Team Manager Leaving Care

This is an exciting time for a passionate, creative and committed leader to join Northamptonshire Children’s Trust as a Team Manager within the Leaving Care Service. You will be part of a service that is being reshaped and rebuilt through co‑production, working in genuine partnership with Care Experienced Young People and staff teams. Our shared ambition is to create a service that is relevant, responsive and forward‑thinking, one that effectively supports young people as they transition into adulthood and independent living.

As Team Manager, you will play a key leadership role in delivering high quality services that safeguard and promote positive outcomes for young people in line with statutory responsibilities and the values of Northamptonshire Children’s Trust.

What will you be doing?

• You will lead, manage and develop a team of up to 10 staff, including a Practice Manager, Senior Personal Advisor and Personal Advisors, ensuring the delivery of effective, child centred and strengths based practice.
• Allocate and prioritise workloads to ensure young people receive the right support at the right time.
• Provide high quality supervision, coaching and professional development to build a skilled and motivated team.
• Drive performance and accountability, ensuring service objectives and targets are met.
• Develop and deliver the team plan in line with service and organisational priorities.
• Manage budgets and resources effectively to achieve best value.
• Work collaboratively with partner agencies to promote positive transitions and independent living outcomes.
• Represent the service at a senior level when required, contributing to wider service development and improvement.

Above all, you will ensure the welfare of young people remains central to everything you and your team do.

About you

You are a qualified Social Worker with current Social Work England registration and bring experience of leading teams within children’s social care or a similar setting. Confident in managing performance, you support professional development and address challenges through reflective supervision and coaching. You ideally hold a Level 5 NVQ in Management or have equivalent relevant leadership experience. Organised and resilient you balance strategic oversight with day to day operational demands. You also bring experience of budget management, resource planning, strong IT skills and confidence using performance and case management systems. Building effective relationships, you confidently represent the service at a senior or multiagency level.

If you are motivated by change, value collaboration, and want to lead a service making a real difference at a crucial stage in young people’s lives, we would love to hear from you.

When applying please ensure your supporting statement covers how you fulfil the essential criteria set out in the person specification as this will be used for shortlisting. You will need to provide a full employment history including any gaps since leaving full time education.

The role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore subject to an enhanced DBS certificate. It is also a regulated activity and will be subject to a Barred List check.

Our benefits

We are committed to continuous improvement, building a skilled, knowledgeable, and flexible workforce alongside promoting innovation and creativity whilst keeping children, young people and families at the heart of all we do. We really value our workforce and offer you a great benefits package including:

• SWE Registration paid yearly (social care colleagues).
• Recruitment Welcome Bonus.
• Relocation costs of up to £8,000.
• Retention bonus payments for established personnel.
• 28 days annual leave, plus 8 Bank Holidays (pro rata for part time) and an additional 5 days, after 5 years.
• Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health pension protection.
• Opportunity to purchase up to 25 days annual leave.
• Employee Assistance Programme - We have an employee support programme run by Health Assured, an independent, external organisation. Health Assured is available for you and your immediate family members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and includes telephone counselling, legal advice, bereavement support and medical information.
• Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out plus lots more.
• Flexible and family working arrangements including enhanced maternity benefits.
• A permanent, supportive and inclusive management team where you will be empowered to make good professional decisions.
• Extensive Learning & Development and career development opportunities.
• Subsidised town centre car parking scheme.

About us

At Northamptonshire Children’s Trust, children, young people and families are at the heart of all we do – in every decision we make and every action we take. Our mission is driven by the unwavering commitment to achieving the best outcomes for them. The Trust is wholly owned and funded but operationally independent from the Councils.

Our workforce are our most valuable asset and are pivotal to making the services and support we offer to children, young people and families who need us to be the absolute best we can be. We value our colleagues and empower them to be able to do the best job of their lives every single day, working in a culture of support and kindness where achievements are celebrated and creativity is very much welcomed.

At NCT equality, diversity and inclusion are part of us and in everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and thrive in our organisation. We are a disability confident employer and have a commitment to care leavers who we guarantee an interview if they meet the essential criteria.

Join our dedicated team and be a part of an organisation where your work makes a real difference.