QSW Team Manager - Looked after Children & Care Leavers

QSW Team Manager - Looked after Children & Care Leavers

Your new role
The Team Manager will take operational responsibility for a team of social workers delivering the Council's statutory responsibilities for children in respect of:

The assessment and care planning of children in need, including those in need of protection and subject to legal proceedings

Direct work with children and families to achieve desired safety and well-being outcomes.

Promoting the achievement of permanence by looked after children and care leavers through assessment and care / permanence planning up to the second statutory review.

Key Accountabilities

To lead and manage the performance of a team of social workers and foster a culture of continuous learning and reflection of practice that inspires staff to give of thier best in their roles.

Introduce, embed and continually improve at team level, the quality of social work is consistent with established models of good practice.

To provide professional advice to staff, colleagues and partners for the area of responsibility.

Ensure that assessments and plans for children are robust, evidence-based, progressed in a timely way, are effective in keeping children safe and are outcome focussed. Allocate cases effectively in terms of matching the risk / complexity of cases with the skills, experience and professional development needs of social workers.

Prioritise the deployment of staff resources and ensure practice is operating in accordance with the thresholds of Croydon's early help and staged intervention model.

Ensure compliance with statutory requirements and Croydon practice standards

What you'll need to succeed
Essential Knowledge:
Social work qualification recognised by HCPC.
Working knowledge of national policy, strategy and developments regarding children's social care, and areas that impact on children's social care.
Demonstrable knowledge of relevant legislation, statutory guidance, standards and procedures
Essential skills and abilities:

• Able to lead improvement in social work practice at an operational level through effective performance management
• Evidence of leading and managing operational change effectively.
• Able to lead and manage in an operational area dealing with high risk and high complexity in a way that delivers good safeguarding and well-being outcomes for children and families.
• Able to apply and use effectively at operational level outcomes-based quality assurance frameworks.
• Able to drive continuous improvement in operational practice, and promote evidence-based outcomes for children
• Able to contribute to budget planning and control, and demonstrate effective use of public funds.

Essential experience:

• Experience of managing and/or supervising child care social workers in an area relevant to this particular service area with evidenced results of continuing practice and good outcomes for children.
  
• Experience of providing reflective supervision that positively impacts on practice and outcomes
  
• Experience of contributing to the development of a highly motivated, high-achieving and stable work force with a positive, "can-do", customer-centred culture.
  

What you'll get in return
Our teams consist of experienced Social Workers, Assistant Team Managers and Team Managers at various levels. The team arrange meetings weekly to ensure all colleagues have the support required to fulfil their duties. They will use this time to problem-solve complex cases. The ethos at Croydon is very much about working together to make positive changes. Caseloads are very manageable, enabling our caseworkers to really get to know children well & ensure high standards of practice. You will join an established management team who can help you settle in and offer their expertise. You will have the opportunity to work from home and work flexibly, which provides you with more of a work-life balance.
What you need to do now
If you're interested in this role, click 'apply now' to forward an up-to-date copy of your CV, or call us now.
If this job isn't quite right for you, but you are looking for a new position, please contact us for a confidential discussion on your career.
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