Wear Together Manager in Sunderland

Wear Together Manager

Salary/Grade 9 (SCP 37-41) £48,226 - £52,413 per annum

Full Time/Permanent

Working Pattern: 37 hours per week

Location: Sunderland

Together for Children Sunderland is on a transformative journey to make a real difference in the lives of children and young people in Sunderland. We are an outstanding Ofsted-rated Children’s service, if you’re committed to helping children, families, and our community thrive and have the skills to support our mission, we would love to hear from you. You can learn more about us here: Together for Children.

About the role

This is more than a management role.

Every day, children and families face challenges that can feel overwhelming. At these critical moments, the right support can be life changing.

Our Wear Together Service exists to provide that support.

We work alongside children, young people and families when relationships are under pressure, risks are increasing and an entry to care may be on the horizon. Through intensive, relationship-based interventions, we help families find strength, develop resilience and create sustainable change, enabling more children to remain safely within their family networks.

We are also developing our offer to bring children home safely from care and return them to their family and networks, where they can be safely cared for, loved and nurtured by those that mean the most to them.

We are looking for an ambitious, compassionate and inspirational leader to become our next Wear Together Manager.

This is an opportunity to lead a service that sits at the heart of our commitment to keeping families together wherever it is safe to do so. You will shape practice, develop a talented team and make a lasting difference to the lives of some of our most vulnerable children and young people.

About Wear Together

Wear Together is our intensive family support service for children and young people on the Edge of Care, or support to reunify a family where safe to do so.

The service works with families facing significant challenges, providing timely, flexible and purposeful interventions that reduce risk, strengthen relationships and prevent family breakdown.

Our vision is simple:

Children belong in safe, loving families and communities.

Through restorative, relational practice and strong partnerships, we help families achieve positive and sustainable outcomes at times when they need support the most.

The Opportunity

As Wear Together Manager, you will provide leadership to a highly skilled and committed team delivering intensive interventions across the service.

You will create a culture where innovation, creativity and strong relationships drive practice. You will support practitioners to work confidently with complexity, ensuring families receive the right support at the right time.

This is an opportunity to lead with purpose, inspire others and contribute to meaningful system-wide change.

What You'll Do

• Lead and inspire a high-performing team committed to achieving the best possible outcomes for children and families.
• Drive a culture of restorative, strengths-based and relationship-led practice.
• Ensure children and families receive high-quality, evidence-informed interventions that make a real difference.
• Provide leadership and oversight for complex cases where children are at risk of entering care.
• Build strong partnerships with families and professional networks.
• Use learning, performance data and feedback to continuously improve the service.
• Champion innovation and develop new approaches that help families stay together safely.
• Support and develop staff through high-quality supervision, coaching and professional development.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore will be subject to an Enhanced DBS check from the Disclosure and Barring Service. We will also carry out an online internet search for information that is publicly available online that might suggest that you are not fit to work with children or young people

We want you to apply if you:

• Hold a Management or Higher-Level qualification in a related subject e.g. Level 5 in Leadership and Management or willingness to work towards a qualification
• Are an experienced and confident leader within children's services.
• Are Passionate about preventing family breakdown and reducing the need for children to enter care.
• Skilled at building trust and positive relationships with children, families and partners.
• Committed to restorative and strengths-based approaches.
• Able to inspire, support and challenge others to achieve excellence. Resilient, reflective and passionate about making a difference

Why work with us?

• Make a difference: Our work matters. The work we do is incredibly rewarding. Join us and make a difference in the lives of our children, families, and community.
• Inclusion: Thrive in our diverse and inclusive culture and be part of our employee networks, including Accessibility, LGBTQ+, Racial Equality, Armed Forces and Menopause.
• Work-Life Balance: We offer a hybrid model of working with agile and flexible working arrangements, including part-time opportunities, flexible hours, and the possibility of remote work arrangements.
• Professional Development: Advance your career with our comprehensive induction, supervision, peer support, and supportive environment.
• Be part of a happier, healthier workforce: Benefit from our wide range of wellbeing activities and employee assistance programmes.
• Attractive Salary, Benefits and Rewards: for additional information please follow this link: Together for Children Benefits and rewards What our team think: About Us

We value diversity and strongly encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, including but not limited to various ages, disabilities, neurodiverse individuals, gender identities, sexual orientations, religions, beliefs, races, and ethnicities. We aim for our team to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve.

We are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. Please reach out to our EDI at inclusion@togetherforchildren.org.uk or peoplesupport@togetherforchildren.org.uk so we can discuss any adjustments or support we can provide during the recruitment process or within the workplace.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants who can show they meet all the essential criteria and have indicated they have a disability, are a looked-after young person, are care experienced, or are a veteran.

Are you ready to make a difference?