Are you an experienced Team Manager? Do you have the passion and commitment to manage, develop and motivate a team, to achieve the best possible outcomes for children? Then now is the perfect time to join us as a Team Manager in our Assessment Team!

This position is based in Wisbech but is hybrid with a mix of home and office working. You will manage one of the five locality Assessment Teams in Cambridgeshire and will work with the Head of Service for the Integrated Front Door, Service Managers in Assessment and MASH, and the Team Managers from the other four district teams. You will be responsible for a team of 7 social workers, including a senior practitioner, plus a Child Information and Advice Officer (CIAO).

The Assessment Team cover the cases of children aged 0-17 that are judged to require level 3 and 4 interventions under the Cambridgeshire Level of Need Document. We cover S17 Assessments, strategy discussions and S47 investigations; respond to court ordered reports such as S37 and S7 reports; complete SWET for court, and care plans where this is necessary and proportionate.

We work closely with Targeted Support to ensure that cases are stepped down into targeted intervention to improve relationships and parenting to prevent escalating of need following a completed C&F Assessment. You will oversee the improvement of the team by ensuring that KPI’s are achieved.

Our Assessment Team is lively and fast-paced. We’re a team who have a passion for ensuring that children, young people and families in our community receive a positive and timely service. The work is rich, varied and allows for a high level of multi-agency working, often to tight timelines. The nature of our work means that you see positive outcomes quickly.

Cambridgeshire County Council fully supports the principles of the Families First programme and is currently working on implementing the model in a considered and planned way to ensure that the changes made best meet the needs of our local communities and workforce.

As the programme develops, detailed delivery arrangements and implementation timescales are continuing to be refined, tested and agreed. Consequently, this role is expected to evolve into a Family Help Team Manager position in the future as the Families First transformation programme progresses.

If this sounds like an environment where you would thrive, we would love to hear from you! For more information, call Service Manager, Jackie Wild on 07826 860 394 or email jackie.wild@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Closing Date 9th August. Interviews will be held in person week commencing 17th August.

Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service. The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

What will you be doing?

Day-to-day responsibilities of a Team Manager in Assessment include:

• Supervision and development of practitioners, identifying areas of strengths and areas to improve and implement appropriate plans to achieve this.
• Manage the delivery of the team to ensure it is a high quality and effective service that responds to the needs of children, young people and their families or carers in a timely manner within statutory guidelines or service specifications.
• Manage the planning, allocation and review of cases and ensure priorities are managed.
• Lead on customer service and stage 1 complaints.
• Manage the recruitment and staffing of the team.
• Provide expert knowledge of safeguarding processes, policy and case law.
• Lead on initiating, developing and sustaining internal and external working relationships with other professionals and partner agencies.

About you

We’re looking for a confident and dynamic individual who enjoys making a difference in their local community, is curious and spots things that others might not see, enjoys building relationships and likes to explore possibilities.

You must:

• Be a qualified Social Worker with a Social Work England registration
• Have the ability to work from a variety of locations and travel countywide independently

For a full list of the requirements of the role, please check out the Job Description & Person Specification.

Our benefits

We value our colleagues in Cambridgeshire County Council and have developed a number of benefits in addition to the basics like annual leave, sick pay, pension and mileage…

• A comprehensive wellbeing package to cover all aspects of wellbeing, both in and out of work, which can also be accessed by your family
• Buy up to 4 weeks additional annual leave (pro-rata) through our salary sacrifice scheme
• Take your bank holidays flexibly to better suit your personal circumstances
• Make Additional Voluntary Contributions (Shared AVCs) to your pension with tax and National Insurance savings
• Access to development opportunities, apprenticeships and qualified coaches to support your personal and professional growth
• Paid volunteering hours each year so you can make a positive impact on our community during your normal working day
• Access to Peer Support Groups through our IDEAL staff equality, diversity and inclusion network
• Opportunities to nominate and receive Employee Recognition Awards
• An Our Cambs Rewards account, giving you access to in-store and online discounts as well as our Car Lease and Cycle to Work schemes