Team Manager, Children in Care, North Essex

Team Manager, Children in Care, North Essex

Permanent, Full Time

£55,892 to £69,241 per annum

Location: Colchester

Closing Date: 31st August 2026

Here in Essex, we continue to raise the bar about practice and our investment in our workforce is second to none. It’s an exciting time to join us having received our 2 nd Outstanding Ofsted rating in a row.

The Role

The Children in Care Team Manager leads a Team of qualified social workers to deliver high quality outcomes to children in care. The Team ensure cases are progressed through Court and care plans are developed.

To read more about our business area, please visit: Children & Families

Please take a look at our ‘No Magic’ Children & Families video

The Opportunity

Children and Families is recognised as a service in which social work can develop and prosper, with a culture of collaboration, integrity, and compassion; promoting development and wellbeing of children, young people, and their families; protecting them from neglect and abuse. Working together with partners delivering a range of early help, family support and effective social work interventions which build resilience, remove barriers, and enable children and young people to look forward to a brighter future.

The Team Manager leads team, developing and promoting capabilities and holding them accountable for performance and delivering improvements. Working with the Service Manager, contributing to the development of strategy, and ensuring a service which adapts responsively to change.

With proven ability to focus on results, develop innovative solutions and build strong working relationships, this leader will possess a deep understanding of working in a challenging social and financial environment.

Accountabilities

Lead a team of social workers to deliver a high quality professional service with positive outcomes.
Accountable for individual performance, quality assurance, resources, and budgets.
Accountable for the practice of social workers within the team, providing professional and practice supervision, using available tools to address underperformance, and coaching to enhance the quality of the practice.
Responsible for development of individuals to maximise the capability and performance across the team.
Responsible for the oversight and quality assurance of a range of social work reports and court statements.
Responsible for responding to complaints and other feedback from service users in accordance with policy and in a way that fosters positive relationships.
Lead inter-agency collaborative working, where a social work perspective is used to inform and drive decision making. Establishing and developing effective approaches to integrated working with partners, communities, and the voluntary sector, to achieve successful outcomes for service users.
Develop the training and tactical service delivery plan for the team.
Use expertise and professional knowledge to provide advice and guidance for complex cases in line with legislative and organisational standards.
Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.

The Experience You Will Bring

A recognised social work qualification i.e., Diploma, degree or Masters in social work, CQSW, CSS or equivalent, with current registration with Social Work England as a registered social worker.
Evidence of continuing professional development, aligned to any relevant Professional Competency/Capability frameworks or Knowledge and Skills Statements.
Significant experience within a Social Care setting with evidence of challenging social and family situations.
Experience of supervision of Social Work students and/or newly qualified Social Workers, possessing strong leadership and behavioural skills, with the ability to forge a highly performing and motivated team from diverse backgrounds, to deliver local objectives and work to required professional standards.
Experience of working within a complex environment and leading change to ensure the Council delivers best practice.
Developing strong relationships with partners, other agencies, and the local community to achieve joint objectives and offer a supportive framework for children and their families.
Recognise the financial implications of care packages commissioned.
Evidence of clear decision making in order to highlight and limit the potential risks associated with intervention.

Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we’re committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in Everyone’s Essex . With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you.

In March 2026, the Government announced that councils in Greater Essex will be reorganised into five new unitary authorities from April 2028. In addition to this, Greater Essex has been accepted on to the devolution priority programme, where we will work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority. You can read more about these changes, and what this may mean for this role, on our careers site .

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles , including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

The role requires you to be mobile throughout a wider operational area including travelling around the county of Essex and beyond, transporting service users and their belongings and to be able to do so in an emergency. Driving licence and car or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means is essential.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

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

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email resourcing.team@essex.gov.uk

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