe space.
• Success depends on positive, respectful relationships with families and with each other.
• Working with families is unpredictable, so we have to create a supportive environment for our teams.
• The most effective practice is based on ‘showing your working out’ – so that even when things don’t go to plan, the thinking behind decisions is clear and defensible.

Working in social care in Bexley is endlessly rewarding. As well as helping some of the most vulnerable people in our borough, we invest in looking after you and your career. We offer excellent benefits, from competitive salaries and generous leave to flexible working and a wealth of health and wellness programmes.

Our offer:

• Flexible working - including opportunities for hybrid working, job sharing, compressed hours, and career breaks.
• A comprehensive range of training and professional development opportunities including access to research, group and e-learning, coaching and group supervision for colleagues in all roles and at every stage of their career.
• Clear career progression pathways, within a nurturing environment, which allows social work to flourish.
• Family leave - includes maternity, paternity, adoption and parental leave.
• Mental health and physical wellbeing - including access to our Employee Assistance Programme, help to quit smoking, access to private healthcare, free eye tests and discounted leisure offers.
• Financial wellbeing - excellent pension scheme, charitable giving options.
• Generous annual leave - 25 to 33 days, with the option to purchase extra leave plus an extra bank holiday at Christmas.
• Competitive pay - performance assessments with the opportunity for salary increments and transparent salary scales.
• Transport offers - cycle to work scheme, carpooling, subsidised parking and interest-free season ticket loans.
• Recognition - Thank you messaging to celebrate staff success and sharing of compliments received.
• Professional and personal development - training and workshops to help you thrive and a discount on most Learning and Enterprise College Bexley courses.
• Staff support networks - our networks support and encourage networking between staff with various events throughout the year.
• Employee volunteering - get out of the office and help a local project blossom.
• MyChoice benefit scheme - your pick of perks from vouchers to car leasing.
• Local authority discount scheme - attraction and theme park discounts and local offers in partnership with KAARP.

We work together in a modern, well-equipped, energising environment that supports team working and collaboration across the service and with partners.