Team Manager - Children Looked After

Up to £62,451 per annum

Fixed Term / Secondment (1 year)

Full Time (36 hours)

Wandsworth, London

Ofsted Rating: ‘Good’

Can you inspire, encourage and develop excellent social work practice to make a real difference in the lives of children and young people? Our goals and vision are all about keeping families together where it is safe to do so. We work with each family’s strengths to help them meet the challenges they face, alongside supporting our practitioners to do the transformational work needed to reduce or prevent the need for children to be taken into care. When children do need to come into care, we want them to understand why, and we want to support them to achieve stability and permanence as soon as possible.

About the role

As a Team Manager in the Children Looked After Service, you will be responsible for leading a talented group of five Social Workers. You will be working collaboratively with your colleagues across the department and with partners, to deliver high-quality and responsive social work to some of the most vulnerable children and families in Wandsworth. You will be a valued member of the service and a leader and champion of exemplary practice, able to work with families to make changes, and to achieve early permanence for children when they cannot remain at home.

Essential Qualifications, Skills and Experience

• You will hold social work qualification with Social Work England membership and have completed your ASYE Year.
• Proven experience of working across voluntary and statutory agencies with applied knowledge of relevant legislation and guidance.
• Experience of leadership and management within Children’s Social Care Services, with specific knowledge and interest in services for Children Looked After.
• You will be a passionate and driven social worker who is looking to develop further your management experience in practice with disabled children and their families.
• You will be innovative and creative in your approach to delivering services to children and families and be able to work closely with your team and manager including multi-agency partners to provide a service that meets each child’s needs.
• You will have an understanding and commitment to the changes we are implementing in response to ‘Keeping Children Safe, Helping Families thrive’ and our Outstanding Practice Framework.

If you can see yourself promoting outstanding practice in Wandsworth and would like the opportunity to shape the lives of children and their families, we encourage you to apply for this position.

Contact details

For an informal discussion about the role please contact: Eric Mensah, Service Manager – Eric.Mensah@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk

Closing date: 22 February 2026

Shortlisting date: w/c 23 February 2026

Interview date: w/c 2 March 2026

We may close this vacancy early once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Please submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Richmond & Wandsworth Better Service Partnership are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer. If you require any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment and selection process, please let us know.

We are also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Some posts may be exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to these posts will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

We offer a wide range of benefits designed to attract, develop, and reward our employees such as 40 days annual leave (including Bank Holidays), flexible working and a generous pension plan.