Service Manager
Are you passionate about making a real difference in the lives of children and families?
We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Service Manager to lead our Child in Need and Child Protection Service, driving excellence in safeguarding practice and ensuring that every child receives the support they deserve. This is a pivotal leadership role where you will inspire and empower a dedicated team, champion best practice, and work collaboratively with partners to deliver positive outcomes for some of the most vulnerable children in our community.
About us
At Cheshire East Council we are resident, and partner focused with a vision to enable prosperity and wellbeing for all. People really are at the heart of everything we do and that starts with our incredible workforce. We promote a culture of high performance where people can aspire, thrive and flourish, where we strive to deliver best value in everything we do.
For us, success isn’t just about what we achieve, but how we achieve it together. We promote curiosity, excellence, innovation and continuous improvement.
We are values led and committed to wellbeing and inclusion for all, where our employees co-created our values of drive, integrity, respect and collaboration which inform all that we do.
We are proud to work for Cheshire East Council and believe you would be too!
Join us on a meaningful journey in Children’s Social Care at Cheshire East Council
We’re on a meaningful journey in Children’s Social Care and we’d love for you to be part of it. Joining us means becoming part of a supportive, forward-thinking team that’s passionate about making a real difference in the lives of children and young people. Everything we do is about putting them first, helping them grow, thrive and reach their full potential so they can build brighter futures.
If this sounds like the kind of impact you want to make, we’d be delighted to hear from you. Come and join us in shaping positive change for our young people.
About the role:
1. Provide strategic and operational leadership across the Child in Need and Child Protection Service, with direct oversight of five frontline teams.
2. Ensure high-quality, timely, and child-centred practice that meets statutory responsibilities, including compliance with the Public Law Outline.
3. Drive effective performance management and embed a culture of continuous improvement, learning, and innovation.
4. Work collaboratively with Heads of Service, peer Service Managers, Team Managers, and multi-agency partners to strengthen safeguarding practice and deliver positive outcomes for children.
5. Contribute to the development and implementation of service plans aligned with organisational priorities and improvement objectives.
6. Champion best practice and support the professional development of staff to maintain a skilled and motivated workforce.
This is just a snapshot of some of the exciting things you’ll be doing in the role, to find out more about the other key responsibilities of the role please view the attached job description.
About you:
7. You are passionate about achieving outstanding outcomes for children and families.
8. You want to be part of Cheshire East’s improvement journey, helping strong social work practice to flourish.
9. You’ll have extensive experience as a Manager within children’s services, with a proven track record of delivering high-quality safeguarding practice.
10. You’ll demonstrate strong leadership skills, with the ability to inspire, motivate, and challenge teams to achieve excellence.
11. You have a thorough understanding of statutory frameworks, including the Public Law Outline, and experience in managing complex cases.
12. You’re confident in building effective partnerships across agencies and promoting collaborative working.
13. You’ll bring resilience, strategic thinking, and a commitment to continuous improvement.