Role Responsibility
Are you an experienced leader with a passion for driving highquality services for children and young people? We are seeking a Service Manager to lead and develop our East Kent Children in Care Service, covering the Thanet and Canterbury districts.
This is a pivotal role within a highdemand service, responsible for ensuring strong oversight, excellent practice, and robust delivery of all statutory duties for children in care.
As Service Manager, you will:
- Lead and inspire a team of Social Workers, Senior Practitioners, Team Managers and Social Work Assistants across the Children in Care teams.
- Provide clear direction, robust oversight, and operational leadership to ensure the service delivers highquality social work practice for children and young people.
- Ensure all statutory responsibilities are met, including compliance with the Children Act 1989 and key safeguarding guidance.
- Oversee and qualityassure court work, care planning, and permanence planning, ensuring timely and effective decisionmaking for children.
- Motivate, support, and supervise staff, embedding a strong culture of learning, accountability, and reflective practice.
- Drive continuous service improvement, informed by audit, data, and feedback.
- Work closely with partners, legal teams, and multiagency services to support the best outcomes for children.
- Maintain effective resource and placement management, ensuring spend control and efficient use of resources.
We are looking for someone who:
- Is a strong, visible leader with substantial experience in Childrens Social Care.
- Has proven ability to manage complex situations, including highrisk cases and legal proceedings.
- Can deliver supervision that is reflective, purposeful, and developmental.
- Brings a cando attitude, resilience, and the ability to motivate teams through challenge and change.
- Is committed to driving highquality practice and achieving the best outcomes for children in care.
Why Join Us?
- Be part of an experienced, supportive management team within a service that places children at the centre of everything we do.
- Lead services across beautiful coastal and historic areas including Thanets seaside towns and the City of Canterbury.
- Access ongoing professional development through Kents Social Care Academy and leadership pathways.
This post is considered by KCC to be a customer-facing position. The Council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English/Welsh sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the Job Description/Person Specification.
This post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure application to the Disclosure and Barring service and registration as a qualified Social Worker with Social Work England.
This role is subject to holding a Full UK Driving Licence The Council is committed to making reasonable adjustments so whilst this job requires the jobholder to drive your application will still be considered if you are unable to drive due to a disability.