Team Manager Vulnerable Exploitation and Missing

This is a full time Permanent Position. Hull Children's Services has recently achieved its strongest ever Ofsted judgement, being rated Good overall, with Outstanding judgements for the impact of leaders on social work practice and for the experiences and progress of care leavers. Inspectors recognised the significant progress made across the service, describing it as "safer, stronger and more consistent" for children and families.

Ofsted highlighted Hull's strong workforce culture, effective early help services, strong management oversight, and a commitment to ensuring children's voices are central to decision-making. This is an exciting time to join Hull. We are a service with a clear vision, ambitious plans for the future, and a workforce committed to improving the lives of children, young people and families every day.

ROLE AND PURPOSE

Children, Young People and Families Services together with partner agencies will form a Vulnerable and Exploitation Team. The focus of the team is where partners jointly prioritise and maximise their collective efforts to ensure that children, young people are not at risk of CSE, CCE, Trafficking or Missing or if they are experiencing any form of exploitation, reduce the potential for further occurrence. The team will work with children and young people in achieving positive change and developing supporting relationships to achieve and eliminate further abuse.

The objective of this professional role will be to lead and work closely with other agencies in providing support to vulnerable and exploited young people who are experiencing or at risk of CSE, CCE, going Missing, or Trafficking, and to have full management oversight and manage the risk associated with working with the young person. The Team Manager for the child/young person will have management oversight and will be the ultimate decision maker in all Safeguarding matters. This role will support all cases that are subject to CSE/CCE/Missing and Trafficking and will be the nominated Team for Vulnerable and Exploited missing young people.

This will ultimately develop positive working relationship with partner agencies in tackling CSE/CCE/Missing and Trafficking within Hull. It will also support the children, young people and families providing a high level of intelligence and data to Senior managers in respect of CSE/CCE and Missing. The Team Manager will be required to gather the information from all partners enabling analysis to provide a holistic assessment of a child’s needs and identification of which service is most appropriate.

This post holder will be expected to lead a dedicated team. The work involves a high level of professional autonomy and the post holder must be prepared to develop a pioneering piece of work in the context of professionally challenging circumstances, contributing to a national approach to this area of work.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Strategy – Contributes to the overarching strategy in Hull Children’s Social Care and to manage the delivery of a new and innovative project, making key contributions towards developing policies both nationally and locally.
• Customer Focus - Ensures professional relationships with all partner agencies, children and young people, and those identified as their significant network and that these relationships are used to gain positive outcomes. To ensure that staff within the project work purposefully with other agencies to promote positive outcomes for children, young people and their families.
• Performance Management – Guides and develops the practice and performance of staff within the team and ensures that meaningful management/ performance information is produced to enable the effective monitoring and evaluation of the impact and outcomes of the work undertaken.
• Leadership – Models and directs the work of the team and the priorities within the project through a collaborative and systemic approach to work with all partners and networks, children and young people.
• Statutory Obligations – To promote and safeguard the welfare of children, young people and/or vulnerable adults.
• Service Delivery: Holds key responsibility as the lead Team Manager in regard to Vulnerability/Exploitation and Missing and directs individual pieces of work where necessary or promoting other agencies to undertake the work. Ensure that a systemic approach is deployed within the Team, both in terms of working with children, young people and their families, practitioners working together and throughout the whole system of Children Social Care and relationships with partners.
• Principles of Work: Models systemic practice. Supports practitioners to have the confidence, skills and knowledge to support children, young people and their families within a “lead worker” role.
• Development, learning & performance: Provides individual supervision to Practitioners and the Team Coordinator. Actively engages in the professional development of the Team any practice supervision and professional appraisals.
• Decision Making: Fully accountable for all work undertaken as part of the Team and is the ultimate decision maker for all safeguarding matters.
• Partnerships: Leads and supports partnerships and the development of professionals relationship to ensure that safe decision making and information sharing is undertaken in respect of all queries or concerns regarding children, young people and their families.

The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.